FPI's Timberwolf extended promo vid

Tight vid. Thanks to SNAFU (http://snafu-solomon.blogspot.com/) for blogging it.

Oh by the way, thats OSG TA. (http://www.osg-armor.com/)

Evidence

Sniper fire at TA only. No penetrations. Bet that sniper was frustrated.

Why Transparent Armor Matters

My first official blog will attempt to make a compelling argument, not that transparent armor (TA from here on out) is necessary, but why it is necessary to look at TA separate from opaque armor. Of course opaque armor and TA have a number of similarities: both need to defeat the same threats, both are composites and, ultimately, both are protecting the warfighter. However, TA has not received the same attention as opaque and is viewed as part of a survivability package. This lack of scrutiny and assumption that the survivability guys are "working on it" has hindered the potential progress of TA over the years. Also, the single fact that TA needs to be transparent limits the materials and processes used to manufacture this armor. That 87% of kinetic attacks occur first and only at TA illustrates its importance. By nature, people shoot at what they can see. The see a head and shoot at it. They don't guess where the body is behind the opaque.

So let’s expound on a few points.

The survivability guys tend to be opaque armor manufacturers who have matured into survivability package designers, and good ones at that, to move their product. And while they try to understand TA, they are not expert. This is only a problem because the armor integrators work with the OEM vehicle manufactures who build trucks for DoD, putting us TA guys a few degrees of separation from the user. This can limit our interaction with the user who provided feedback and urgent needs. The type of information that allow us to drive focused improvements and identify R&D initiatives.

TA needs to be clear, duh! But what does that really mean for its development and manufacture? Well for one, the TA industry has a greatly reduced material list from which to choose then does the opaque. Because clear doesn't just mean clear, it means optical clarity, optical quality, light transmission and let’s not forget about UV light and night vision. This isn't the windshield of your Camry, or Bentley (if you got it like that). So TA engineers are fighting with one hand tied behind their back when trying to keep up with the opaque armor manufacturers.

Kinetic attacks, I don't care where or why, almost always start (and finish) at what the attacker can see. It's human nature. This could be an insurgent will a rifle, huge balls and burning desire to get to his 72 virgins (or is it 27?) attacking an Army convoy in Kandahar province, Afghanistan or carjacker who wants your Camry in Newark, NJ.

 I'm not trying to say that TA has been wholly forgotten and I’m not crying in my beer. ARL has a great knowledge of TA and a number of serious programs to develop TA and the materials used in its composite, whether traditional or advanced. And the user community is becoming more interested in TA, its performance and life cycle. Weight savings at reasonable cost increases, or cost effective solutions as I like to call them, are maturing with user interest as well. All these topics will be addressed, or, at least, discussed in the future. All I'm saying is TA matters and is a highly technical industry that would benefit and mature better and faster with a little more direct attention and understanding. I ask for this attention knowing full well it can be a mind numbingly boring topic at times, but it sure beats getting shot in the face.