Development and application analysis of ceramic composites armor for helicopter

Abstract

At present，lightweight armour has been fitted in foreign military helicopters for gunships and transport. By contrast，the armor configuration of domestic helicopters is still a big gap compared with Europe and America in the level type，quantity and single aircraft area. With more requirements of new generation military helicopters' projected-retarded survivability are raised，the development of new armor materials has also made great progress at home and abroad. In this paper, the development of composite bulletproof armor for armed helicopters is reviewed, future development needs are summarized, projected-retarded mechanism，selection principle of material and the way of energy absorption in the process of weapons is analyzed, and application prospect in military helicopters of new materials such as functionally graded materials, micro-laminated material，graphene modified ceramic is looked forward. Due to the independent development needs of helicopters in China, it is urgent to develop new advanced lightweight protective materials with excellent performance. Only by developing new armor materials can improve the survivability of our helicopters, meet the requirements of our weapons, and achieve the synchronous development with the world’s advanced helicopter level.

Keywords

• armed helicopter
• composite armor
• projected-retarded mechanism
• functionally graded materials
• micro-laminated material
• graphene modified ceramic