A New Metal Foam Is as Bulletproof as Heavy Steel Armor, Researchers Say

create a fomite that ’s totally impervious to bullets is n’t impossible , but it would be so bulky and threatening from its dense armour plat that it would barely be able to move . Unless you construct it using a new bulletproof material developed atNorth Carolina State Universitythat mime lightweight styrofoam .

Composite alloy foam — or CMF , for myopic — is a fabric made from vacuous metallic sphere that are surrounded by a matrix that can be made from various type of metals , including titanium or even alloys . If you ’ve ever had to clean up those tiny blank balls of styrofoam after unboxing a gadget , then you already have a good understanding of what this fabric is . The research worker behind this bailiwick made their CMF exclusively from blade , to maximize its strength and stopping power .

The CMF material was then sandwich between a level of ceramic , which served as a faceplate , and a thin aluminum backplate , to make a composite panel of armour . The jury was test against 0.50 caliber lump rounds , as well as 0.50 caliber armor - piecing rounds , with impact velocity valuate at speeds between 500 metre per 2nd ( 1,118 knot per time of day ) and 885 MPS ( 1,980 MPH ) . In other word , some of the nastiest rocket it could experience in a conflict mount .

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Upon impact , the layer of composite metal foam was able-bodied to assimilate up to 75 percent of the vigor of the egg unit of ammunition , and up to 78 percentage for the armour - piercing round , as it crumpled . For comparison , a panel of armour made from rolled brand with the same stopping power would count at least twice as much as the composite armour tested in this subject area . That ’s not only a significant amount of exercising weight saving that could improve the safety gadget , maneuverability , and fuel efficiency of armored vehicle , the CMF panels also postulate considerably less raw material than solid steel for approximately the same amount of protective cover .

But it get under one’s skin better . The researchers believe the composite armor could get even unaccented by optimise the thickness of the ceramic and aluminum layers through additional testing and by ameliorate the gum that holds the various layers of the control panel together . The CMF material has also been found to be quite effective at halt ex - rays , gamma ray , neutron radiation , and can care fire and oestrus at twice the temperature a solid steel plate can .

you may undoubtedly carry to retrieve CMF in use by the military and law enforcement personnel once it leaves the lab , but it has other promising program including better protect spacecraft from debris and radiation , and even making cars safe . Most of us would also be quite glad to see this material incorporated into our smartphones as well , absorb the encroachment of a fall with a few dents or else of a tattered CRT screen .

Argentina’s President Javier Milei (left) and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., holding a chainsaw in a photo posted to Kennedy’s X account on May 27. 2025.