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Ceramic Manufacturing Capability Success celebrated by DMTC, ADA, CSIRO and VCAMM.

On Friday 25th March, DMTC and partners Australian Defence Apparel (ADA), Victorian Centre of Advanced Materials Manufacturing (VCAMM) and CSIRO celebrated the successful development of ceramic strike face manufacturing capabilities in Australia with a private briefing and tour of the pilot plant facilities.

Minister for Defence Science and Personnel the Hon. Warren Snowdon and Minister for Defence Materiel the Hon. Jason Clare also attended the event, showing support for DMTC’s important contribution towards increasing the capabilities of Australian defence industry to support Australia’s Defence Force acquisition and sustainment requirements. “Thanks to the hard work of the scientists, engineers and Australian defence industry we now have a world-leading product that can be produced here in Australia” said Mr Clare.

This DMTC-led project has established the manufacturing capability for the Bendigo-based firm, ADA, to design, prototype, test and build new ceramic strike faces that can be designed to the Australian Defence Force’s exact specifications in less time than was previously possible through traditional suppliers.

“Manufacturing these strike faces in Australia has big advantages. It will allow for new technology to be prototyped quickly and for product development to occur within Australia,” Mr Clare said.

The new manufacturing process enables lightweight strike face materials to be locally produced whilst maintaining the high level of protection required. Once assembled into a body armour system, the finished articles can provide increased mobility for personnel compared with current body armour systems. “The stronger and lighter the ceramic strike face, the better protection it provides to our soldiers” Mr Snowdon said.

This new manufacturing technology also has potential applications in protecting helicopter cockpits and increasing the survivability of armoured vehicles.

Read more: Defense News article.