Adept Armor ‘Ultra-AP Rated’ Level IV+ Ceramic Composite Tactical Armor Plate for Defeating Tungsten-Cored Armor-Penetrating/Armor-Piercing Rifle Rounds!

By David Crane
david (at) defensereview (dot) com

March 30, 2022

A company called Adept Armor’s making an interesting Level IV+ multi-curve anti-rifle tactical armor plate with a SiC-TiB2 (Silicon Carbide – Titanium Diboride) ceramic composite strike-face designed specifically to defeat tungsten-cored AP (Armor Penetrating/Armor-Piercing) small arms threats. It’s called the Adept Armor Colossus – Beyond RF3 / Level IV+ armor plate, and it currently comes in at an MSRP of $640.00 USD, which seems reasonable, especially since it includes additional goodies like a “high-strength Vectran Liquid Crystal Polymer cladding layer on the strike-face”, and a “next-gen UHMWPE [Ultra-High-Molecular-Weight Polyethylene] backer”, whatever the hell those are. Actually, we know what they are. Those are just fancily-named high-tech polymer layers that are added to the ceramic composite plate to assist in its ballistic performance.

The Colossus tactical armor plate even sports a “resilient, premium-grade thermoplastic foam on the strike-face, for drop protection, and on the body side, for trauma reduction”, even serving as an integrated trauma pad on the body side.

So, the plate’s multi-curve…but is it multi-HIT? DefenseReview (DR) doesn’t know yet, since it doesn’t say anywhere on the Colossus – Beyond RF3 / Level IV+ armor plate’s product page. That seems like a bit of an oversight to us. Anyway, we’ll try to get an answer on that one, and update this article accordingly.

That said, Adept Armor doesn’t appear to have an actual contact phone number (at least not one they provide), so we’re going to have to go the email route.

In the meantime, the following info on the new plate comes directly from the Adept Armor website:

“Threats are evolving. The .30-06 M2 AP projectile is nearly 100 years old, and in a military context, is practically obsolete.

The Colossus™ is a future-proofed armor plate built strong enough to counter today’s most modern AP threats — and the emerging AP threats of tomorrow. Built to handle the rigors of war against peer adversaries, it offers protective capabilities far beyond the run-of-the-mill Level IV or RF3 plate, yet weighs just over six pounds, far less than the average Level IV or RF3 plate.

The Colossus™ is the culmination of years of R&D in ceramic armor materials and systems. It was designed from the ground-up to be the strongest plate in its category while maintaining a below-average weight: First, by utilizing the most advanced materials available anywhere; second, by stripping plate construction down to the ruthless essentials, until the plate is all lean muscle and bone, without a surplus molecule anywhere on the thing.

Built to stop:

• 7.62x51mm Ruag Swiss P AP at 2660 fps
• 7.62x51mm M993 at 3100 fps
• .30-06 M2 AP at well over 2880 fps
• 7.62x51mm M80A1 at well over 3100 fps
• Standoff protection from .50 Caliber M33 Ball
• All lesser threats such as M995, M193, .270, .22-250, etc.

Just as importantly, the Colossus armor plate is engineered for near-future peer conflict – built to stop emerging military AP threats.

The Colossus™ features:

• SiC-TiB2 composite strike-face. A next-gen ceramic material developed specifically to counter tungsten-cored small arms threats.

• Next-gen UHMWPE backer.

• High-strength Vectran Liquid Crystal Polymer cladding layer on the strike-face.

• Resilient, premium-grade thermoplastic foam on the strike-face, for drop protection, and on the body side, for trauma reduction. On the body side, this serves as an integrated trauma pad.

• Comfortable and form-fitting multi-curve geometry.

• Just 6.5 pounds (2.95kg) and 1.18″ thick.

• A full-sized strike face with full edge-to-edge ceramic coverage.”

Defense Review really hopes the Colossus is a multi-hit plate. We’ll get back to you on it.

Company Contact Info:

Adept Armor
1809 W Frankford Rd,
Carrollton, TX 75007
Email: cs@adeptarmor.com
Email Contact Page: https://www.adeptarmor.com/contact/
Website: https://www.adeptarmor.com

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