Saint-Gobain was recently awarded a three-year, $20 million contract with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to develop bullet-resistant windshields and door windows.
The technology, which will be used on the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Launcher, will feature the use of sapphires. The sapphire sheets will be laminated with several layers of both glass and polycarbonate. The company's Milford, N.H. plant will manufacture the products.
According to a statement issued by Saint-Gobain, "the superior mechanical and optical properties of sapphire armor meet the higher threat levels that combat vehicles now endure while providing greater than 50 percent weight savings, better night vision effectiveness and higher lifetime durability in challenging environments (including the desert)."
Natesh Krishnan, director of global sales and marketing says, "As sapphire is second in hardness only to diamond and is chemically inert, it is excellent for use in sandy desert conditions, and resists etching from gases emitted after a rocket launch."
Officials at Saint-Gobain did not respond to glassBYTEs.com™ further request for comments at press time
