This Body Armor Is Made From A Liquid And Hardens When Hit With A Bullet

Mortax Institute, a Polish company in the business of producing body armor systems, is working on a liquid based armour capable of hardening upon impact. The liquid is known as Shear-Thickening Fluid (STF) and can harden on any temperature instantaneously when impacted with a bullet

The liquid armor is capable of providing protection from high-speed projectiles and can also disperse the energy over a larger area. Karolina Olszewska, performer of tests on STF for Moratex, said, “This viscosity increases thanks to the subordination of the particles in the liquid structure, therefore they form a barrier against an external penetrating factor.”

The formula for STF is known by Mortax and the inventors at the Military Institute of Armament Technology in Warsaw only. The ballistic tests that were carried out have proven that it is resistant to a large and diverse range of projectiles.

Deputy Director for Research at the Moratex institute, Marcin Struszczyk, said, “We needed to find, design a liquid that functions both with projectiles hitting at the velocity of 450 meters per second and higher. We have succeeded.”

According to Struszczyk, the liquid armor’s capability of stopping inbound projectile when combined with the low indentation of its surface creates a safety level that is far higher when compared with the conventional solutions that rely on Kevlar. He further added, “If a protective vest is fitted to the body, then a four centimeter deep deflection may cause injury to the sternum, sternum fracture, myocardial infarction, lethal damage to the spleen. Thanks to the properties of the liquid, thanks to the proper formation of the insert, we eliminate one hundred percent of this threat because we have reduced the deflection from four centimeters to one centimeter.”

While speaking about the inserts that had to be specially designed to carry out the design of STF, he further added, “The point is for them not to interfere, not change the way of movement, operation of such the product by the user, and at the same time increase their motor skills, increase effectiveness of their decision process and increase their possibilities during the mission at hand.”

The team is hopeful that this technology will find applications other than in body armors. We agree, there is quite a potential in this approach. What do you think?