Alcoa has announced its latest armour product is now specified for use by the US Army Research Lab (ARL) for use in US military vehicles. Alcoa’s ArmX 5456-H151 armour plate meets the US military’s highest performance standards for strength, blast absorption, and ballistics resistance for armoured combat vehicles where weldability is a material requirement. Alcoa aluminium and armour have been used by the military for decades in vehiclesranging from the Bradley Fighting Vehicle to the Humvee.

“Alcoa’s military-grade aluminium alloys and products have helped the US military protect troops for generations,” said Mark Vrablec, President of Global Aerospace, Transportation and Industrial Rolled Products at Alcoa. “Alcoa’s latest innovation allows military vehicle manufacturers to continue building with the highest level of durability and troop protection through welding processes when assembling the vehicle, or performing repairs in the field.

“This new product offers more than 20 per cent improvement in strength compared with the baseline 5083-H131 weldable armour plate, as well as improved ballistic and blast performance,” added Vrablec.

Alcoa’s 5456-H151 armour plate, formerly referred to as CR56, joins the family of Alcoa next-generation ArmX brand armour solutions. Alcoa’s ArmX 5456-H151 armour plate was developed by scientists at the Alcoa Technical Center, the world’s largest light metals innovation and R&D centre located outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in collaboration with metallurgists and production engineers at Alcoa Davenport Works, the world’s premier aerospace, defence, and automotive rolling mill. ArmX 5456-H151 armour plate will be produced at Alcoa Davenport Works, where manufacturing and quality control testing is conducted to ensure the military’s highest specifications for weldable aluminium armour plate are met.

Alcoa’s ArmX 5456-H151 armour was tested and has been successfully demonstrated on the US Army’s fuel-efficient ground vehicle demonstrator vehicle, known as FED ALPHA, a prototype vehicle that Alcoa helped develop to demonstrate lightweight, fuel-efficient technologies while maintaining vehicle durability and troop safety. FED ALPHA’s lightweight aluminium structure makes the vehicle up to 10 per cent lighter than a comparably sized steel vehicle and reduces fuel consumption by about seven per cent.