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MILITARY TECHNOLOGY (MILTECH) is the world's leading international tri-service defence monthly magazine in the English language. MILITARY TECHNOLOGY is "Required Reading for Defence Professionals". Follow us on Twitter: MILTECH1

18 November 2015

MILIPOL 2015: BCA Delivers High Performance for all Threat Levels

BCA Textil receives continually increasing interest from the military and civilian sectors for its ballistic protection solutions, including its NeoFlex ballistic panels presented in Villepinte. BCA's Chief Commercial Officer Andre Nestor Bertin informed MT on the firm's latest qualification testing of the NeoFlex Tape ballistic panels in Brazil, stating that they are currently the only self-adhesive ballistic panels available on the market. The company is certified nationally and internationally, having met all requirements of the most demanding customers globally, including the International Certification Network (I-Net) and H. P. White Laboratory, Inc. in the US. According to BCA, it certified more than 21,000 vehicles with its warranty seal in 2013.


BCA also informed in its related product sheet that it offers "higher resistance and flexibility," with no risk of delamination, and provides "lightweight armouring," as required by the variety of both military and commercial applications. The manufacturer noted that the lightweight panels are designed to combine neoprene-coated aramides, UHMWPE (Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene), and ceramic composites. Also known as High Modulus Polyethylene or HMPE, UHMWPE has extremely long chains, with a molecular mass usually between 2 and 6 million u - the longer chain serves to transfer load more effectively to the polymer backbone by strengthening intermolecular interaction, according to the open literature. Additionally, ballistic protection with UHMWPE film Dyneema can offer the most effective armouring for the luxury automotive segment, with opaque armouring consisting of a set of 72 layers of polyethylene film reinforced with parallel and unidirectional filaments of UHMWPE, which are resin-impregnated and pressed in panel formats.

Significantly, the high-performance UHMWPE employed in BCA's manufacturing process offers up to 25 percent reduced weight, when compared with traditional materials like steel. This appears to be the principle factor influencing the customer's decision when it comes to aircraft and helicopter armouring, MT learned from BCA's product briefing.
Stefan Nitschke

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