This is a subject that I might have mentioned in passing before, but it is so fascinating that it deserves a little more study. First of all I am always glad to write about a defensive device, since there are so many offensive ones that are meant to kill. I first started hearing about this a couple of years ago. The stories that I heard seemed to be unbelievable. We have just finished talking about nanotechnolog so I think most of us have at least a basic understanding of what it is, at least I hope so. If you missed the last story, just go to the science index on the left side of the home page and you can read it. The armor is very light and the liquid so miraculous that it is said that it can be applied to even ordinary clothing and that clothing becomes a shield to protect someone from bullets, knives or any sharp object. It is important to note that expensive Kevlar vests are no protection against knives.

Before I get into using this body armor on the battlefield, I would like to note that this stuff might have another application. Clothing treated with this might be worn by diplomats or even agents that are assigned to dangerous areas of the world. They would seem to be wearing ordinary clothing, but their clothes could be treated by the liquid and become bullet and knife resistant. People from the president on down may find themselves wearing this liquid armor and why not? I am sure that the Secret Service will insist that future presidents are clothed in protective garments. Even the pope might have his clothes dipped in this liquid, after all popes have been shot too.

Tank
Photo Source: U.S. Navy

So who created this liquid? It was created by the U.S. Army Defense Laboratory and the University of Delaware Center For Composite Materials. It is called Shear Thickening Fluid and STF for short. The nanoparticles that are used are very unusual since their properties are those of liquids and solids that exist in the same material. To my knowledge, these properties have never existed in the same material before. STF also protects from some of the effects of blunt trauma. One of the things that make the treated material so incredible is the fact that treating it, does not increase its weight or stiffness. STF only stiffens up when it is absorbing energy, otherwise it seems to leave the material unaffected. Another thing that is important about STF is that it has been in development for over five years and is almost ready to be deployed. Predictions are that it will be in Iraq sometime in 2007.

Here is an unusual thing. Test were conducted applying STF to Kevlar. As you probably know, that is what bullet proof vests are made out of. Can you imagine the protection that this might give someone on the battlefield? One of the things that prompted the development of better body armor is the fact that more soldiers are being wounded than every before. The amount of wounded Americans in the Iraq war is on the level of seven or eight to one killed. One of the advantages of STF is that it can be applied to clothing that covers all areas of the body, something that you couldn't do with current body armor because it would become too heavy and inflexible. It would be impossible to run if you had plates covering every body joint. Scientists are saying that you can just take material, dip it into STF and hang it up to dry. You will then have armor that can even be draped over a vehicle.

I read a very interesting story that told how you could stir this liquid if you stirred slowly but if you went to fast, it would become a solid and if you stopped for a second, it would go to a liquid again. Anything treated with STF becomes a shield against shrapnel. When you treat a fabric with this liquid, the liquid then prevents the fabric from spreading apart. A dramatic illustration of this was when a researcher tried to stick an ice pick through a Kevlar vest treated with STF. The ice pick couldn't penetrate a vest that it went through easily before it was treated. Correction officers might find that clothes treated with STF could save them from injury by prisoner attacks.

Armored vehicles such as private cars that are armored to protect the president and important vips and heads of state may be made stronger and at the same time lighter using STF. It might be possible to significantly increase the strength of the armor protection in these vehicles by simply adding layers of treated material inside the body of the vehicle. For example you could have the traditional armor plate on the underbody and several layers of treated material above it. Even the headliner and internal material might be treated with STF to increase the protection afforded. The seat backs would even become protective devices. Throwing a few treated canvas coverings over a Humvee might make all the difference in survival.

Will the chemists be able to create a metal that has the same properties? This would make our tanks incredibly strong. The British are working on a plastic tank. They have stated that they want a tank that can be airlifted. I wondered about this, it seemed like a foolish thought, but I knew that they wouldn't do it unless the tank could be very strong. Maybe they have found a way to incorporate STF into the plastic and it is a possibility that the new plastic tank might be stronger than the current steel ones.

One more thing, if all our soldiers are clothed in STF treated material and some enemy figures out a way to create energy waves, possibly through high force winds or some electronic method, will all our men be trapped in stiffened clothing? I don't know if this has been tested for, but I think if it hasn't, it better be. I remember when our sophisticated heat seeking missiles were defeated by ships pulling rafts that were on fire. Sometimes the most advanced things are defeated by the most primitive means.

Jules Verne, in his story From The Earth To The Moon, wrote about the constant battle between armor and munitions. Is this just the prelude to stronger ammo and new weapons? Lets hope not.