Research, Development, & Testing

Whatever challenge you’ve got.

Whether your challenge is weight, cost, corrosion, schedule, environmental factors, or stopping power, we’re uniquely equipped to design, build, and qualify armor solutions optimized to your needs—and quickly. Because human lives are at stake. And performance, budget, and schedule matter.

Material Capabilities.

Composite lamination at large scale and volume
Includes polyethylene prepregs, aramids, and many other materials.

Tempered aluminum
Processing of aluminum materials to deliver ballistic performance.

Formed metals
Shaping high hard steels and other metals in complex geometry with ballistic performance via the HWSSQTM process.

Armor kits for land, air, and sea platforms
Ballistic performance designed for seamless integration into military, law enforcement, and commercial platforms.

Integrated kit design and engineering
Selection of material solutions based on environmental and operational factors.

Body armor
The lightest body armor designed to protect against specified threats with limited deformation. 

See our full production capabilities >

Reinventing how composites are laminated.

At the heart of our manufacturing operations are two of the largest high pressure vacuum laminating presses in the world. These state-of-the-art machines allow us to produce composite plates faster and with higher quality than anyone else in the industry. 

Reinventing how composites are laminated.

Removing any chance of failure.

Prior to applying pressure and temperature to the composite, we pull vacuum to eliminate encapsulation of any air or moisture. This is critical so the armor does not delaminate when later exposed to various environmental conditions, like heat. 

Removing any chance of failure.

Creating a super material.

We then press the composite under 25 million pounds of force at precise temperatures, consolidating multiple layers into a single system. The result is millions of fibers that once acted independently, now acting as one.  

Creating a super material.

Our fail-safe formula.

Time. Temperature. Pressure. Vacuum. These are the critical steps, developed by our exceptional team of materials engineers, that result in the lightest, strongest, most dependable armor in the world.

Our fail-safe formula.
Ensuring Every Product Over-Performs.

We know surprises are a part of your job, but the only way your armor should surprise you is how well it performs. That’s why we test and validate the performance of our armor solutions in our in-house ballistic and live-fire facilities, as well as with third-party independent certified test labs.

Ensuring Every Product Over-Performs.
Ballistic Threat Testing

We’re capable of testing ammunition from the smallest handguns up to a 30mm cannon in our in-house gun tunnels.

Ballistic Threat Testing

Unprecedented stopping power.

Our proprietary processes allow us to create composite armor that dissipates impact energy faster and more efficiently than other armor. This means less material, less weight, less fatigue, and greater chances for survival.

Unprecedented stopping power.

Experienced with government & commercial programs, ranging from rapid prototyping to full-scale production.

  • FFP
  • Cost-Plus
  • DCAA approved accounting system

See military & government solutions>

Reinforcing our nation’s infrastructure.

Since 2002, no other company has done as much as Hardwire to protect bridges and fortify critical infrastructure around the United States.

See infrastructure solutions>