Atlanta Man Produces New Army Body Armor

An Atlanta man is producing new body armor for military men and women and he says by design, it's harder, lighter in weight and can protect soldiers better.

"We're trying to make a better lighter armor for the military," said Dr. Robert Speyer.

To create the armor, a machine uses thousands of pounds of pressure to compact boron carbide powder into armor that will be used to stop a bullet.

One part of the process uses tremendous heat to bond particles together and eliminate any pores from the material, which makes it harder than the armor currently used.

With the technology, the armor can be molded to conform to a soldier's body to better protect them.

Dr. Speyer said that if a bullet hits the armor currently in use, it will leave cracks throughout the plate. The armor Dr. Speyer is working on is made of overlapping geometric shapes that can withstand multiple bullets.

"It improves multi-hits, so that if one of the ceramic pieces gets hit, it will be damaged, but the ceramic pieces around it won't," said Dr. Speyer.

Dr. Speyer said now that the focus of the war has shifted from Iraq to Afghanistan, the needs of the soldiers have changed. "The conditions are different, altitude is higher, soldiers are on their feet longer, up and down mountains, and armor is too heavy."

Dr. Speyer said he was confident his technology can help the soldiers in Afghanistan with their need for lighter, more effective armor. Dr. Speyer currently has a couple of contracts with the Army to develop specific systems.