Triton Awarded by US Army for its Military Armor Technology
Chelmsford, MA /December, 2004 - Triton Systems, Inc. (Triton), a leading materials research and product development firm, has recently been awarded two Phase II SBIR contracts totaling approximately $1.4M to research, develop and apply its armor materials technology to specific armor applications. The recent selections are a continuation of previous work successfully completed under Phase I SBIR research programs funded by the US Army.
“Triton is dedicated to providing force protection solutions for our government customers,” noted Ross Haghighat, Triton President and CEO. “These awards represent our dedication to innovative research and product development that could potentially save the lives of U.S. troops.”
The first Phase II program entitled, “ Lightweight MCMC TM Composite Armor Body Panels for Commercial Vehicles ,” focuses on developing lightweight, high performance armor for the protection of light utility vehicles used by the U.S. Army. Current steel vehicle armor for a High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) can range from 900 pounds to in excess of 4,000 pounds, thus substantially degrading vehicle payload and mobility as well as increasing the maintenance burden on susp ension and drivetrain. .
Triton’s metal-ceramic-matrix-composite (MCMC TM) material promises to reduce armor weight by ~ up to 40% - 50%, while providing superior multi-hit capability. MCMC TM armor is a cross-section of layers that transition from a hard ceramic face shield to a high strength ductile metal backplane in a n integrated a rmor system - processed in an integrated process line. The MCMC armor proprietary process is a perform that is infiltrated and thermally processed to produce a gradient –from ceramic to metal. Key performance advantages include exceptional multi-hit performance, significant reduction in required aereal density for a given threat (compared to rolled homogeneous armor ), easy formability of multi-curve shapes and easy attachment of armor panels to vehicle structures. Triton’s MCMC TM armor can be scaled for applications ranging from body armor to ligh t vehicle protection. Triton’s MCMC armor can also be “tuned” to handle specific types of for specific armor applications.
Another Phase II program, “ Novel Hierarchical Multilayer Laminated Plastic Structures for Transparent Armor ,” addresses the Army’s interest of incorporating nanomaterial additives to polymers and other structures for the next generation of transparent lightweight armor with enhanced survivability against emerging threats. Current transparent armor systems use hybrid laminated structures of acrylic, polycarbonate and glass that use acrylic as the “face sheet” which that does not provide an optimal degree of strength and hardness.
Triton has developed a material that can serve as an improved “face sheet” that delivers enhanced ballistic performance. Triton’s Transparent Armor Face sheet (TAF TM) is based on a novel polyacrylic-silica hybrid nanocomposite technology that exhibits a number of very important combinations of properties. At greater than 94% optical transparency, compared to the unmodified acrylic material tested as a control, the new TAF TM hybrid nanocomposite material exhibits increase in hardness, higher elastic modulus, higher flexural modulus - all the while, maintaining processibility and optical clarity. The TAF TM system is the result of a novel nanocomposite technology that produces a unique organic/inorganic hybrid network of polyacrylic polymers and silica glass.
About Triton Systems, Inc.
TSI Triton Systems, Inc. ( www.tritonsystems.com) is a leading applied research and product development firm that provides solutions for the US government and commercial markets. Our team of researchers, scientists, and technologists excel at creating technologies that meet our customer's toughest requirements. We work with many U.S. government agencies including the Air Force, Army, DOE, NASA, Navy, NIH, NSF, MDA and DARPA. Areas of expertise include advanced materials, structural composites, electronics, and portable power systems. Our technologies are used in medical device, environmental, energy, chem/bio sensing/decontamination, defense and aerospace applications. Founded in 1992, Triton is privately owned and is located just north of Boston in the town of Chelmsford, MA.