Bulletproof Testing!

The next afternoon, the testing center indeed received more than a dozen boxes of goods.

Han Chang opened the cartons and saw the bulletproof fibers Gao Yuan had mentioned over the phone.

There were two models: bulletproof and cushioning. They were packed in separate boxes, each with documentation describing their performance characteristics in great detail.

As the name implied, the cushioning fiber was like a sponge, meant to lessen the impact of bullets. The bulletproof fiber was thin yet tough, with powerful tensile strength and heat resistance; a bullet's kinetic energy could not penetrate it.

Layering the two fibers together would prevent bullet penetration while reducing the tremendous impact, forming a complete set of lightweight ballistic protection.

As for heavy ballistic protection, hard plates needed to be inserted into the front and back of the vest. These plates came in metal and ceramic varieties, with at least a dozen different types.

A video had once circulated on the Internet. Some hot-tempered American guy bought a cheap Level IV plate made in China for a hundred US Dollars. Made of aluminum oxide, ceramic, and polyethylene, he took it to a shooting range and hammered it with gunfire.

At the start of the video, he clearly looked down on Chinese goods. It was so cheap that he figured a couple of shots would probably scrap it.

Yet after the AK and Mosin-Nagant were done firing, the plate remained sturdy. The hot-tempered guy was dumbfounded. He had never expected this cheap thing from China to be so durable.

So he pressed on. He fired two full magazines of 9mm pistol rounds alone, but after all that abuse, the plate seemed to be cheating—it was still holding strong.

By the end of the video, the hot-tempered guy was utterly speechless. He kept scratching his head, looking completely unable to figure it out. It was quite amusing.

This showed that China's manufacturing standards for ballistic plates were quite solid.

But soft body armor made of fibers was different. Its technical requirements were higher, and it was much harder to produce.

Looking worldwide, there were only two kinds of fibers used to make body armor: Aramid Fiber and high molecular weight polyethylene fiber, PE for short.

By 2020, China's annual PE output had reached an astonishing twenty million tons.

Aramid Fiber, on the other hand, was monopolized by the world's three major manufacturers: North American DuPont, Japanese Teijin, and Yantai Taihe New Material in China.

Of course, when it came to aramid, DuPont was simply too powerful. It held more than fifty percent of the global market. Compared with it, Teijin and Taihe New Material were minor players. They worked very hard, but they had never managed to defeat the seemingly invincible DuPont.

We had all the raw materials needed to make body armor, which was why we could claim more than seventy percent of the global market.

China's body armor sales were indeed enormous. But claims that Chinese body armor was invincible across the board, and that even the US military used it, were naturally impossible.

Under the Berry Amendment, textiles and certain items such as boots used by the US military had to be domestically produced.

In short, what truly worried the General Armament Department was not a lack of body armor, but a lack of top-tier ballistic protection products.

Kevlar was essentially aramid, but it had undergone major technological improvements on top of aramid fiber and incorporated a polymer coating to overcome the problem of accelerated aging caused by ultraviolet light.

There was also the much-rumored third generation of body armor. Every country was still developing it in secret, but everyone knew that third-generation body armor definitely would not be based on aramid. It would be based on PE.

That raised a question: since we had twenty million tons of PE production capacity, shouldn't making third-generation body armor be easy?

In truth, it was not easy at all. Third-generation body armor certainly would not use ordinary PE. Only top-grade polyethylene fiber with ultra-high molecular weight and ultra-high density could shoulder that responsibility.

It was like the steel cables used at construction sites and the arresting cables on aircraft carriers. Both were called steel cables, but they were not the same thing.

"Is this Kunlun Company's bulletproof fiber? Can it catch up to Kevlar?"

"Hard to say. Kevlar is aramid, while this is X Fiber with a Super honeycomb structure. Their molecular structures are different."

"It seems pretty light..."

"If it's this light, then its molecular density probably isn't especially high, right?"

The testing center buzzed with discussion. Everyone knew X Fiber was excellent at retaining warmth, but it could actually stop bullets too? That was rather unconventional, and no one was sure what to expect.

Han Chang had the goods sorted, categorized, and registered.

By the time the paperwork before testing was finished, it was already half past five in the afternoon. It was time to get off work and have dinner.

But no one showed any intention of leaving. They all stared eagerly at Han Chang.

Han Chang chuckled. "Looks like if we don't give it a try today, none of you will be able to sleep tonight."

"Actually, I want to know what this fiber can do too. Forget it—we'll go straight to the range and run the National Standard test!"

At the news, everyone immediately cheered.

Bulletproof fibers normally had to go into the laboratory for testing of tensile strength, corrosion resistance, heat resistance, and so on.

But those tests were too troublesome and time-consuming, so Han Chang chose a simple, direct method: use firearms and start shooting according to the National Standard.

The National Standard for body armor had six levels.

GA1 used a Type 64 pistol with lead bullets.

GA2 used a Type 54 pistol with lead bullets.

GA3 used a Type 79 submachine gun with lead bullets.

GA4 used a Type 79 submachine gun with steel-core bullets.

GA5 used a Type 56 assault rifle with steel-core bullets.

GA6 used a Type 85 sniper rifle with steel-core bullets.

From Level One through Level Six, the armor was shot according to the firearm requirements. If it could withstand the rounds, it met the standard. The test was simple and crude, but it was closer to actual combat.

Han Chang stroked his chin. "Kunlun Company's bulletproof fiber is rather special. There are bulletproof and cushioning versions. How about this? We'll first test a one-plus-one setup."

One plus one meant one layer of bulletproof fiber plus one layer of cushioning fiber.

The former was tougher, while the latter was softer. The former was 2.5 millimeters thick, and the latter was 12 millimeters thick. Together, they totaled 14.5 millimeters, very close to the 18-millimeter thickness of domestic Level III body armor.

However, because of X Fiber's unique Super honeycomb structure, it weighed far less than conventional Level III body armor—just 850 grams, compared to a full 3.3 kilograms for traditional Level III armor.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The people at the testing center were all veterans. Once it was secured in place, someone immediately fired a Type 64 pistol.

"Not bad! It didn't even penetrate the first layer?"

"As expected of the famous X Fiber. It might even reach Level Three."

"It only weighs 850 grams. If it can really reach Level Three, that'd be a massive breakthrough."

"Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. Get back, now. The second round is about to begin."

Rustle!

The people around the target hurried back to the safe zone and hid behind the ballistic glass. The shooter stepped forward two paces.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three more shots rang out, and everyone rushed forward to inspect it again.

"Even though it dented inward, the first layer still wasn't breached!"

"That's strong enough. What are we waiting for? Start the third round! If it can withstand the Type 79, then it'll be truly incredible!"

A moment later, another three shots rang out, followed by thunderous cheers.

"My god, it really stopped them!?"

"It only weighs 850 grams, yet it can meet the Level Three standard? That's insanely tough!"

"Look closely! The Type 79 only barely penetrated the first layer. The second layer still has plenty of room to spare!"

Everyone examined it carefully, and sure enough, although the ballistic layer had been pierced, the bullets had not continued deeper. Once they hit the cushioning layer, their kinetic energy rapidly weakened and they were deflected away.

"Could this thing actually withstand Level Four?"

"Just one plus one, and it can form Level Four body armor? Isn't that Arabian Nights?"

"Who cares? We'll find out if we try it!"

At that moment, everyone was exceptionally excited, and they quickly retreated to the safe zone.

The shooter stepped forward another two paces, raised his gun, and fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

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