Titanium is now a common material designed in armored vehicles and personnel carriers. Titanium has good ballistic properties, as well as offering significant weight reduction in this application.
In addition to titanium being used in military aircraft applications, titanium is also considered a material of choice in military armor applications based on titanium’s excellent ballistic characteristics, light weight, corrosion resistance, and its ability to be fabricated.
The military has determined that there is a continued need to reduce the total weight of ground vehicles, particularly tanks, fighting vehicles, and personnel carriers. Titanium would satisfy this need by replacing conventional steel alloys and aluminum in some applications. The hatch on the M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is titanium offering a weight savings of 35% and also providing increased ballistic protection over the original forged aluminum design.
Titanium is also utilized in personal armor applications where the ballistic capabilities and light weight characteristic of the metal prove beneficial.