Armor BR R1 Armoury Door

Armor Australia has signed a contract to develop a fibre reinforced bullet and blast resistant plastic material for the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It has the potential to be used in place of steel as armour and for protection of the vehicle flooring and side walls.

Established about five years ago, Armor Australia is a composite engineering company specialising in ballistics products from design and prototyping through to manufacturing.

This small enterprise consists of two directors, Technical Director Adam Fairbairn and Marketing and Production Director Neil Caswell, and three permanent employees with backgrounds in composites manufacturing. Armor Australia also utilise the services of various other composite engineers and contractors as their projects require. The company will develop the ballistic material as part of ADF’s 2005-2006 Capability Demonstrator program (CTD).

Coordinated by the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), the CTD program encourages the development and demonstration of advanced technologies with the potential to significantly boost future Defence capability.

Mr Fairbairn said Armor Australia utilises vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding, resin transfer moulding, vacuum bagging, compression moulding, pultrusion and some filament winding and has manufactured small and large components for aircraft, submersibles and various vehicles projects in the past including ballistic panels for Asian naval vessels.

‘Our company also produces and supplies cost effective composite bullet resistant sheet products and doors to the building industry via a production line designed and constructed in house,’ he said.

‘DSTO saw some of our current applications and saw that our capabilities could be adapted for Defence use.

‘We began work on the project in January and to date have completed design work on a miniature manufacturing machine for the project and have produced some samples.

‘Our company is continuing to grow and expand on areas of expertise. We offer a full service of composite design and manufacturing and have manufactured production cells for large companies in the past.

‘In the ballistics field we have the design processes and manufacturing experience, as well as in-house ballistics testing facilities to develop solutions for most threats and requirements,’ Mr Fairbairn said.

For further information please contact Armor Australia on:
T- 02 9521 1901
F- 02 9521 1941
E- info@armoraustralia.com
W- www.armoraustralia.com