[music playing] NARRATOR: Cars impervious
to bullet attacks right down to the tires. Armored glass. And people caught in the
line of fire who survive. So how do you stop
a speeding bullet? Now, bulletproof on
"Modern Marvels." [theme music] [gunfire] [explosion] The US Armed forces in Iraq
are in constant danger. [yelling] Casualties can't be eliminated. But with modern
bulletproofing technology, they can be greatly reduced. This chilling footage was shot
by an Iraqi insurgent concealed in a van. At his side was his
partner, an Iraqi sniper, setting his crosshairs on
medic Steven Tschiderer. [gunshot] MAN (ON VIDEO): Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. Allahu Akbar. NARRATOR: Tschiderer's armor
not only saves his life, it also enables him to
take immediate cover. In minutes, American soldiers
wound and capture the sniper and seize his footage. Tschiderer, unharmed, thanks
to his bulletproof vest, treated his
assailant's injuries. [gunshot] [explosion] [gunshot] Today's prevailing deadly
weapons are ballistic. And with each new
deadly innovation, it becomes more
challenging to stop them. At the Armor Holdings
test range in Ontario, California, ballistics
expert Bob Weber and his team are testing soft armor vests
for police departments. We're shooting
various handgun rounds. A 40, a 9, and a 45. The Department uses these rounds
as we get numerous requests when they change ammo to
shoot these rounds at the vest that they're wearing. NARRATOR: Soft armor vests
are made of several layers of ultra dense polycarbonate
fabrics of different weaves and thicknesses. Cut with laser precision
and combined to make an impenetrable barrier. Scientific testing helps
determine the best design and mix of fabrics. Assistant technician Ernie Acuna
carefully weighs each bullet that will be fired in the test. And loads each casing
with a measured charge. The test is recorded by chief
lab technician Rick Gonzales. Here's our piece of armor. Here's the ballistic
clay we use. Our target indicator. Here's our high speed
camera that we use. Our Doppler radar. This here is our
chronograph where we pick up the speed of the bullet
in feet per second. And now we're ready to fire. [cocks] OK, this will be
a fire in the hole. BOB WEBER: Ready? Fire in the hole! [gunshot] NARRATOR: The lab's high speed
replay reveals the secret of the best stopping power. Here, we have the
distinctive cross pattern of the fiber actually
engaging the bullet here. What's really fascinating
is we can already see the bullet flattened out and
the energy transfer take place. NARRATOR: Vests that
are bulletproof, or as the pros prefer,
bullet resistant, use the principle of
strength in numbers-- numbers of strong individual
threads and numbers of layers. When a bullet
strikes the vest, it tries to push the fibers apart. But the tough strands hold their
positions, forcing the bullet to stretch them. Some of the fibers
break under the strain. But they are backed
up by many more that absorb the energy like a tightly
woven net and stop the bullet. Depending on the weave and
the types of materials, what the armor actually does
is catch the bullet in a successful stop. It's just like a catcher's mitt,
you know, catching a fastball. NARRATOR: A look
at the target vest reveals that the 45 caliber
bullet penetrated only three layers before being stopped
by the net of tough fibers. RICK GONZALES: 43?
BOB WEBER: 46. NARRATOR: A police
officer wearing the vest would be protected. [gunfire] Experiments involving higher
powered battlefield weapons are conducted at the US
Army's Aberdeen Testing Center in Maryland. Here, experts prepare
to test an armor critical to the war in Iraq. What we have in here right
now is the Humvee door that you might recognize from any
news broadcast you've seen. Note the laser. That'll be our point of impact. We're going to button
up, and then we're going to take a shot. This is the weapon system we use
at Aberdeen Test Center testing armor and armor equipment. We have a universal receiver
that can house several barrels, anywhere from a 5.56
millimeter up to a cal 50, which is what we
have in here right now. 250 grands, Tony. NARRATOR: The firing team
includes several munitions experts. The powder handler
passes the charge to the loader, who was
the only one allowed in the range with a live round. He loads the weapon and
locks the blast door. Ears. Fire. [gunshot] [gunshot replay] NARRATOR: Hardened steel
reacts very differently than soft armor. When a bullet hits
steel, the rigid steel opposes the bullet's energy. But an extremely hard bullet
will burrow into the surface, expending energy, deforming
and flexing the steel. The bullet literally
grinds to a halt. [gunshot] This thin tin plate
shows how waves of energy radiate through the metal. Soft bullets can be
completely deflected, causing them to ricochet
or simply disintegrate against the surface. Understanding the dynamics of
such microstructural events makes it possible to develop
an armor that can withstand any bullet. But it cuts both ways. For every armor, there's a
bullet that can pierce it. For each benefit that
you find in a new material, it also has its Achilles heel. NARRATOR: And history
has shown that one of armor's key
vulnerabilities is its weight. Really, it's always been a
tradeoff between protection and mobility. Because as you try to increase
the protection level to stop bigger and faster bullets,
you have to increase weight. A soldier gets tired. As you increase the weight,
it degrades the performance of the soldier in the field. NARRATOR: The conceptual origins
of bulletproofing date back to prehistoric times. The thicker the hide,
the sharper the spear required to penetrate it. Early swords, spears, and
arrows could be defeated by a variety of armors. Leather works on the principle
that it doesn't try to deflect a weapon, deflect a blow. It tries to absorb it. NARRATOR: As swords
became harder and sharper over the centuries,
inventive armorers developed an array of
metal shapes and patterns to defeat them. WALTER NELSON: Mail, which
is interlinked rings of iron, would work very well
against a cutting blow. NARRATOR: But mail
didn't protect well against a stabbing blow
that could part the links. For that, you needed
something more solid. In the 12th century AD,
soldiers began adding pieces of iron plate to their armor. Effective against both blades
and projectiles, plate armor became a soldier's
best protection. Then in 1360, a
terrifying new weapon appeared on the
battlefields of Europe. [gunshot] In its earliest form,
the gun was no more than a crude handheld cannon. But its potential for
penetrating a warrior's armor was obvious. [gunshot] The handgun upped the
ante in this competition between the weapon
maker and the armorer. Because with the chemical
power of the bullet-- [gunshot] --you could get something
that hit as hard as the most powerful crossbow. It was a very simple
primitive weapon that could be issued
in large numbers. NARRATOR: By the
late 15th century, improvements in the
firing mechanism made the gun much more
accurate and popular. Higher speed bullets were soon
able to penetrate iron plating. It seemed that suits of armor
only 1/8 of an inch thick would become obsolete. However, in the 16th
century, resourceful armorers countered by adding more carbon
to the iron, creating steel. Armor that weighed the
same as older kinds was now twice as strong. This was the period when
the term "bulletproof" came into the lexicon
in the 16th century to prove what's to test. And the armorers would
prove their plate armor by taking a pistol and
shooting the pistol into the breastplate. And it would leave
a little dent. And whenever someone was
buying breast plates, they'd look for that little dent
that proved that breast plate was bullet proof. NARRATOR: But by the
end of the 16th century, the advantage once again
shifted to gun makers who had designed a new weapon. The musket. It measured almost
six feet long, weighed a hefty 20 pounds,
and fired a 75 caliber round that could blast through
even the heaviest armor. It was the anti-tank
weapon of the period. It upped the ante once
again to the point where there was
just no question. There was no plate armor around
that could stop a musket. NARRATOR: Guns were cheap
and soldiers plentiful. While armor was expensive
and seldom effective. For hundreds of
years, the bullet maintained the upper hand
in the race between weapons and protective gear. [gunfire] By the 19th century,
however, those who believed in armor's
potential were fighting back. Case in point, Australia's
most notorious and innovative outlaw, Ned Kelly. In 1880, Kelly and his gang
constructed crude helmets and body armor. They would learn about
their armor's limitations the hard way, when these tin
can juggernauts faced off with sheriff's deputies in
a Wild West style shootout. The body armor, which
weighed about 100 pounds, slowed them down so much,
they couldn't escape. Police eventually shot
Kelly's unprotected legs. And the heavy armor
pinned him to the ground. By World War I, armor
mounted a comeback, at least for vehicles,
in the form of tanks. Body armor for soldiers
didn't become practical again until World War II, when
army fliers dawned a new form of personal protection-- the flak jacket. The flak jacket consisted of
heavy steel plates suspended in fabric. And this provided very
effective protection for a man who was
standing in place. It was not something that could
be worn by an infantryman. NARRATOR: The infantrymen
remained vulnerable until the 1950s, when experts
developed an improved flak jacket during the Korean War. Instead of steel, it was lined
with rigid plates of aluminum. By Vietnam, flak jackets
had been improved. But they remained ineffective
against the direct hit of a bullet. In the 1960s, the task
of rating and improving the jackets fell to the National
Institute of Justice, or NIJ. And scientists,
like Dr. David Boyd. Bullets penetrate vests that
aren't penetrable by shrapnel. And so we were interested
in trying to find a way to stop pistol bullets. Well, a scientist in
NIJ, Lester Shubin, saw an advertisement for Kevlar,
which claimed that this fiber was stronger than steel. NARRATOR: Kevlar consisted
of tough synthetic fibers in a super dense weave. Researchers had developed
it in the early 1970s to strengthen tires. NIJ scientists decided to use
it in some prototype vests. And so working
with the military, we conducted a series of tests
to see if they would stop pistol bullets. They did. NARRATOR: At the same time,
Detroit businessman Richard Davis, who had been shot by
a robber years before, also began experimenting with Kevlar. Davis layered the material in a
vest, which he marketed to law enforcement under the
name Second Chance. Quite frankly,
the officers did not believe that this type of soft
material could stop bullets. At that point, they decided
to get in front of a group-- large group of police
officers in the Detroit area, where he did shoot himself. NARRATOR: An 8 millimeter camera
captured every moment as Davis put his life on the line. RICHARD DAVIS (ON VIDEO):
And if the shock is not enough to knock me out or kill
me or try to kill a rolling pin and find out whether
the thing works or not. If it does, we can save
1,000 million next 10 years. If it doesn't, they're
going to die, as I will. [gunshots] OK. It stings. It stings. But nothing to make you mad. The skin broken. NARRATOR: The daring
all-or-nothing experiment convinced the officers. But any cop who's taken
a bullet in his armor will tell you the impact is
still a shock to the system. You might be surprised how much. A bullet is placed in
a gun, ready to fire. [gunshot] Fast burning gunpowder
propels it down the barrel. The grooved rifling
spins the bullet as it accelerates to
supersonic speeds. Spinning makes it
aerodynamically accurate. Its energy will be transferred
to whatever it hits. If it hits flesh, it will drill
through it like a propeller through water. But if it hits a
bulletproof vest, the bullet will be stopped. Still, its energy will continue
into the body behind it, causing blunt trauma. Somehow, you have to stop
all the momentum of the round. For example, if you're
designing a body armor and a bullet comes
in and strikes you, all that momentum has to
be transferred to you. Even if you stop the round,
it's all transferred to you. NARRATOR: The National
Institute of Justice or NIJ requires all vests to be tested. [gunshot] Not only for stopping
power, but also for resistance to blunt trauma. If it passes, it
comes back to us and we issue the certification
documents, which goes back to the manufacturer. And we put them in our database
so we can attest that they have, in fact, passed. [gunshot] NARRATOR: In the testing
lab, they use ballistic clay to measure the trauma
from a bullet hit. What you can see here is the
different impact from three different rounds, which are
basically seeing a deeper-- it goes, usually
there's more trauma. The maximum trauma allowed
under the NIJ standard is 44 millimeters. NARRATOR: Blunt trauma is the
reason why some people shot while wearing vests suffer
bruises or cracked ribs. Curious to know
what it feels like to be shot while wearing armor? [gunshots] Let's compare an incoming bullet
to something more familiar-- a baseball. Being hit by a 357 magnum
bullet while wearing soft armor is like being hit unprotected
by a 95 mile an hour Major League fastball. For this reason,
soft armor is often combined with hard armor inserts
that eliminate blunt trauma. Beginning in the 1970s,
vests included steel inserts. But they were extremely heavy. Scientists needed
something lighter. And they found it in
high tech ceramics. Ceradyne based in
Southern California uses advanced technical
ceramics to make products that are the pinnacle of
bulletproof materials. A large portion of the
military ceramic body armor is manufactured at this plant. The idea of a ceramic
stopping a projectile may be quite alien to the
normal way of thinking. We all know that if we
drop a plate, it breaks. But there are ways of putting
a backing on the ceramic to keep those cracks
from propagating. Ceramics are very hard. And as long as they
can be kept intact, they're able to
completely defeat around without any deformation
or failure of the target. NARRATOR: Ceradyne produces an
extremely dense ceramic made of boron carbide, one of the
hardest synthetic substances known. Only diamonds are harder. JOEL MOSKOWITZ: The process
initially starts with a powder. That powder is then formed into
a preform in a high pressure press. We take the preform
of the ceramic and then place it into an
electrically heated induction furnace. The furnace is
heated up in excess of 2,000 degrees Centigrade. The ceramic is then cleaned. We use polymers to
put the backing on. The polymers are
made out of Kevlar, are then bonded with
resin, and then compress onto the back face
of the ceramic in order to ensure that once the
projectile has hit the ceramic and broken, it doesn't
go any further. NARRATOR: When a bullet
hits ceramic armor, the armor begins to fracture. Each tiny fracture
absorbs more energy. As the bullet's
energy dissipates, the fractures spread
wider and wider into a cone that presses
against the Kevlar backing. As long as the bullet is pushing
against the crushed ceramic, it can't penetrate it. The newest ceramic design is a
flexible sheet of armored disks called dragon skin, made by
Pinnacle Armor in California. The design is so top
secret, this is as much as we're allowed to show you. Experts prepare to test it at
the Aberdeen Testing Center. This is the next evolution
in armor technology to try to meet some of the more
severe direct fire threats. MAN (ON RADIO): Can you guys
run down and take a couple-- Ears. [gunshot] As you can see here,
this is representative of what would be the best
portion of the package. And this is the impact side
of the shot we just executed. And obviously, there's no
residual debris, no signature of any defeat. NARRATOR: The specific
results are classified. But Pinnacle Armor has
acknowledged that dragon skin can stop some of the most
powerful military assault rifle bullets. [gunshot] It's a constant pendulum. You've got the bullet makers
versus the armor guys, and the armor guys
generally always lag behind. But the tide is
beginning to turn. And this is one solution that's
that's demonstrated that. NARRATOR: Ceramic armor works
so well to reduce blunt trauma, soldiers sometimes report being
hit by bullets without even noticing. Remarkably, materials
more brittle than ceramic have been stopping
bullets for decades. Glass, the most fragile
of building materials, is so breakable that even
a pebble can shatter it. But when glass is combined with
a thin layer of polycarbonate made from plastics, it can
stop a bullet effectively. [gunshot] It essentially becomes
a transparent armor. You need multiple sheets
because you don't want the fractures which
start at one side to run all the way to the other. So we have an impact
happening and we want to try to localize
the damage to the glass so that it actually
takes many layers but it doesn't break
all the way through. NARRATOR: Laminated glass
was invented in 1909 for use in automobiles. It consisted of several
layers of thick glass with thin clear
plastic in between. The layers were bonded
together by heat. The glass was used in airplane
windshields during World War I. And by the 1920s, in police
vans and armored cars. But it wasn't just cops
who used bulletproof glass. Wealthy criminals paid to
have the glass installed in their cars for
protection from the police. But the armor had one flaw. It was easy to spot because
the windshields were flat. The technology to
curve bulletproof glass wouldn't appear
for another decade. In the 1970s, researchers
advanced bulletproof glass by developing thinner
layers that could flex more before breaking. That decade, DuPont
created Spall Shield, a distinctly improved
bulletproof glass for hospitals, storm
shelters, and schools. The glass prevents spalling,
the shower of glass that occurs when
conventional glass shatters. It can stop a variety
of projectiles from penetrating, from
high powered gunfire-- [shatters] --to explosive debris. In the last few decades,
bulletproof polycarbonate glass created completely from
plastics has made an appearance. [gunshot] This clear material can crush
and absorb a bullet on impact. The polycarbonate is less
expensive than real glass with plastic layers. But it's more difficult
to see through. And there's bulletproofing
that's even more invisible. Everywhere we look,
though we may not see it, there's effective
protection against gunfire. NARRATOR: When police
SWAT teams go into action, their most important piece
of gear may be their armor. At a SWAT training range
in Northern Illinois known as The Site, three SWAT teams
from Yorkville, Belvidere, and Freeport are prepping
for joint high risk training exercises. All right. The layout is basically-- this
is where the downstairs guys are going to go in. NARRATOR: Their
vests are layered with Kevlar and ceramic
plates for maximum protection. What we're doing today is
we're simulating a high risk search warrant. You'll notice as the
team is approaching, they'll approach
at multiple points. As they make entry, you'll
notice that the teams are wearing their hard body armor. This is the type of environment
that is perfect for hard body armor. [knocks] Police, search warrant! [yelling] NARRATOR: Training exercises
like this have helped establish a welcome statistic. The National
Institute of Justice estimates that more
than 3,000 officers have been saved from direct hits. Because of bulletproof vests. Heavy body armor
is what gives us maximum amount of protection. Clear! Clear! And the safety is
always key with us. Everybody wants to go home
at the end of the day. And having body armor
gives you the comfort level to operate in an environment
that's hazardous and dangerous. It could be potentially deadly. NARRATOR: In order to
allow free movement, body armor only covers
the vital organs. It may look like the
officer's extremities are very vulnerable. Let's set up this back room. NARRATOR: But the SWAT team's
next drill demonstrates that looks can be deceiving. Known as force on
force training, it's an intense game
of hide and seek, with bad guys lying in ambush. Armed with paint
firing simunitions. This is kind of a
paintball gun on steroids. NARRATOR: The SWAT
team strategy is designed to maximize the
protective capabilities of their armor. When we come into a
room, what we want to do, we either want to
be moving left or we want to be moving right as
we're identifying our target. Police, on the ground! NARRATOR: The quick
movement is designed to confuse any armed suspect. So that way,
it's kind of harder the person to pick
a target up on you. And the reason we wear the body
armor is if they do pick up a target, this much of our body
is a little safer than normal. [explosion] Clear.
Coming out. Clear. Coming out. Police, get on the-- [gunshots] I got cover. NARRATOR: The Goggle
Cam provides a bad guys' view of this rapid assault.
Even when waiting in ambush, suspects have so
little time to react, that choosing targets
is nearly impossible. So they shoot into the
officer's center of mass, right into the vest. What happened when the officer
first walked, as you could see, he got shot in the chest. If this was a real
life incident, this officer would have
been saved by the body armor and not suffered any
kind of damage at all. [gunshots] NARRATOR: The tactical
advantages of armor are so evident, that even the
bad guys have started using it. February 28th, 1997. In a scene reminiscent
of the Ned Kelly gang, two bank robbers shielded
from head to toe by body armor stormed a Bank of America branch
in North Hollywood, California. As police surrounded
the building, the robbers calmly walked
out, machine guns blasting. The handguns used by police
couldn't penetrate their body armor. So the criminals casually
escaped from the bank. But patrol officers
did not have any weapon in the field that was able
to penetrate that vest. NARRATOR: Police
eventually stopped them by grabbing higher
powered weapons and shooting the
armor clad robbers. One in the head, and
the other in the legs. Both suspects died. The policemen were
outgunned by the suspects. They've now got better
weapons so that they can match or exceed the
capability of the suspects. LAPD went to a larger
caliber handgun. And also now they
have a AR-15s readily available to the patrolman so
he can defeat the body armor that the suspects were wearing. NARRATOR: The shootout not
only compelled police to rearm, but also architects
to armor buildings. Over 1,100 rounds
were fired that day. The bank and
surrounding businesses were riddled with bullet holes
that penetrated the walls. Armor Techs, a division of
safeguard security in Texas, fortifies walls and doors with
a lightweight bullet resistant barrier made of fiberglass. Bullet resistant
fiberglass was introduced into the industry because it
needed a new option for bullet resistant protection. It's a very light and
it's easy to install. This is where the bullet
actually penetrates here. And the panel is designed so
that the resin and the glass will separate at impact. And as it does, it absorbs
the projectile here. NARRATOR: Safeguard
security houses the complete manufacturing line
for these super tough panels. Textile looms weave together
the ballistic grade fibers. We start with the fabrics
in our own textile operation. And we take a special woven
roving that we've designed. It's got a special amount of
yarns per inch of material that allow us to, in conjunction
with bullet resistant resins that we use, to make
a flat rigid panel. NARRATOR: When finished, the
panels are sold separately to reinforce walls. They're also installed in metal
doors manufactured on site. What we do there is
we take a metal skin. We put the fiberglass
in the core of the door. Then we put another
skin over that and we weld it closed and
make a hollow metal door. NARRATOR: The company's experts
also fortify wooden doors. We take our bullet
resistant fiberglass panel, and we adhere wood
on both sides. Then we take a wood
veneer and adhere to that. Then we take that compound. We put it into a press to make
sure it's securely fastened to the door. Then we take it out of the press
and we install it on the frame. NARRATOR: Without calling
attention to themselves, walls and doors like these add
that extra measure of security to homes and offices. But what can you do
when you hit the road? 6:30 AM. The White House hits the road. Wherever an American
president travels-- on land, sea, or air-- he's surrounded by a bubble
of protection made up of skilled Secret Service agents
and bulletproofing technology. The presidential limousine
is the most bulletproof car in history. And the rest of the cars in the
motorcade may look ordinary, but they're a heavily
armored rolling arsenal. This car is a 1984 Cadillac
presidential limousine development prototype. This car was built
by General Motors so they can evaluate
the overall layout of the presidential vehicle
that they were building for then-president
Ronald Reagan. Virtually everything on this
car is armor plated or specially strengthened to withstand the
rigors of a chase or gunfire. It's got behind what appears
to be a standard grill, is actually something that
deflects the bullets to prevent them from going
into the radiator. Because if your car
overheats, you're not going to get very far. Moving back, what you'll
notice is something that I think just
about everybody is familiar with or heard of. These are run flat tires. And they'll withstand
numerous bullet hits. NARRATOR: A run flat tire is
like a tire within a tire. It's air cushioned
on the outside with a special
solid rubber core. If a bullet punctures the outer
skin, the air cushion deflates. But only a short distance
from the rubber core, allowing the car to maneuver and
escape at high speeds. Moving farther back, we get
to the passenger compartment. And this is probably the
most important of all. We have a windshield
that is protected by a layer of special material
that's very highly bullet resistant. And as we move back,
we have the pillars that are even bullet resistant. And you open the door. And in addition to
the bulletproof glass, you'll notice that there's a
special lip around the inside that even if a bullet did
manage to get through the gap, it wouldn't enter the
passenger compartment. There's a lot of headroom. And when the door is open,
people glimpse this thickness here. And they'll notice
that it's really no different than a regular
car, than a regular Cadillac of the day. Because all the
armoring is inside. NARRATOR: The car was built
by O'Gara-Hess and Eisenhardt, the world's largest passenger
vehicle armoring company. It's fortified limousines
for every president since Harry S. Truman in 1948. But presidents aren't the only
ones looking for protection on the road. Texas Armoring of San Antonio
armors everyday passenger vehicles. Most of the clients
in the United States have been political figures
or religious leaders. NARRATOR: Texas Armoring
relies on SpectraShield, a super light
ballistics material to bulletproof their vehicles
and lighten the load. Similar to Kevlar, SpectraShield
has multiple layers and is pressed with
a resin to form a hard bullet-resistant panel. [gunshot] To armor the door, we would
take off the interior door panel and then put
SpectraShield into the door. And then when there's not a
space where the SpectraShield can fit because of the
thickness of the SpectraShield, we would replace it
with ballistic steel. Then we would replace
the door panel. And all the wiring
basically stays the same. Then the window would be placed
in and it would be fixed. NARRATOR: The process is
repeated throughout the car with various materials. When we armor a vehicle, the
entire passenger compartment, which is the whole cabin area of
the vehicle, will be protected. As well as the gas
tank, the battery, the radiator, which would
allow a vehicle more time to get out of the situation. NARRATOR: The floor
and ceiling of the cab are lined with thick
ballistic nylon. TRENT KIMBALL: The high
hardened steel is the material we use in the firewall. And in the pillars and posts. Everywhere that needs to be
protected against direct hits of high powered rifle. NARRATOR: Like Texas Armoring,
O'Gara-Hess and Eisenhardt armor many luxury cars
for the private sector. And its employees
stand by their product. For a promotional film, regional
marketing director Michael Sellers volunteered to
take the wheel in a test, using real ammunition. MAN: Fire in the hole. DIRECTOR: Action. [gunshot] [thuds] [gunshot] [thuds] [gunshots and thuds] OK. Not bad. Still here, folks. NARRATOR: O'Gara-Hess and
Eisenhardt also armor vehicles for the military. We are the sole
source provider of the uparmored Humvee for
the US Army and Air Force. And this is a wheeled
armored vehicle that's capable of defeating
assault rifle threats and landmine attacks. NARRATOR: In the business
of bulletproofing, preventing enemies from
knowing what's armored can give defenders a
distinct advantage. But sometimes the idea is
to look as impenetrable as possible. [siren wailing] SWAT teams own highly fortified
intimidating vehicles they humbly call personnel carriers. In the old days, we might not
have to run up with a police car and position
that in between us so we could rescue the victim. The guys that were driving
that car or the policeman who are doing that rescue
are in great danger. Now at least we have the
capability of coming up with a ballistic vehicle
that'll stop a lot of the rounds the suspects are shooting. Inside, it's got very
small windshields. Because they want the majority
of the vehicle to be steel. It actually has a
shield that pops up and protects somebody who can be
up inside that hole with a gun, providing cover fire or whatever
we might need them to do. It's a very heavy vehicle. Weighs about 10,000 pounds. The back of the vehicle has
two bench seats on either side, which can accommodate
approximately six uniformed SWAT
officers in the back. NARRATOR: Humans aren't
the only cargo transported by these traveling strongholds. Money is by far
the largest haul. Loomis, one of America's
biggest money haulers, transports massive amounts of
currency for the US government. The imposing Loomis trucks,
which way over 60,000 pounds, are armored throughout, with
steel and aluminum plating that can withstand multiple
high powered gunshots. Remarkably, these rolling
vaults are handmade. To build an armored truck,
we order in the material, which is usually aluminum plate. We bring it together,
cut it to size. And then we lay it out
on what we call a jig. And we fully weld the
armored truck inside and out. NARRATOR:
Surprisingly, the walls used to create the frame
are made not of heavy steel, but of lightweight
aluminum armor. Heavily fortified aluminum can
absorb the blow of a bullet by deforming but not splitting. Once the frame is built,
it's mounted on the chassis and painted. Now it's ready to protect a
mother lode of cold, hard cash. Some clients require
an armored car that allows them to shoot
back at an attacker. Ibis Tek in
Pennsylvania has created a unique bulletproof vehicle
with a remote controlled large caliber machine gun
that can do just that. The company produces
about 100 trucks a year, with asking prices
of up to $500,000. Ibis Tek has developed
the Cobra Viper in response to known threats in
particularly the Middle East. Our objective was to provide
security and protection which does not look
offensive in nature. The gun is operated from the
passenger side of the vehicle. It is fully stabilized. It has gyroscopes that determine
the movement of the vehicle, the movement of the weapon as
it's being fired so that it stabilizes the system so that
you get very accurate fire even on the move. NARRATOR: The high
caliber machine gun can strike a target. MAN (ON RADIO): Viper commencing
fire in three, two, one. [gunfire] NARRATOR: More than
1,000 yards away. As bulletproofing technology
continues to advance, armor is becoming not
only stronger and lighter, but more flexible. What if bulletproof armor could
be made as flexible as liquid? [music playing] In the line of duty, police
officers and soldiers are called upon to
take dramatic action. [gunshots] Functioning effectively in
armor requires constant training and practice. [gunshot] Officers like
Commander John Coduto must balance protection
against mobility. [gunshot] From a standing
position behind the cover, heavier Kevlar, which is
what I'm wearing here, is pretty comfortable. It's not too bad. As we move to
different positions, though, and we get into
positions such as this rollover prone, staying behind cover
with my rifle properly mounted on my shoulder gets a
little bit more difficult. [gunshot] The bulkier you make the
vest, the more limited the mobility is,
the harder it is to get into certain
tactical positions. The software Kevlar is much
easier, much thinner, much more pliable. You have much more mobility. But yet, it doesn't
afford the protection like the heavier Kevlar does. So it's a tradeoff. [gunshot] NARRATOR: He could choose
to be completely armored. But then he'd lumber along
like this bomb squad officer. A new type of armor
may offer a solution. Meet the Soldier of Tomorrow. Technologically enhanced and
armored from head to toe. At the center of this
high tech combat system is a bulletproof suit
composed of liquid armor. It's now in development at MIT's
Hatsopoulos Microfluids Lab under the direction of
Dr. Gareth McKinley. So there's a lot of work going
on in shear thickening fluids. That's fluids that spontaneously
change their properties when you just hit them with a
hammer or with a large impact. NARRATOR: Shear thickening fluid
composed of polyethylene glycol and tiny nanoparticles has
an unusual characteristic. When a bullet impacts the
armor, the intense pressure squeezes the particles, which
instantly form a stiff matrix. The stronger the
force of the bullet, the harder the particles
locked together. After the bullet's
energy dissipates, the armor becomes soft
and flexible again. The protective
properties can even be increased by making the
nanoparticles magnetic. What we're working with
is a class of fluids called magnetorheological fluids. These are liquids that change
their properties when we apply a magnetic field to them. The liquid turns into something
that more resembles a solid. NARRATOR: As experts
continue to advance bulletproofing technology,
fashion designers are pioneering new trends
in bullet resistant attire. What was once a luxury item
you'd find hanging only in James Bond's closet is
now available to all of us. Miguel Caballero
Limited of Colombia likes to bill itself as the
Armani of bulletproof clothing. Its tailored sport coats
and leather jackets for all occasions
conceal layers of Kevlar. Candid bulletproof may,
windbreakers and coats are bestsellers. Along with dinner
jackets and raincoats. As the fashionable find new
ways to protect themselves from bullets flying
in the streets, NASA is using Kevlar
bulletproofing to protect the International
Space Station from debris orbiting Earth. There are two areas
where you're concerned. One is from micrometeoroid
or meteoroid impacts on the spacecraft. The other one is actually
from orbital debris. Pieces of stuff we've left up
there on previous missions. Then there's a lot
of it up there now. NARRATOR: With such
mind-boggling possibilities on the horizon, bulletproofing
technology may one day lead to a world where everyone
and everything is routinely armored. The clothes we wear, the cars
we drive, and the buildings we inhabit. But if history is our
guide, new weapons will continually emerge,
compelling bulletproofing technology to keep pace. [theme music]
