Military uses are climbing as an ever greater percentage of structure on aircraft, ships etc are made from composites. But, our friend Bill ordered 26 aircraft last year and not too many ships. The bright side is, how much worse can that get?
Commercial aviation is similar with usage and build rates are growing (Boeing cannot keep up, corporate jets rebounding, etc.) I don't have specific numbers, but my guess would be that commercial is at least four times military usage.
As to armor, I have seen numerous types, (helmets, helecopter, aircraft, etc.). For small arms fire, Kevlar is used. I have seen it used with a small amount of glass. For flak or large arms, a ceramic barrier is used to breakup the bullet with kevlar to catch the pieces. Carbon would be lighter, but the fiber is too brittle, at least in my estimation.
Regards
Bill |
