Book Review

Review

Paul J. Hazell, Ceramic Armour: Design and Defeat Mechanisms, Argos Press, Canberra, 2006.

Reviewed by Doug Gillott

The operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have pushed the protection of people and vehicles to the forefront of military research and development activity. Literally billions of dollars have been expended on armour design and acquisition since 2002. Hazell’s book is a timely new reference for those involved in the protection of land forces, VIPs, or vital assets. Ceramic Armour: Design and Defeat Mechanisms joins the growing library of Argos Press publications offering insight into topical defence technology issues.

The title is understated as Hazell has produced a text much broader in scope than just ceramic armour. Indeed only five of the nine chapters could be considered to be exclusive to ceramics. The remainder provide a wide-ranging description of threats and armour protection applicable to the whole ground environment. Through reading these generic chapters the reader will gain an understanding of the configurations that make any armour material effective, the key properties of armour materials, threats across a broad spectrum, armour system testing, alternative materials, and the numerical modelling essential to bring down the high cost of armour development.

The chapters devoted specifically to ceramic armour provide informative descriptions of ceramic microstructures, manufacturing processes and the failure modes resulting from all the major attack mechanisms found on the land battlefield. The reader is taken through the underlying physics of each type of impact event using plain language with appropriate illustrations.

For the mathematically minded Hazell provides many useful formulae in an easy-to-follow layout. Unusually, since equations with numerous subscripts and superscripts are notoriously rich ground for mistakes, not a single typographical error was observed. This is an accurate measure of the attention to detail applied to the book, ensuring that as well as a being a good technical read it will endure as a reference text.

The engineers and scientists amongst the readers will find many familiar equations and the derivation where Hazell extends their use is clear. Non-technical readers need not worry though as the surrounding narrative is sufficient to obtain the meaning without being dependent on the maths. The reader is guided through the introductory chapters in incremental steps gaining understanding in a fashion that is analogous to the design and manufacture of real-world armour systems. For those wishing to extend themselves further each chapter is extensively referenced including both the classic papers that underlie the armour design body of knowledge and many current publications from leading practitioners. Your reviewer was particularly impressed by Hazell’s critique of one of the much-quoted sacred cows of armour design—Whittaker’s directional probability variation—which is well overdue for some serious scrutiny of its relevance to the modern battlefield.

Ceramic Armour: Design and Defeat Mechanisms does occasionally betray its parentage as university course notes. However this does not detract from the book. Rather it will encourage many readers to finally discard the dusty yellowed course notes they have carried from office to office for the last 15 years, replacing them with this single convenient fully indexed 168-page soft-cover text. The graphics are distinctly improved and the extensive tabulated data is relevant for current materials. In fact, so much data is made available that this reviewer was occasionally surprised not to find a security classification emblazoned on the page!

There is a wide-ranging glossary with detailed definitions. And if the reader is so inclined they can test their understanding with some review questions—or perhaps test the knowledge of others in their organisation. An abbreviation list rounds out the book and caters for the military jargonauts suffering from TLA addiction withdrawal symptoms.

This concise text book is highly recommended for all those with an interest in armour systems. In particular, it should be compulsory reading for anyone involved in the capability definition and procurement phases of the equipment lifecycle. An investment of 8 to 10 hours reading time will be repaid many times over by an improved understanding of the facts, not myths, behind ceramic armour technology.

Doug Gillott has worked on Australian military vehicle acquisition programs since post-graduate study at RMCS in 1993. These include the ASLAV, Bushranger and M113 Upgrade programs, protected limousines and wheeled vehicle mine protection kits. Since 2005 he has been engaged as an independent consultant by US based Armor Holdings Aerospace and Defence Group.

Ceramic Armour: Design and Defeat Mechanisms can be ordered online through Argos Press at:

http://www.argospress.com/books/ceramic-armour/index.htm