U.S. Army to commercially make steel armor

WASHINGTON, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army announced it will commercially produce a unique protective steel armor based on technology developed and patented by the Department of Energy.

The armor, designed to protect military personnel and vehicles from improvised explosive devices and explosively formed penetrators, was created by the Energy Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory.

The Department of Defense said it plans to purchase about 10 million pounds of the cast-slotted steel armor known as P-900 for use as add-ons to military vehicles.

The U.S. Army Tank and Automotive Command expects to receive the first 2.5 million pounds of P-900 by the end of this year.

U.S. Army officials said they decided to commercialize the process following a series of successful ballistic tests performed on the cast steel armor. However, officials said each foundry producing the castings will have to be qualified for its ballistic and production schedule capabilities.