If the question is how to deflect projectiles without skyrocketing military costs, China has found the solution: crocodiles
In recent years, the US military has even tested fibers inspired in spider silk for future bulletproof vests. The reason was simple: some natural materials achieve absorb impacts and deform better than many modern artificial compounds. The idea of using animals. The search for more effective shielding has been inspired by natural solutions for decades. Since the Second World War, different armies have studied biological structures capable of absorbing impacts, distribute energy or resist attacks better than expected. China has just joined this tradition with a peculiar proposal: armor inspired by the crocodile scales. The logic behind the project is simple. Instead of relying solely on making armor thicker, heavier and more expensive, researchers are trying to modify the way projectiles hit the surface to force them to deflect, lose stability and fragment before passing through. How it works. The Ningbo University team replaced the traditional hexagonal plates used in many armors composed of small rhomboidal ceramic pieces placed at 45 degree angles. The arrangement imitates the irregular, overlapping structure of crocodile scales. During testing, the design was able to more effectively reduce the residual velocity of hardened steel projectiles and increase fragmentation of the ammunition upon impact. The objective is not only to withstand the shot, but to alter the physical behavior of the projectile at the moment of contact so that part of its energy is lost before reaching the main armor. The obsession with reducing costs. The most relevant thing about the project is not only the additional protection, but the attempt to make it cheaper. Chinese researchers they insist in that any structural improvement that allows the same materials to be used with better results can greatly reduce the manufacturing cost. There is no doubt, this obsession makes a lot of sense in modern warfare. Shielding vehicles, helicopters or troops against increasingly powerful ammunition requires enormous amounts of advanced materials and gigantic budgets. From that perspective, if a relatively simple geometric modification achieves better results without increasing weight or industrial complexity, the economic impact can be enormous on a large scale. Logic born of recent wars. If you like, the Chinese research also reflects a broader change that is already seen in Ukraine and other recent conflicts: it is increasingly important economic efficiency of weapons and defenses. For years, military innovation was dominated by extremely sophisticated and expensive systems. Now many countries are looking for solutions that are sufficiently effective, easy to manufacture and sustainable in long wars. In this sense, Russia already demonstrated how relatively simple glider bombs could cause enormous problems at low cost. Ukraine responded with cheap drones capable of destroying much more expensive equipment. The shielding crocodile inspired fits perfectly into this new logic: trying to unbalance the relationship between cost and effectiveness without having to resort to futuristic technologies that are impossible to mass produce. Future battlefields. For now, the Chinese system remains in the experimental phase and still needs much more demanding tests, including multiple impacts and firing from different angles. Still, researchers believe it could end up being used in armored vehicles, helicopters, ships and even light aerospace structures. What is interesting is that China does not present the project as a spectacular technological revolution, but rather as a pragmatic improvement based on simple principles. geometry and materials. An idea that pretty well sums up where part of current military innovation is heading: less obsession with creating impossible weapons and more interest in find smart ways and relatively cheap to survive in an environment where each projectile and each armor cost more and more money. Image | David Shackelford, PXHere, Unsplash In Xataka | China is manufacturing missiles at an unprecedented speed. And the final objective is not Taiwan, it is another island 3,000 km away In Xataka | China has made a science fiction dream come true: an electromagnetic cannon capable of reaching 3,000 shots per minute
