The U.S. Army Research Laboratory is evaluating dual hard steel armor produced by the Institute of Metals Science (IMS) in Sofia, Bulgaria. The dual hard steel plates were fabricated by electroslag remelting that resulted in excellent metallurgical bonding of the two steel ingots. This technology was highly developed in the Soviet Union and their allies by 1990, and has gained worldwide acceptance due to the improved microstructure and chemistry. ARL has worked with the IMS to have a number of ESR ingots melted, rolled to desired thicknesses and then heat-treated to the desired hardnesses. The plates were tested with small arms and fragment simulating projectiles at ARL. This research was undertaken to examine improved steel armors for application to light tactical vehicles.
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