Defense and security: Saint-Gobain at the Eurosatory fair

Saint-Gobain Sekurit Transport and Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials (Crystals and High-Performance Refractories) were reunited on a common booth during the Eurosatory exhibition, world reference for land defense and security, held in Paris from June 13 to 17.

Saint-Gobain Sully exhibited its high value-added glazing for armored military vehicles with two watchwords: lightness and durability. A new product composed of monocrystalline sapphire sheets with multiple glass and polycarbonate layers presents a 40% gain in weight compared to equivalent ballistic resistance solutions from the competition. Sapphire being the hardest material after diamond, Saint-Gobain Crystals' transparent SAFIRE armor also resists sand abrasion and corrosion from the gases released when a rocket is fired.

The Group's glazing solutions are furthermore recognized for their durability: where competitors' lamination decomposes to the extent that it opacifies the window and reduces visibility by a third, Saint-Gobain's solutions with anti-shatter film come with a four-year warranty, compared to two or three for the rest of the market. These products equip the armored vehicles of Renault Truck Defense, SOFRAME, KNDS (merger between Nexter and Krauss-Maffei) and Essonne Sécurité, used for example by the French army in operation Barkhane on the Sahel-Sahara strip.

Lastly, on its side, Saint-Gobain Ceramic Materials exhibited its silicon carbide sheets, notably those of the Hexoloy and Forceram families, that can be found in shields, helmets, bulletproof vests as well as land, sea or air vehicles, on the civil and military protection market. The fair was also the occasion to showcase the latest developments around these two material platforms produced by High-Performance Refractories aimed at providing unique ballistic performance that combine lightness, versatility in the forming process to make complex shapes and sizes, and finally resistance to multiple impacts thanks to the complex engineering of the material's micro structure.