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Ballistic shields made with Dyneema are lighter and easier to carry than many options. protection and has a better UV resistance to breakdown than aramids. UHMWPE fbers were introduced in the late-1970s by the Dutch chemical company DSM under the trade name, Dyneema. Dyneema Dyneema is one of the armor industry's lightest weight options. It allows armor designers to cut weight and bulk without sacrifcing ballistic protection. This allows modern armor designers and manufacturers to make life protection gear that is lighter and more comfortable. Law enforcement offcers are asked to carry more technology in the feld. The extra weight adds up quickly. Dyneema® helps reduce the load, while still providing rated levels of protection in ballistic helmets, vests and inserts. In soft body armor, Dyneema Unidirectional has excellent multi-hit performance, angle shot performance, edge shot performance, structural performance, and lower backface deformation. Personal Armor Dyneema Soft Ballistic (SB) armor solutions are used in vests and clothing to provide protection against handgun ammunition. Dyneema Hard Ballistic (HB) armor solutions are incorporated into ballistic inserts and helmets to protect against heavier and more penetrating threats such as rifes and high-speed fragments, such as those from IEDs. Soft body armor made with Dyneema gives the offcer protection against a range of threats—including handgun ammunition—while providing the lightest weight options with maximum fexibility and comfort. Vests made with Dyneema are both easier to wear and easier to manufacture. Ballistic vests with Dyneema can be made up to 40 percent lighter, without a drop in ballistic performance. This reduced weight gives the user increased speed and fexibility, which signifcantly improves their ease of mobility. Additionally, Dyneema Soft Ballistic (SB) armor solutions can be upgraded with Hard Ballistic (HB) inserts, to address higher threats, such as rife fre. Vest inserts made with Dyneema offer ultimate stopping power at lighter weight. By reducing the weight of individual inserts, at the same protection level, Dyneema also provides additional life Dyneema® fabric is lightweight, comfortable and cool to the touch, adapting to the body's heat. All this while providing 50 times greater abrasion resistance than aramids. protection options, when increasing the body surface coverage, without restricting movement or fexibility. Inserts made with patented Dyneema® Unidirectional (UD) material are regarded as best-in-class and are proven in combat situations to help guard against heavy-duty, multiple-hit threats including AK47 (7.62 x 39 mm) and NATO Ball (7.62 x 51 mm). With Dyneema®, the weight of individual inserts can be reduced by up to 25 percent compared to traditional materials like steel, while still offering the same protection level. This gives manufacturers and end users genuine choice and fexibility in how they design and deploy armor solutions. Helmets made with Dyneema offer high levels of ballistic protection against threats including most handgun bullets and fastmoving fragments. The use of Dyneema allows a reduction in weight, typically up to 25 percent lighter than next-nearest competitive materials. That means both increased comfort and agility in the feld. Decreased weight also gives tactical offcers added fexibility, i.e., they can choose to carry more life-saving equipment such as night sights or ballistic visors. Ballistic shields made with Dyneema® are lighter to carry, improving mobility in the feld. With its unmatched strength-toweight ratio, Dyneema® is the ideal material to incorporate into ballistic shields, such as those carried by SWAT teams and riot offcers. Effective against a variety of projectiles, it provides excellent mobility for materials used in frontline tools. By reducing the weight of individual shield inserts at the same protection level, the option arises of increasing the body surface area covered, without restricting movement or fexibility. Dyneema Unidirectional (UD) One of the keys to Dyneema Unidirectional (UD) effectiveness is the way it is produced. As a composite laminate, the UD material has the UHMWPE fbers layered in a criss-cross pattern, i.e., each layer is 90 degrees from the layer above and below it. This crisscross orientation provides the maximum energy absorption, at the lowest weight with the thinnest fabric. Another important consideration is the blunt trauma or back face deformation, i.e., how much the stopped bullet pushes into the body. Due to the high sonic velocity within the fber, the impact energy is dissipated very rapidly over a large area. This makes for the low blunt trauma, the indentation on the inside sur- www.lawandordermag.com 51