India has included a steadily expanding number of defence platforms, components and sub-systems as part of the Positive Indigenisation Lists. While the larger goal is to address self-sufficiency and greater export potential in this area, a big plus is also that indigenously developed platforms require home-grown innovations to function at their full potential.

Take the case of the Defence Research & Development Organisation’s domestically designed, developed, and built Wheeled Armoured Platform (WhAP) 8×8. As India’s first amphibious infantry combat vehicle, it has been devised for optimum performance across a host of terrains on land and in water. To enhance its performance, the combat vehicle will need reinforcement with the most advanced armour materials, customised to fulfil its purpose. This calls for a close collaboration with DRDO’s labs to understand and deliver the particular armouring requirements of the 8×8.

This is where leading domestic players like Carborundum Universal Limited come in. As long-standing partners of the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL), CUMI has been working closely with them to continually innovate and discover cutting-edge armour solutions for advanced protection of the Army’s combat vehicles engaged at the frontlines.

Read here on CUMI being recently awarded the Transfer of Technology from DMRL to manufacture add-on composite armour for armoured vehicles.

With strong R&D and backward integrated production capabilities, CUMI has made key strides in pioneering innovations and securing supply of critical materials for future-ready vehicle and personal armour. Customised segments of advanced ceramics such as Reaction Bonded Silicon Carbide (RBSiC), high-purity Alumina, and Zirconia Toughened Alumina (ZTA) are lightweight and offer exceptional protection, particularly for vulnerable sections of military vehicles.

The advent of lightweight, high-performance materials

The modern version of amorphous war zones and innovative defence strategies is unlike anything the world has ever witnessed. This calls for a modern version of armoured vehicles used in combat, and highest levels of protection in tactical vehicles for the safe carriage of heads of states and other VVIPs. It includes vehicle armour capable of carefully designed and engineered protection of personnel and machinery in military/paramilitary, police, special civilian defence vehicles, from high-velocity projectiles.

Typically, armoured vehicles are designed with three levels of protection in mind:

• Ballistic protection – oncoming, high-velocity projectiles
• Blast protection – explosives are an example
• Protection from Improvised Explosive Devices (IED)

While threat levels have escalated and in fact, continue to evolve, traditional armour materials have been found wanting in the extent of actual protection or shock absorption they offered. Polymers took their place only to prove ineffective in high-intensity threat scenarios.

The advent of ceramics and hybrid composites has raised the bar in vehicle armour meant for protection in the event of blasts and ballistic attacks. Used in combination with metallic back-plates, they offer a more cost-effective, efficient proposition. As a result, there is better mobility and improved chances of survival for troops in war zones, a definite advantage over traditional materials – titanium, hardened steel etc. – used in vehicle armour.

Why are ceramic composites popular in vehicle armour applications?

Today, advanced lightweight ceramic materials are used to provide unparalleled levels of ballistic protection in armoured vehicles. Ceramic composites – RBSiC, ZTA, and high-purity Alumina – have emerged as a popular choice in recent years. There are a number of reasons starting with the fact that the cost-effective, low-density armour panel of ceramic composite is just a third of the weight of a metallic panel. At the same time, used in conjunction with back-up polymeric materials, it is strong enough to shatter an oncoming, high-velocity projectile thus rendering significantly better protection and resilience in the vehicle.

RBSiC is highly ranked by vehicle armour manufacturers worldwide. Making significant extensions to its indigenous product manufacturing capacity, CUMI offers an expanding range of RBSiC innovations that uphold its advantages of being light-weight and highly reliable in keeping armoured vehicles fighting fit.