Modern Marvels - Bulletproof

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Aired on Wednesday, Jun 09, 2010 (6/9/2010) at 12:00 PM

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00:00:00g constructed crude helmets and body armor.
00:00:04They would learn about their armor's limitations the hard way, when these tin can juggernauts faced off with sheriff's deputies in a Wild West-style shootout.
00:00:13The body armor, which weighed about 100 pounds, slowed them down so much, they couldn't escape.
00:00:21Police eventually shot Kelly's unprotected legs and the heavy armor pinned him to the ground.
00:00:28By World War I, armor mounted a comeback, at least for vehicles, in the form of tanks.
00:00:36Body armor for soldiers didnt become practical again until World War II, when Army fliers donned a new form of personal protection-- the flak jacket.
00:00:46>> NELSON: The flak jacket consisted of heavy steel plates suspended in fabric, and this provided very effective protection for a man who was standing in place.
00:00:57Uh, it was not something that could be worn by an infantryman.
00:01:03>> NARRATOR: The infantryman remained vulnerable until the 1950s, when experts developed an improved flak jacket during the Korean War.
00:01:11Instead of steel, it was lined with rigid plates of aluminum.
00:01:15By Vietnam, flak jackets had be I improved, but they remained ineffective against the direct hit of a bullet.
00:01:22>> NARRATOR: In the 1960s, the task of rating and improving the jackets fell to The National Institute of Justice, or NIJ, and scientists like Dr.
00:01:31David Boyd.
00:01:33>> DAVID BOYD: Bullets,, a advertisement for Kevlar, which claimed that this fiber was stronger than steel.
00:01:52>> NARRATOR: Kevlar consisted of tough synthetic fibers in a super-dense weave.
00:01:56Researchers had developed it in the early 1970s to strengthen tires.
00:02:02NIJ scientists decided to use it in some prototype vests.
00:02:07>> BOYD: And so working with the military, we conducted a series of tests to see if they,, would stop pistol bullets.
00:02:14They did.
00:02:16>> NARRATOR: At the same time, Detroit Businessman Richard Davis, who had been shot by a robber years before, also began experimenting with Kevlar.
00:02:25Davis layered the material in a vest, which he marketed to law enforcement under the name "Second Chance.",, >> NARRATOR: An 8mm camera captured every moment as Davis put his life on the line.
00:02:50>> RICHARD C. DAVIS: And if the shock is not enough to knock me out or kill me, I'll try to kill the bowling pins and find out whether this thing works or not.
00:03:00If it does, it can save a thousand men in the next ten years.
00:03:04If it doesn't they're gonna die as I will.
00:03:15(gunshots),, Okay.
00:03:23It stings.
00:03:25It stings enough to make you mad.
00:03:30I tell you, there's skin broken.
00:03:33>> NARRATOR: The daring all-or- nothing experiment convinced the officers, but any cop who's taken a bullet in his armor will tell you the impact is still a You might be surprised how much.,, "Bullet Proof" will return on Modern Marvels,here on the History Channel., Introducing new pennzoil ultra.
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00:05:44,,prpr,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bullet Proof" onModern Marvels.
00:07:57A bullet is placed in a gun, ready to fire.
00:08:02Fast-burning gunpowder propels it down the barrel.
00:08:05The grooved rifling spins the bullet as it accelerates to supersonic speeds.
00:08:11Spinning makes it aerodynamically accurate.
00:08:14Its energy will be transferred to whatever it hits.
00:08:17If it hits flesh, it will drill through it like a propeller through water.
00:08:21But if it hits a bulletproof vest, the bullet will be stopped.
00:08:26Still, its energy will continue into the body behind it, causing blunt trauma.,, >> NARRATOR: The National Institute Of Justice, or NIJ, requires all vests to be tested... not only for stopping power but also for resistance to blunt trauma.
00:08:57>> BOYD: If it passes, it comes back to us and we issue the,, >> NARRATOR: In the testing lab, they use ballistic clay to measure the trauma from a bullet hit.
00:09:15>> WEBER: What you can see? ?
00:09:22the deeper it goes, usually there's more trauma.
00:09:24The maximum trauma allowed under the NIJ standard is 44 mm.
00:09:29>> NARRATOR: Blunt trauma is the reason why some people shot while wearing vests suffer bruises or cracked ribs.
00:09:37Curious to know what it feels like to be shot while wearing armor?
00:09:43Let's compare an incoming bullet to something more familiar-- a baseball.
00:09:49Being hit by a .357 Magnum bullet while wearing soft armor is like being hit unprotected by a 95 mile-an- hour Major League fast ball.
00:10:02For this reason, soft armor is often combined with hard armor inserts that eliminate blunt trauma.
00:10:10Beginning in the 1970s, vests included steel inserts, but they were extremely heavy.
00:10:18Scientists needed something lighter, and they found it in high-tech ceramics.
00:10:24Ceradyne, based in Southern California, uses advanced technical ceramics to make products that are the pinnacle of bulletproof materials.
00:10:32A large portion of the military's ceramic body armor if we drop a plate, it breaks.
00:10:52But there are ways of putting a backing on the ceramic to keep those cracks from propagating.
00:10:58>> WALKER: Ceramics are very hard, and as long as they can be kept intact, they're able to completely defeat a round without any deformation or failure of the target.
00:11:07>> NARRATOR: Ceradyne produces an extremely dense ceramicTHTHC3 made of boron carbide, one of the hardest synthetic substances known.
00:11:16Only diamonds are harder.,, >> MOSKOWITZ: The process initially starts with a powder.
00:11:24That powder is then, uh, formed into a preform in a high- pressure press.
00:11:30We take the preform of the ceramic and then place it into an electrically heated induction furnace.
00:11:40The furnace is heated up in excess of 2,000 degrees Centigrade.
00:11:44The ceramic is then cleaned.
00:11:46We use, uh, polymers to put the backing on.,, The polymers, made out of Kevlar, are then bonded with resin and then compressed onto the back face of the ceramic in order to ensure that once the projectile has hit the ceramic and broken, it doesn't go any further.
00:12:07>> NARRATOR: When a bullet hits ceramic armor, the armor begins to fracture.
00:12:12Each tiny fracture absorbs more energy.
00:12:16As the bullet's energy dissipates, the fractures spread wider and wider into a cone that presses against the Kevlar backing.,, As long as the bullet is pushing against the crushed ceramic, it can't penetrate it.
00:12:29The newest ceramic design is a flexible sheet of armor discs, called Dragon Skin, made by Pinnacle Armor in California.
00:12:38The design is so top secret, this is as much as we're allowed to show you.
00:12:43Experts prepare to test it at the Aberdeen Testing Center.
00:12:46>> WALT BLETHEN: This is the next evolution in armor >> Go ahead.,, >> You guys run down...
00:13:07>> BLETHEN: As you can see here, this is representative of what would be the vest portion of the package.
00:13:13And this is the, the impact site of the, the shot we just executed in.
00:13:17Obviously, there's no residual debris.
00:13:19No signature of any defeat.
00:13:21>> NARRATOR: The specific results are classified, but Pinnacle Armor has acknowledged that Dragon Skin can stop some of the most powerful military assault rifle bullets.,, >> BLETHEN: It's a constant pendulum.
00:13:36You've got the bullet makers versus the armor guys.
00:13:38And the armor guys generally always lag behind.
00:13:42But the tide is beginning to turn.
00:13:44And this is one solution that's demonstrated that.
00:13:46>> NARRATOR: Ceramic armor works so well to reduce blunt trauma, soldiers sometimes report being hit by bullets without even noticing.
00:13:56Remarkably, materials more brittle than ceramic have been stopping bullets for decades.,, Glass, the most fragile of building materials, is so breakable that even a pebble can shatter it.
00:14:10But when glass is combined with a thin layer of polycarbonate, made from plastics, it can stop a bullet effectively.
00:14:19It essentially becomes a transparent armor.
00:14:22>> WALKER: You need multiple sheets, because you don't want the fractures which start at one side to run all the way to the other.
00:14:29So, we have an impact happening and we want to try to localize the damage to the glass so that it actually takes many layers, but it doesn't break all the way through.
00:14:36>> NARRATOR: Laminated glass was invented in 1909 for use in automobiles.
00:14:43It consisted of several layers of thick glass with thin, clear plastic in between.
00:14:47The layers were bonded together by heat.
00:14:51The glass was used in airplane windshields during World War I, and by the 1920s, in police vans and armored cars.
00:14:58But it wasn't just cops who used bulletproof glass.
00:15:02Wealthy criminals paid to have the glass installed in their cars for protection from the police.
00:15:09But the armor had one flaw.,, It was easy to spot because the windshields were flat.
00:15:15The technology to curve bullet- proof glass wouldn't appear for another decade.
00:15:20In the 1970s, researchers advanced bulletproof glass by developing thinner layers that could flex more before breaking.
00:15:29That decade, DuPont created Spall Shield, a distinctly improved bulletproof glass for hospitals, storm shelters and schools.
00:15:40The glass prevents spalling, the shower of glass that occurs,, when conventional glass shatters.
00:15:46It can stop a variety of projectiles from penetrating, from high-powered gunfire...
00:15:53to explosive debris.
00:15:56In the last few decades, bulletproof polycarbonate glass, created completely from plastics, has made an appearance.
00:16:04This clear material can crush and absorb a bullet on impact.
00:16:10The polycarbonate is less expensive than real glass with plastic layers, but it's more difficult to see through.,, And there's bulletproofing that's even more invisible.
00:16:22Everywhere we look, though we may not see it, there's effective protection against gunfire.
00:16:40"Bulletproof" will return on Modern Marvels,here on the History Channel.,,,,D'S GETTIN' OUT THAT Geico can help people save in even more ways - on motorcycle insurance, rv, camper, boat insurance. nice work, everyone.
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00:19:11,,,,,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bulletproof" onModern Marvels.
00:20:51(indistinct voices),, When police SWAT teams go into action, their most important piece of gear may be their armor.
00:21:04At a SWAT training range in northern Illinois known as "The Site," three SWAT teams from Yorkville, Belvidere and Freeport are prepping for joint high-risk training exercises.
00:21:15>> All right, the layout is basically, this is where the downstairs guys are going to go in.
00:21:20>> NARRATOR: Their vests are layered with Kevlar and ceramic plates for maximum protection.
00:21:24>> RICH HART: What we're doing today is we're simulating a teams are wearing their hard body armor.
00:21:36This is the type of environment that is perfect for hard body armor.
00:21:40>> Police! Search warrant!
00:21:42>> Police! Down!
00:21:44(allshouting ) >> NARRATOR: Training exercises like this have helped establish a welcome statistic.
00:21:49(all shouting) The National Institute of Justice estimates that more than 3,000 officers have been saved from direct hits because of,, bulletproof vests.
00:22:00>> HART: Heavy body armor is what, uh, gives us the maximum amount of protection.
00:22:04>> Go! Go! Go!
00:22:06>> Clear! Clear!
00:22:06>> HART: And safety is always key with us.
00:22:09Everybody wants to go home at the end of the day.
00:22:11And having body armor gives you the comfort level to operate in an environment that's hazardous and dangerous... could be potentially deadly.
00:22:18>> NARRATOR: In order to allow free movement, body armor only covers the vital organs.
00:22:24It may look like the officers' extremities are very vulnerable.
00:22:28>> Let's set up this back room for an ambush.
00:22:31>> NARRATOR: But the SWAT team's next drill demonstrates that looks can be deceiving.
00:22:36Known as force-on-force training, it's an intense game of hide and seek with bad guys lying in ambush armed with paint-firing "sim-munitions." >> This is kind of a paintball gun on steroids.
00:22:49>> NARRATOR: The SWAT team's strategy is designed to maximize the protective capabilities of their armor.
00:22:55>> DONALD BARKLOW: When we come in a room, what we want to target.
00:23:02>> Police! Get on the ground!
00:23:03>> NARRATOR: The quick movement is designed to,, confuse any armed suspect.
00:23:08>> BARKLOW: So that way, it's kind of harder for the person to pick a target up on you.
00:23:12And the reason we wear the body armor is if they do pick up the target, this much of our body is a little safer than normal.
00:23:23>> Clear. Coming out.
00:23:25>> Clear. Coming out.
00:23:31>> Police! Get on the ground!
00:23:32(shots firing) >> I got it covered!
00:23:37>> NARRATOR: The goggle-cam,, provides a bad guy's view of this rapid assault.
00:23:42Even when waiting in ambush, suspects have so little time to react that choosing targets is nearly impossible...
00:23:50so they shoot into the officer's center of mass-- right into the vest.
00:23:54>> BARKLOW: What happened, when the officer first walked in, you could see he got shot in the chest.
00:24:00If this was a real-life incident, this officer would have been saved by the body armor and not suffered any kind of damage at all.
00:24:05(shots firing) >> NARRATOR: The tactical advantages of armor are so evident that even the bad guys,, have started using it.
00:24:15February 28, 1997.
00:24:18In a scene reminiscent of the Ned Kelly Gang, two bank robbers shielded from head to toe by body armor stormed a Bank Of America branch in North Hollywood, California.
00:24:28As police surrounded the building, the robbers calmly walked out, machine guns blasting.
00:24:35The handguns used by police couldn't penetrate their body armor, so the criminals casually escaped from the bank.,, >> NARRATOR: Police eventually stopped them by grabbing higher- powered weapons and shooting the armor-clad robbers-- one in the head and the other in the legs.
00:24:59Both suspects died.
00:25:02>> PIETRANTONI: The policemen were outgunned by the suspects.
00:25:05They've now got better weapons, so that they can match or exceed the capability of the suspects.
00:25:12L.A.P.D. went to a larger-caliber handgun and also now they have AR15s readily available to the patrolman, so he can defeat the body armor that the suspects were wearing.
00:25:24>> NARRATOR: The shootout not only compelled police to re-arm, but also architects to armor buildings.
00:25:31Over 1,100 rounds were fired that day.
00:25:35The bank and surrounding businesses were riddled with bullet holes that penetrated the walls.
00:25:42momor Techs, a division of Safeguard Security in Texas, fortifies walls and doors with a lightweight bullet-resistant barrier made of fiberglass.,, for bullet-resistant protection.
00:25:58It's very light, and it's easy to install.
00:26:00This is, uh, where the bullet actually penetrates here.
00:26:02And the panel is designed so that the resin in the glass will separate at impact.
00:26:05And as it does, it absorbs the projectile here.
00:26:08>> NARRATOR: Safeguard Security houses the complete manufacturing line for these super-tough panels.
00:26:15Textile looms weave together the ballistic-grade fibers.
00:26:18>> TREVINO: We start with the fabrics in our own textile operation.
00:26:22And we take a special woven roving that we've designed.
00:26:25It's s got, uh, a special amount of yarns per inch of material that allow us to-- in conjunction with bullet- resistance resins that we use-- to make a flat, rigid panel.
00:26:34>> NARRATOR: When finished, the panels are sold separately to reinforce walls.
00:26:38They're also installed in metal doors manufactured on-site.
00:26:43>> TREVINO: What we do there is we take a metal skin, we put the fiberglass in the core of the door.
00:26:48Then we put another skin over that and we weld it closed, and make a hollow metal door.
00:26:55>> NARRATOR: The company's experts also fortify wooden doors.
00:26:59>> TREVINO: We take our bullet- resistant fiberglass panel and we adhere wood on both sides.
00:27:04Then we take a wood veneer and adhere it to that.
00:27:07Then we take that compound.
00:27:09We put it into a press to make sure it's securely fastened to the door.
00:27:14Then we take it out of the press and we install it on the frame.
00:27:18>> NARRATOR: Without calling attention to themselves, walls and doors like these add that extra measure of security to homes and offices.
00:27:28But what can you do when you hit the road?,, "Bulletproof" will return on Modern Marvels.,,dede Marvels 1 HR - BulletprooERE Born to see the world dimensions, and the new panasonic viera full hd 3d tv is the ultimate 3d experience.
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00:29:08veve 1 HR - Bulletproo,,,,,, r mperBuBut e tu inofoth compilation of a whole host of co heer sttindAnd those machines need to be >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bulletproof" onModern Marvels.
00:31:456:30 a.m.: The White House hits the road.
00:31:51Wherever an American president travels-- on land, sea, or air-- he's surrounded by a bubble of protection made up of skilled,, Secret Service agents and bulletproofing technology.
00:32:03The presidential limousine is the most bulletproofed car in history.
00:32:07And the rest of the cars in the motorcade may look ordinary, but they're a heavily-armored, rolling arsenal.
00:32:14>> LESLIE KENDALL: This car is a 1984 Cadillac presidential on this car is armor plated or,, specially strengthened to withstand the rigors of a chase or gunfire.
00:32:37It's got... behind what appears to be a standard grille, is actually something that deflects the bullets to prevent them from going into the radiator.
00:32:45Because if your car overheats, you're not going to get very far.
00:32:48Moving back, what you'll notice is something that I think just about everybody's familiar with or heard of-- these are run flat tires.
00:32:57And they'll withstand numerous bullet hits.
00:33:00>> NARRATOR: A run flat tire is like a tire within a tire.
00:33:04It's air-cushioned on the outside with a special solid rubber core.
00:33:09If a bullet punctures the outer skin, the air cushion deflates, but only a short distance from the rubber core, allowing the car to maneuver and escape at high speeds.
00:33:20>> KENDALL: Moving farther back, we get to the passenger compartment.
00:33:24And this is probably the most important of all.
00:33:26We have a windshield that is protected by a layer of special material that's very highly bullet resistant.
00:33:34And as we move back, we have the pillars that are even bullet resistant.
00:33:38And you open the door, and in addition to the bulletproof glass, you'll notice that there's a special lip around the inside, that even if a bullet did manage to get through the gap, it wouldn't enter the passenger compartment.
00:33:52There's a lot of headroom, and when the door is open, people will glimpse this thickness here.
00:33:59And they'll notice that it's really no different than a regular car, than a regular Cadillac of the day, because all the armoring is inside.
00:34:09>> NARRATOR: The car was built by O'Gara, Hess and Eisenhardt,,, the world's largest passenger vehicle armoring company.
00:34:16It's fortified every presidential limousine since 1948, when it built one for Harry S. Truman.
00:34:24But presidents aren't the only ones looking for protection on the road.
00:34:28Texas Armoring of San Antonio armors everyday passenger vehicles.
00:34:39>> NARRATOR: Texas Armoring relies on Spectra Shield, a super-light ballistics material, to bulletproof their vehicles and lighten the load.
00:34:47Similar to Kevlar, Spectra Shield has multiple layers and is pressed with a resin to form a hard, bullet-resistant panel.
00:34:56>> KIMBALL: To armor the door, we wldld take off the interior door panel and then put Spectra Shield into the door.
00:35:03And then when there's not a space where the Spectra Shield can fit because of the thickness of the Spectra Shield, we would replace it with ballistic steel.
00:35:10Then we would replace the door panel and all the wiring basically stays the same.
00:35:15Then the window would be placed in and it would be fixed.,, >> NARRATOR: The process is repeated throughout the car with various materials.
00:35:23>> KIMBALL: When we armor a vehicle, the, the entire passenger compartment, which is the whole cabin area of the vehicle, will be protected as well as the gas tank, the battery, the radiator, which would allow a vehicle more time to get out of the situation.
00:35:42>> NARRATOR: The floor and ceiling of the cab are lined with thick ballistic nylon.
00:35:47>> KIMBALL: The high, hardened steel is the material we use in the firewall and in the pillars and posts, everywhere that needs to be protected against direct hits of high powered rifle.
00:36:02>> NARRATOR: Like Texas Armoring, O'Gara, Hess & Eisenhardt armor many luxury cars for the private sector.
00:36:09And its employees stand by their product.
00:36:11For a promotional film, Regional Marketing Director Michael Sellers volunteered to take the wheel in a test using real ammunition.
00:36:19>> Fire in the hole.
00:36:20>> Action.,, >> SELLERS: Okay, not bad.
00:36:39Still here, folks.
00:36:41>> NARRATOR: O'Gara, Hess & Eisenhardt also armor vehicles for the military.
00:36:46>> TONY RUSSELL: We are Army and Air Force.
00:36:53And this is a wheeled armored vehicle that's capable of defeating assault rifle threats and land mine attacks.
00:37:02>> NARRATOR: In the business of bulletproofing, preventing enemies from knowing what's armored can give defenders a distinct advantage.
00:37:10But sometimes, the idea is to look as impenetrable as possible.
00:37:16SWAT teams own highly fortified, ten thoand pounds.
00:38:03The back of the vehicle has two bench seats on either side, which can accommodate approximately six uniformed SWAT officers in the back.
00:38:12>> NARRATOR: Humans aren't the only cargo transported by these traveling strongholds.
00:38:17Money is by far the largest haul.
00:38:20Loomis, one of America's biggest money haulers, transports massive amounts of currency for the U.S.
00:38:25government.
00:38:27The imposing Loomis trucks, which weigh over 60,000 pounds, are armored throughout with steel and aluminum plating that can withstand multiple high- powered gunshots.,, Remarkably, these rolling vaults are handmade.
00:38:48We bring it together, cut it to size and then we lay it out on what we call a jig.
00:38:53And we fully weld the armored truck inside and out.
00:38:57>> NARRATOR: Surprisingly, the walls used to create the frame are made not of heavy steel, but of lightweight aluminum armor.
00:39:05Heavily fortified aluminum can absorb the blow of a bullet by deforming, but not splitting.,, Once the frame is built, it is mounted on the chassis and painted.
00:39:16Now it's ready to protect a mother-lode of cold, hard cash.
00:39:21>> NARRATOR: Some clients require an armored car that allows them to shoot back at an attacker.
00:39:27Ibis Tek in Pennsylvania has created a unique bulletproof vehicle with a remote-controlled large caliber machine gun that can do just that.
00:39:37The company produces about 100 trucks a year with asking prices of up to $500,000.
00:39:44,, Our objective was to provide security and protection, which does not look offensive in nature.
00:39:58>> NARRATOR: The gun is controlled from the passenger side of the vehicle.
00:40:02>> WEAVER: It is, uh, fully stabilized.
00:40:04It has gyroscopes that determine, uh, the movement of the vehicle, the movement of the weapon as it's being fired.
00:40:11So that it stabilizes the system, so that you get very accurate fire, even on the move.
00:40:16>> NARRATOR: The high caliber machine gun can strike a target...
00:40:19>> Viper commencing fire in three, two, one.
00:40:24>> NARRATOR: ...more than a thousand yards away.
00:40:28As bulletproofing technology continues to advance, armor is becoming not only stronger and lighter, but more flexible.
00:40:37What if bulletproof armor could be made as flexible as liquid?,, "Bullet Proof" will return on Modern Marvels.R R Bulletproo,,,,Male Announcer ] There's a whole new way ..
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00:43:19,,,,,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bullet Proof" onModern Marvels.,, In the line of duty, police officers and soldiers are called upon to take dramatic action.
00:45:13Functioning effectively in armor requires constant training and practice.
00:45:18Officers like Commander John Coduto must balance protection against mobility.
00:45:27>> CODUTO: From a standing position behind our cover a heavier Kevlar, which is what I'm wearing here, is pretty comfortable.
00:45:35It's not too bad.
00:45:36As you move to different positions, though, and we get into positions such as this rollover prone, staying behind cover with my rifle properly mounted on my shldlder gets a little bit more difficult.
00:45:48The bulkier you make the vests, the more limited your mobility is, the harder it is to get into certain tactical positions.
00:45:54The softer Kevlar is much easier, much thinner, much more pliable.
00:45:59You have much more mobility, but yet it doesn't afford you the protection like the heavier Kevlar does so it's a trade off.,, >> NARRATOR: He could choose to be completely armored, but then he'd lumber along like this bomb squad officer.
00:46:14A new type of armor may offer a solution.
00:46:18Meet the soldier of tomorrow, technologically enhanced and armored from head to toe.
00:46:25At the center of this high-tech combat system is a bulletproof suit composed of liquid armor.
00:46:32It's now in development now at MIT's Hatsopoulos Microfluids Lab under the direction of Dr.
00:46:38Gareth McKinley.
00:46:40>> McKINLEY: There's a lot of work going on in sheer thickening fluids-- that's fluids that spontaneously change their properties when you hit them with a hammer or with a large impact.
00:46:53>> NARRATOR: Sheer thickening fluid composed of polyethylene glycol and tiny nanoparticles has an unusual characteristic.
00:47:01When a bullet impacts the armor, the intense pressure squeezes the particles, which instantly form astiff matrix.
00:47:09The stronger the force of the bullet, the harder the particles,, lock together.
00:47:14After the bullet's energy dissipates, the armor becomes soft and flexible again.
00:47:20The protective properties can even be increased by making the nanoparticles magnetic.
00:47:26>> McKINLEY: What we're working with is a class of fluids called magnetoreological fluids.
00:47:30These are liquids that change ththeir properties when we apply a magnetic field to them.
00:47:35The liquid turns into something that more resembles a solid.
00:47:41>> NARRATOR: As experts continue to advance bulletproofing technology, fashion designers are,, pioneering new trends in bullet-resistant attire.
00:47:50What was once a luxury item you'd find hanging only in James Bond's closet is now available to all of us.
00:47:57Miguel Caballero Ltd.
00:48:00of Columbia likes to bill itself as the "Armani" of bulletproof clothing.
00:48:05Its tailored sport coats and leather jackets for all occasions conceal layers of Kevlar.
00:48:12And at Bullet Proof Me, windbreakers and coats are best sellers along with dinner jackets and raincoats.,, As the fashionable find new ways to protect themselves from bullets flying in the streets, NASA is using Kevlar bulletproofing to protect the International Space Station from debris orbiting earth.
00:48:34>> WALKER: There are two areas where you're concerned.
00:48:37One is from micro meteoroid or meteoroid impacts on the spacecraft.
00:48:41The other one is actually from orbital debris-- pieces of stuff we've left up there on previous missions.
00:48:47And there's a lot of it up there now.
00:48:49>> NARRATOR: With such mind-boggling possibilities on the horizon, bulletproofing,, technology may one day lead to a world where everyone and everything is routinely armored-- the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the buildings we inhabit.
00:49:05But if history is our guide, new weapons will continually emerge, compelling bulletproofing technology to keep pace.
00:49:20>> NARRATOR: President Thomas Jefferson..., Christopher Columbus...
00:49:28Crusaders in the Middle Ages...
00:49:33What did they have in common?
00:49:36They either experienced or believed in the possibility of alien encounters.,, >> BILL BIRNES: And the fact is there have been so many descriptions by various chroniclers talking about a strange cloud in the sky that glowed red.
00:49:53>> C. SCOTT LITTLETON: Columbus, on his first voyage, he noted in the log, a glowing object rise out of the water and head off into the atmosphere.
00:50:05>> NARRATOR: Could alien beings have been responsible for biblical floods, medieval plagues, and even ancient nuclear attacks?
00:50:15>> Giorgio tsoukalos: Visitations occurred since before recorded history all the way to today.
00:50:22>> NARRATOR: Millions of people around the world believe we have been visited in the past by extraterrestrial beings., What if it were true?
00:50:32Did ancient aliens really help to shape our history?
00:50:36And what if these visitations didn't only occur thousands of years ago, but much more recently?,, Might there be evidence of real-life close encounters?
00:50:51Captning sponsored by A&A&TEVIVISION NETWORKS, Mhine (3 HR) - Closer Enc >> NARRATOR: Alamogordo, New Mexico.
00:51:26White Sands Proving Ground, July 16, 1945.
00:51:32Early in the morning, a number, of U.S. military officers and scientists gather to watch a powerful new weapon being tested.
00:51:41Some believe the device will be a complete failure, others think it might destroy the entire state of New Mexico.,, As a preutution, viewing stations are placed from ten to 20 miles away from the test site.
00:51:56At precisely 5:29 and 45 seconds, the first atomic bomb is detonated.
00:52:04>> Three, two, one..., Fire!
00:52:15>> NARRATOR: The blast emits a fireball over 600 feet wide and produces an explosion equal to 20,000 tons of TNT.
00:52:25The mushroom cloud reaches over seven miles in height and the reverberations can be felt nearly 100 miles away.
00:52:36The world had a new weapon;, one so terrifying it left even its creator, Dr. Robert Oppenheimer, shocked and shaken.
00:52:46>> J. ROBERT OPPENHEIMER: A few people laughed.
00:52:50A few people cried.
00:52:53Most people were silent.,, >> NARRATOR: For the first time in its history, the Earth had been assaulted by a manmade weapon of incredible power.
00:53:04But what if it had all happened before?
00:53:08What if an explosion of even greater force and destructiveness had long ago shaped the Earth's history?
00:53:16>> ROBERT SCHOCH: Some people have suggested on the basis of a number of lines of evidence that there may have been atomic warfare, atomic bombs, atomic explosions, in the very distant past.
00:53:28>> NARRATOR: Atomic warfare among ancient civilizations may sound like something out of a science fiction novel, but descriptions of similar deadly occurrences can be found in the very same text Dr. Oppenheimer, quoted after the New Mexico atomic test.
00:53:46>> OPPENHEIMER: I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, theBhagavad Gita, "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.",, >> NARRATOR: Part of an ancient Hindu scripture known as The Mahabharata,the Bhagavad Gita was written sometime between the fifth and second, century B.C.
00:54:17This massive 100,000-verse text contains stories about the ancient empire of Rama, which it is said existed over 12,000 years ago, or roughly 5,000 years before the earliest recorded civilization in Mesopotamia.
00:54:36>> TSOUKALOS: If you read the ancient Indian epics, they read like modern-day science fiction.
00:54:43Yet they are thousands of years old with references not only of flying chariots and of these gods that had these incredible technological capabilities, but incredible weapons that they used in those epic battles.
00:55:00>> NANCY RED STAR: They had what was called a Brahma weapon.
00:55:08There were many people that were singed and burned and melted by the Brahma weapon.
00:55:15>> NARRATOR: Ancient astronaut theorists believe the Brahma, weapon was an early nuclear device because the descriptions of its deadly aftereffects are eerily similar to the effects of exposure to intense radiation.
00:55:29It is a theory largely discounted by conventional science.
00:55:34>> ROBERT CARGILL: There is no evidence that a nuclear bomb was described in The Mahabharata, the Bhagavad Gita.
00:55:42It describes a battle.
00:55:45In battles there are explosions, big explosions., >> TSOUKALOS: It's one thing about suggesting that, you know, battles have explosions, but that's not really what we're looking at.
00:56:04You've got to look at the whole picture.,, One reference that we have, for example, speaks of these explosions that were brighter than a thousand suns.
00:56:18And when these blasts occurred, the suns were twirling in the air, trees went up in flames and there was just this mass destruction.
00:56:30After those blasts, people who survive start to lose their hair and nails start to fall out.
00:56:38I mean, right there, we have a concise reference to radiation poisoning, nuclear fallout.
00:56:43And those texts are thousands of years old.
00:56:49>> NARRATOR: But if The Mahabharatais based on fact, wouldn't archaeologists have uncovered physical or radiological evidence?
00:57:01According to ancient astronaut theorists, they have.
00:57:08The Indus Valley, Southern Pakistan.,, In 1922, an officer with an Indian archeological survey group discovered the ruins of an ancient city known as Mohenjo-Daro.
00:57:26According to mainstream,
00:00:00s developed an improved flak jacket during the Korean War.
00:00:06Instead of steel, it was lined with rigid plates of aluminum.
00:00:10By Vietnam, flak jackets had been improved, but they remained ineffective against the direct hit of a bullet.
00:00:17>> NARRATOR: In the 1960s, the task of rating and improving the jackets fell to The National Institute of Justice, or NIJ, and scientists like Dr.
00:00:26David Boyd.
00:00:28>> DAVID BOYD: Bullets,, a advertisement for Kevlar, which claimed that this fiber was stronger than steel.
00:00:46>> NARRATOR: Kevlar consisted of tough synthetic fibers in a super-dense weave.
00:00:50Researchers had developed it in the early 1970s to strengthen tires.
00:00:56NIJ scientists decided to use it in some prototype vests.
00:01:01>> BOYD: And so working with the military, we conducted a series of tests to see if they,, would stop pistol bullets.
00:01:09They d..
00:01:11>> NARRATOR: At the same time, Detroit Businessman Richard Davis, who had been shot by a robber years before, also began experimenting with Kevlar.
00:01:19Davis layered the material in a vest, which he marketed to law enforcement under the name "Second Chance.",, >> NARRATOR: An 8mm camera captured everyomoment as Davis put his life on the line.
00:01:45>> RICHARD C. DAVIS: And if the shock is not enough to knock me out or kill me, I'll try to kill the bowling pins and find out whether this thing works or not.
00:01:54If it does, it can save a thousand men in the next ten years.
00:01:59If it doesn't they're gonna die as I will.
00:02:10(gunshots),, Okay.
00:02:18It stings.
00:02:19It stings enough to make you mad.
00:02:24I tell you, there's skin broken.
00:02:28>> NARRATOR: The daring all-or- nothing experiment convinced the officers, but any cop who's taken a bullet in his armor will tell you the impact is still a shock to the system.
00:02:40You might be surprised how much.,, "Bullet Proof" will return on Modern Marvels,here on the History Channel.,,C3C3 Introducing new pennzoil ultra.
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00:04:50lsls HR - Bulletproo,, ] MoMorn Marvels 1 HR - Bulletproo,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bullet Proof" onModern Marvels.
00:06:52A bullet is placed in a gun, ready to fire.
00:06:57Fast-burning gunpowder propels it down the barrel.
00:07:00The grooved rifling spins the bullet as it accelerates to supersonic speeds.
00:07:05Spinning makes it aerodynamically accurate.HDHD Its energy will be transferred to whatever it hits.
00:07:11If it hits flesh, it will drill through it like a propeller through water.
00:07:16But if it hits a bulletproof vest, the bullet will be stopped.,, Still, its energy will continue into the body behind it, causing blunt trauma.
00:07:38>> NARRATOR: The National Institute Of Justice, or NIJ, requires all vests to be tested... not only for stopping power but also for resistance to blunt trauma.
00:07:52>> BOYD: If it passes, it comes,, back to us and we issue the >> NARRATOR: In the testing lab, they use ballistic clay to measure the trauma from a bullet hit.
00:08:09>> WEBER: What you can see the deeper it goes, usually there's more trauma.
00:08:19The maximum trauma allowed under the NIJ standard is 44 mm.
00:08:24>> NARRATOR: Blunt trauma is the reason why some opople shot,, while wearing vests suffer bruises or cracked ribs.
00:08:31Curious to know what it feels like to be shot while wearing armor?
00:08:37Let's compare an incoming bullet to something more familiar-- a baseball.
00:08:44Being hit by a .357 Magnum bullet while wearing soft armor is like being hit unprotected by a 95 mile-an- hour Major League fast ball.
00:08:56For this reason, soft armor is often combined with hard armor,, inserts that eliminate blunt trauma.
00:09:05Beginning in the 1970s, vests included steel inserts, but they were extremely heavy.
00:09:13Scientists needed something lighter, and they found it in high-tech ceramics.
00:09:18Ceradyne, based in Southern California, uses advanced technical ceramics to make products that are the pinnacle of bulletproof materials.
00:09:27A large portion of the military's ceramic body armor if we drop a plate, it breaks.
00:09:47But there are ways of putting a backing on the ceramic to keep those cracks from propagating.
00:09:53>> WALKER: Ceramics are very hard, and as long as they can be kept intact, they're able to completely defeat a round without any deformation or failure of the target.
00:10:02>> NARRATOR: Ceradyne produces an extremely dense ceramic made of boron carbide, one,, of the hardest synthetic substances known.
00:10:11Only diamonds are harder.
00:10:16>> MOSKOWITZ: The process initially starts with a powder.
00:10:19That powder is then, uh, formed into a preform in a high- pressure press.
00:10:25We take the preform of the ceramic and then place it into an electrically heated induction furnace.
00:10:35The furnace is heated up in excess of 2,000 degrees Centigrade.
00:10:39The ceramic is then cleaned.,, We use, uh, polymers to put the backing on.
00:10:45The polymers, made out of Kevlar, are then bonded with resin and then compressed onto the back face of the ceramic in order to ensure that once the projectile has hit the ceramic and broken, it doesn't go any further.
00:11:02>> NARRATOR: When a bullet hits ceramic armor, the armor begins to fracture.
00:11:07Each tiny fracture absorbs more energy.
00:11:10As the bullet's energy dissipates, the fractures,, spread wider and wider into a cone that presses against the Kevlar backing.
00:11:20As long as the bullet is pushing against the crushed ceramic, it can't penetrat The newest ceramic design is a flexible sheet of armor discs, called Dragon Skin, made by Pinnacle Armor in California.
00:11:33The design is so top secret, this is as much as we're allowed to show you.
00:11:38Experts prepare to test it at the Aberdeen Testing Center.
00:11:41>> WALT BLETHEN: This is the next evolution in armor,, >> Go ahead.
00:11:53>> You guys run down...
00:12:04this is representative of what would be the vest portion of the package.
00:12:08And this is the, the impact site of the, the shot we just executed in.
00:12:12Obviously, there's no residual debris.
00:12:14No signature of any defeat.
00:12:16>> NARRATOR: The specific results are classified, but Pinnacle Armor has acknowledged that Dragon Skin can stop some of the most powerful military assault rifle bullets.
00:12:28>> BLETHEN: It's a constant pendulum.
00:12:31You've got the bullet makers versus the armor guys.
00:12:33And the armor guys generally always lag behind.
00:12:36But the tide is beginning to turn.
00:12:38And this is one solution that's demonstrated that.
00:12:41>> NARRATOR: Ceramic armor works so well to reduce blunt trauma, soldiers sometimes report being hit by bullets without even noticing.
00:12:51Remarkably, materials more brittle than ceramic have been stopping bullets for decades.
00:12:59Glass, the most fragile of building materials, is so breakable that even a pebble can shatter it.
00:13:05But when glass is combined with a thin layer of polycarbonate, made from plastics, it can stop a blelet effectively.
00:13:13It essentially becomes a transparent armor.
00:13:17>>>> WALKER: You need multiple shtsts, because you don't want the fractures which start at one side to run all the way to the other.
00:13:23So, we have an impact happening and we want to try to localize the damage to the glass so that it actually takes many layers, but it doesn't break all the way through.
00:13:31>> NARRATOR: Laminated glass was invented in 1909 for use in automobiles.
00:13:37It consisted of several layers of thick glass with thin, clear plastic in between.
00:13:42The layers were bonded together by heat.
00:13:46The glass was used in airplane windshields during World War I, and by the 1920s, in police vans and armored cars.
00:13:53But it wasn't just cops who used bulletproof glass.
00:13:56Wealthy criminals paid to have the glass installed in their cars for protection from the police.
00:14:03But the armor had one flaw.
00:14:05It was easy to spot because the windshields were flat.
00:14:10The technology to curve bullet- proof glass wouldn't appear for another decade.
00:14:15In the 1970s, researchers advanced bulletproof glass by developing thinner layers that could flex more before breaking.
00:14:24That decade, DuPont created Spall Shield, a distinctly improved bulletproof glass for hospitals, storm shelters and schools.
00:14:35The glass prevents spalling, the shower of glass that occurs when conventional glass shatters.
00:14:41It can stop a variety of projectiles from penetrating, from high-powered gunfire...
00:14:48to explosive debris.
00:14:51In the last few decades, bulletproof polycarbonate glass, created completely from plastics, has made an appearance.
00:14:59This clear material can crush and absorb at on impact.
00:15:05The polycarbonate is less,, expensive than real glass with plastic layers, but it's more difficult to see through.
00:15:12And there's bulletproofing that's even more invisible.
00:15:17Everywhere we look, though we may not see it, there's effective protection against gunfire.
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00:18:06,,&r&r,,,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bulletproof" onModern Marvels.
00:19:45(indistinct voices),, When police SWAT teams go into action, their most important piece of gear may be their armor.
00:19:59At a SWAT training range in northern Illinois known as "The Site," three SWAT teams from Yorkville, Belvidere and Freeport are prepping for joint high-risk training exercises.
00:20:10>> All right, the layout is basically, this is where the downstairs guys are going to go in.
00:20:15>> NARRATOR: Their vests are layered with Kevlar and ceramic plates for maximum protection.
00:20:19>> RICH HART: What we're doing today is we're simulating a teams are wearing their hard body armor.
00:20:30This is the type of environment that is perfect for hard body armor.
00:20:35>> Police! Search warrant!
00:20:37>> Police! Down!
00:20:39(allshouting ) >> NARRATOR: Training exercises like this have helped establish a welcome statistic.
00:20:44(all shouting) The National Institute of Justice estimates that more than 3,000 officers have been saved from direct hits because of,, bulletproof vests.
00:20:55>> HART: Heavy body armor is what, uh, gives us the maximum amount of protection.
00:20:59>> Go! Go! Go!
00:21:00>> Clear! Clear!
00:21:01>> HART: And safety is always key with us.
00:21:03Everybody wants to go home at the end of the day.
00:21:05And having body armor gives you the comfort level to operate in an environment that's hazardous and dangerous... could be potentially deadly.
00:21:13>> NARRATOR: In order to allow free movement, body armor only covers the vital organs.
00:21:18It may look like the officers' extremities are very vulnerable.
00:21:23>> Let's set up this back room for an ambush.
00:21:26>> NARRATOR: But the SWAT team's next drill demonstrates that looks can be deceiving.
00:21:31Known as force-on-force training, it's an intense game of hide and seek with bad guys lying in ambush armed with paint-firing "sim-munitions." >> This is kind of a paintball gun on steroids.
00:21:44>> NARRATOR: The SWAT team's strategy is designed to maximize the protective capabilities of their armor.
00:21:49>> DONALD BARKLOW: When we come in a room, what we want to target.
00:21:57>> Police! Get on the ground!
00:21:58>> NARRATOR: The quick movement is designed to,, confuse any armed suspect.
00:22:03>> BARKLOW: So that way, it's kind of harder for the person to pick a target up on you.
00:22:06And the reason we wear the body armor is if they do pick up the target, this much of our body is a little safer than normal.
00:22:17>> Clear. Coming out.
00:22:19>> Clear. Coming out.
00:22:25>> Police! Get on the ground!
00:22:27(shots firing) >> I got it covered!
00:22:32>> NARRATOR: The goggle-cam,, provides a bad guy's view of this rapid assault.
00:22:36Even when waiting in ambush, suspects have so little time to react that choosing targets is nearly impossible...
00:22:45so they shoot into the officer's center of mass-- right into the vest.
00:22:49>> BARKLOW: What happened, when the officer first walked in, you could see he got shot in the chest.
00:22:54If this was a real-life incident, this officer would have been saved by the body armor and not suffered any kind of damage at all.
00:23:00(shots firing) >> NARRATOR: The tactical advantages of armor are so evident that even the bad guys,, have started using it.
00:23:09February 28, 1997.
00:23:13In a scene reminiscent of the Ned Kelly Gang, two bank robbers shielded from head to toe by body armor stormed a Bank Of America branch in North Hollywood, California.
00:23:23As police surrounded the building, the robbers calmly walked out, machine guns blasting.
00:23:29The handguns used by police couldn't penetrate their body armor, so the criminals casually escaped from the bank.,, >> NARRATOR: Police eventually stopped them by grabbing higher- powered weapons and shooting the armor-clad robbers-- one in the head and the other in the legs.
00:23:54Both suspects died.
00:23:57>> PIETRANTONI: The policemen were outgunned by the suspects.
00:24:00They've now got better weapons, so that they can match or exceed the capability of the suspects.
00:24:06L.A.P.D. went to a larger-caliber handgun and also now they have AR15s readily available to the patrolman, so he can defeat the body armor that the suspects were wearing.
00:24:19>> NARRATOR: The shootout not only compelled police to re-arm, but also architects to armor buildings.
00:24:26Over 1,100 rounds were fired that day.
00:24:29The bank and surrounding businesses were riddled with bullet holes that penetrated the walls.
00:24:36Armor Techs, a division of Safeguard Security in Texas, fortifies walls and doors with a lightweight bullet-resistant barrier made of fiberglass.,, for bullet-resistant protection.
00:24:52It's very light, and it's easy to install.
00:24:54This is, uh, where the bullet actually penetrates here.
00:24:57And the panel is designed so that the resin in the glass will separate at impact.
00:25:00And as it does, it absorbs the projectile here.
00:25:03>> NARRATOR: Safeguard Security houses the complete manufacturing line for these super-tough panels.
00:25:09Textile looms weave together the ballistic-grade fibers.
00:25:13>> TREVINO: We start with the fabrics in our own textile operation.
00:25:16And we take a special woven roving that we've designed.
00:25:19It's got, uh, a special amount of yarns per inch of material that allow us to-- in conjunction with bullet- resistance resins that we use-- to make a flat, rigid panel.
00:25:29>> NARRATOR: When finished, the panels are sold separately to reinforce walls.
00:25:33They're also installed in metal doors manufactured on-site.
00:25:37>> TREVINO: What we do there is we take a metal skin, we put the fiberglass in the core of the door.
00:25:43Then we put another skin over that and we weld it closed, and make a hollow metal door.
00:25:50>> NARRATOR: The company's experts also fortify wooden doors.,, >> TREVINO: We take our bullet- resistant fiberglass panel and we adhere wood on both sides.
00:25:59Then we take a wood veneer and adhere it to that.
00:26:02Then we take that compound.
00:26:03We put it into a press to make sure it's securely fastened to the door.
00:26:08Then we take it out of the press and we install it on the frame.
00:26:13>> NARRATOR: Without calling attention to themselves, walls and doors like these add that extra measure of security to homes and offices.
00:26:23But what can you do when you hit the road?,, "Bulletproof" will return on Modern Marvels.,,ERE BORN TO SEE THE WORLD dimensions, and the new panasonic viera full hd 3d tv is the ultimate 3d experience.
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00:28:06,,,,,, r mperBuBut e tu inofoth compilation of a whole host of co heer sttindAnd those machines need to be >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bulletproof" onModern Marvels.
00:30:396:30 a.m.: The White House hits the road.
00:30:45Wherever an American president travels-- on land, sea, or air-- he's surrounded by a bubble of protection made up of skilled,, Secret Service agents and bulletproofing technology.
00:30:58The presidential limousine is the most bulletproofed car in history.
00:31:02And the rest of the cars in the motorcade may look ordinary, but they're a heavily-armored, rolling arsenal.
00:31:09>> LESLIE KENDALL: This car is a 1984 Cadillac presidential on this car is armor plated or,, specially strengthened to withstand the rigors of a chase or gunfire.
00:31:32It's got... behind what appears to be a standard grille, is actually something that deflects the bullets to prevent them from going into the radiator.
00:31:39Because if your car overheats, you're not going to get very far.
00:31:42Moving back, what you'll notice is something that I think just about everybody's familiar with or heard of-- these are run flat tires.
00:31:52And they'll withstand numerous bullet hits.
00:31:55>> NARRATOR: A run flat tire is like a tire within a tire.
00:31:59It's air-cushioned on the,, outside with a special solid rubber core.
00:32:04If a bullet punctures the outer skin, the air cushion deflates, but only a short distance from the rubber core, allowing the car to maneuver and escape at high speeds.
00:32:15>> KENDALL: Moving farther back, we get to the passenger compartment.
00:32:18And this is probably the most important of all.
00:32:21We have a windshield that is protected by a layer of special material that's very highly bullet resistant.
00:32:29And as we move back, we have the pillars that are even bullet resistant.,, And you open the door, and in addition to the bulletproof glass, you'll notice that there's a special lip around the inside, that even if a bullet did manage to get through the gap, it wouldn't enter the passenger compartment.
00:32:47There's a lot of headroom, and when the door is open, people will glimpse this thickness here.
00:32:54And they'll notice that it's really no different than a regular car, than a regular Cadillac of the day, because all the armoring is inside.
00:33:03>> NARRATOR: The car was built by O'Gara, Hess and Eisenhardt,,, the world's largest passenger vehicle armoring company.
00:33:10It's fortified every presidential limousine since 1948, when it built one for Harry S. Truman.
00:33:18But presidents aren't the only ones looking for protection on the road.
00:33:23Texas Armoring of San Antonio armors everyday passenger vehicles.
00:33:33>> NARRATOR: Texas Armoring relies on Spectra Shield, a super-light ballistics material, to bulletproof their vehicles and lighten the,, load.
00:33:42Similar to Kevlar, Spectra Shield has multiple layers and is pressed with a resin to form a hard, bullet-resistant panel.
00:33:50>> KIMBALL: To armor the door, we would take off the interior door panel and then put Spectra Shield into the door.
00:33:58And then when there's not a space where the Spectra Shield can fit because of the thickness of the Spectra Shield, we would replace it with ballistic steel.
00:34:05Then we would replace the door panel and all the wiring basically stays the same.
00:34:09Then the window would be placed in and it would be fixed.,, >> NARRATOR: The process is repeated throughout the car with various materials.
00:34:18>> KIMBALL: When we armor a vehicle, the, the entire passenger compartment, which is the whole cabin area of the vehicle, will be protected as well as the gas tank, the battery, the radiator, which would allow a vehicle more time to get out of the situation.
00:34:37>> NARRATOR: The floor and ceiling of the cab are lined with thick ballistic nylon.
00:34:42>> KIMBALL: The high, hardened steel is the material we use in the firewall and in the pillars and posts, everywhere that needs to be protected against direct hits of high powered rifle.
00:34:56>> NARRATOR: Like Texas Armoring, O'Gara, Hess & Eisenhardt armor many luxury cars for the private sector.
00:35:03And its employees stand by their product.
00:35:06For a promotional film, Regional Marketing Director Michael Sellers volunteered to take the wheel in a test using real ammunition.
00:35:13>> Fire in the hole.
00:35:15>> Action.,, >> SELLERS: Okay, not bad.
00:35:34Still here, folks.
00:35:36>> NARRATOR: O'Gara, Hess & Eisenhardt also armor vehicles for the military.
00:35:41>> TONY RUSSELL: We are Army and Air Force.
00:35:48And this is a wheeled armored vehicle that's capable of defeating assault rifle threats and land mine attacks.
00:35:57>> NARRATOR: In the business of bulletproofing, preventing enemies from knowing what's armored can give defenders a distinct advantage.
00:36:05But sometimes, the idea is to look as impenetrable as possible.
00:36:11SWAT teams own highly fortified, intimidating vehicles they humbly call personnel carriers.
00:36:26The guys who were driving that car or the policemen who were doing that rescue were in great danger.
00:36:30Now, at least, we have the capability of coming up with a ballistic vehicle that'll stop a lot of the rounds that the suspects are shooting.
00:36:39Inside, it's got very small windshields.
00:36:42Um, 'cause they want the majority of the vehicle to be steel.
00:36:46It actually has a shield that pops up and protects somebody who can be up inside that, that hole with a gun, providing cover fire or whatever we might need him to do.
00:36:54it's a very heavy vehicle.
00:36:55Weighs about ten thousand pounds.
00:36:58The back of the vehicle has two bench seats on either side, which can accommodate approximately six uniformed SWAT officers in the back.
00:37:07>> NARRATOR: Humans aren't the only cargo transported by these traveling strongholds.
00:37:12Money is by far the largest haul.
00:37:15Loomis, one of America's biggest money haulers, transports massive amounts of currency for the U.S.
00:37:20government.
00:37:22The imposing Loomis trucks, which weigh over 60,000 pounds, are armored throughout with steel and aluminum plating that can withstand multiple high- powered gunshots.,, Remarkably, these rolling vaults are handmade.
00:37:43We bring it together, cut it to size and then we lay it out on what we call a jig.
00:37:48And we fully weld the armored truck inside and out.
00:37:52>> NARRATOR: Surprisingly, the walls used to create the frame are made not of heavy steel, but of lightweight aluminum armor.
00:38:00Heavily fortified aluminum can absorb the blow of a bullet by deforming, but not splitting.,, Once the frame is built, it is mounted on the chassis and painted.
00:38:11Now it's ready to protect a mother-lode of cold, hard cash.
00:38:19attacker.
00:38:22Ibis Tek in Pennsylvania has created a unique bulletproof vehicle with a remote-controlled large caliber machine gun that can do just that.
00:38:32The company produces about 100 trucks a year with asking prices of up to $500,000.
00:38:39,, Our objective was to provide security and protection, which does not look offensive in nature.
00:38:53>> NARRATOR: The gun is controlled from the passenger side of the vehicle.
00:38:57>> WEAVER: It is, uh, fully stabilized.
00:38:59It has gyroscopes that determine, uh, the movement of the vehicle, the movement of the weapon as it's being fired.
00:39:05So that it stabilizes the system, so that you get very accurate fire, even on the move.
00:39:11>> NARRATOR: The high caliber machine gun can strike a target...
00:39:14>> Viper commencing fire in three, two, one.
00:39:19>> NARRATOR: ...more than a thousand yards away.
00:39:23As bulletproofing technology continues to advance, armor is becoming not only stronger and lighter, but more flexible.
00:39:31What if bulletproof armor could be made as flexible as liquid?,, "Bullet Proof" will return on Modern Marvels.BuBuetproo,,,,Male Announcer ] There's a whole new way ..
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00:42:14,,&r&r,,,, >> NARRATOR: We now return to "Bullet Proof" onModern Marvels.,, In the line of duty, police officers and soldiers are called upon to take dramatic action.
00:44:07Functioning effectively in armor requires constant training and practice.
00:44:13Officers like Commander John Coduto must balance protection against mobility.
00:44:21>> CODUTO: From a standing position behind our cover a heavier Kevlar, which is what I'm wearing here, is pretty comfortable.
00:44:29It's not too bad.
00:44:30As you move to different positions, though, and we get into positions such as this rollover prone, staying behind cover with my rifle properly mounted on mshoulder gs a little bit more difficult.
00:44:43The bulkier you make the vests, the more limited your mobility is, the harder it is to get into certain tactical potions.
00:44:49The softer Kevlar is much easier, much thinner, much more pliable.
00:44:54You have much more mobility, but yet it doesn't afford you the protection like the heavier Kevlar does so it's a trade off.,, >> NARRATOR: He could choose to be completely armored, but then he'd lumber along like this bomb squad officer.
00:45:09A new type of armor may offer a solution.
00:45:13Meet the soldier of tomorrow, technologically enhanced and armored from head to toe.
00:45:19At the center of this high-tech combat system is a bulletproof suit composed of liquid armor.
00:45:27It's now in development now at MIT's Hatsopoulos Microfluids Lab under the direction of Dr.
00:45:33Gareth McKinley.,, >> McKINLEY: There's a lot of work going on in sheer thickening fluids-- that's fluids that spontaneously change their properties when you hit them with a hammer or with a large impact.
00:45:48>> NARRATOR: Sheer thickening fluid composed of polyethylene glycol and tiny nanoparticles has an unusual characteristic.
00:45:55When a bullet impacts the armor, the intense pressure squeezes the particles, which instantly form astiff matrix.
00:46:04The stronger the force of the bullet, the harder the particles, lock together.
00:46:09After the bullet's energy dissipates, the armor becomes soft and flexible again.
00:46:15The protective properties can even be increased by making the nanoparticles magnetic.
00:46:21>> McKINLEY: What we're working with is a class of fluids called magnetoreological fluids.
00:46:25These are liquids that change their properties when we apply a magnetic field to them.
00:46:30The liquid turns into something that more resembles a solid.
00:46:36>> NARRATOR: As experts continue to advance bulletproofing technology, fashion designers are pioneering new trends in bullet-resistant attire.
00:46:44What was once a luxury item you'd find hanging only in James Bond's closet is now available to all of us.
00:46:52Miguel Caballero Ltd.
00:46:55of Columbia likes to bill itself as the "Armani" of bulletproof clothing.
00:47:00Its tailored sport coats and leather jackets for all occasions conceal layers of Kevlar.
00:47:06And at Bullet Proof Me, windbreakers and coats are best sellers along with dinner jackets and raincoats.,, As the fashionable find new ways to protect themselves from bullets flying in the streets, NASA is using Kevlar bulletproofing to protect the International Space Station from debris orbiting earth.
00:47:28>> WALKER: There are two areas where you're concerned.
00:47:32One is from micro meteoroid or meteoroid impacts on the spacecraft.
00:47:36The other one is actually from orbital debris-- pieces of stuff we've left up there on previous missions.
00:47:41And there's a lot of it up there now.
00:47:43>> NARRATOR: With such mind-boggling possibilities on the horizon, bulletproofing technology may one day lead to a world where everyone and everything is routinely armored-- the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, and the buildings we inhabit.
00:48:00But if history is our guide, new weapons will continually emerge, compelling bulletproofing technology to keep pace.
00:48:14, Donaldson:..
00:48:19Feats of timeless skill and extreme precision.
00:48:25Now 16 of today's best marksmen have been chosen.
00:48:29They will compete in a series of challenges ,, designed to test their skills until only one remains, earning the $100,000 prize " captioning provided bya&e television networks , Bill: My skill level with a gunis quite high.
00:48:55Everyone elseis shooting for second best.
00:48:57Frank:I WAS A COP FOR 24 YEARS.
00:49:00I've been around guns, and I've dealt withstressful situations , for a long time.
00:49:04Let's see how the other guyscan work under pressure.
00:49:12Mike: I'm 38 years old,and I've been training to do something like thisfor 20 years of my life.
00:49:17I'm gonna perform very well because I'm goodwith everything.
00:49:20Kelly: I'd consider myselfa rising star.
00:49:23I'm still young.
00:49:25I still need to prove myself, but I'm definitely a risingtalent in the long-range game.
00:49:36:in the world of combat shooting, I am double grand masterand ranked number one in the world speed shootingin the iron sights division.
00:49:47Tara: When I first joinedthe police department, there was a shooting competitionfor the recruit class.
00:49:53I ate, slept, and drankthat competition until I won it.
00:50:05" , I'm colby donaldson.
00:50:10How are you guys feeling?
00:50:12Good. all right.
00:50:13Ready to have some fun?
00:50:15Hell yeah.
00:50:16We have 16 marksmen here who have a wide range of skills using a variety of weapons, whether it's rifles, pistols, historical firearms, , bows and arrows, knives, even slingshots.
00:50:27Some of you are recreational shooters.
00:50:29Some of you guys are professionals.
00:50:32But all of you exhibit the timeless skills of a true marksmen.
00:50:35That's why you're here, and what we're about to find out is which one of you is the best using all of these weapons.
00:50:40,, over the next 30 days, you will travel through history, competing in challenges using the legendary weapons of the past and the present.
00:50:50The winner will earn a $100,000 prize " , we've divided you into two teams based on equal skills and specialties -- the red team and the blue team.
00:51:03Here's how it's gonna work.
00:51:04First, you're gonna compete in a team challenge.
00:51:07The winning team is safe from elimination.
00:51:09The losing team will vote for two of its members , to participate in a head-to-head elimination challenge.
00:51:16If you lose that challenge, you're going home.
00:51:18This will continue until there's only one of you left.
00:51:22You got it?
00:51:23Yeah. yeah. yeah.
00:51:24All right. you've got the rules.
00:51:25Now it's time to see where you're gonna be living.
00:51:28, come on in, guys. wow.
00:51:34Now is your chance to meet your teammates and check out your competition.
00:51:38Tara: This is nice.
00:51:39So, you've got 45 minutes to get settled in, and I'll meet you on the practice range, all right?
00:51:48You can do push-ups. you can do wide flies.
00:51:50: mike seeklander -- I've known him for at least 10 years.
00:51:54He's a grand master in uspsa shooting.
00:51:57It's intensecompeting against him.
00:51:59Kelly: I'm 22 years old.
00:52:00, as the youngest competitor here, I think other shooters will tryto take advantage of my age, and I hope that they do, because I imagine thatit'll come back to bite them when I do much betterthan they expect.
00:52:10Mike: I'm older.i'm maturer.
00:52:12I have, I think,an intellect that will allow me to analyze and break downthe challenges and perform at my best.
00:52:18Blue team.
00:52:19Iain: It was interesting to seewho else is on the team.
00:52:22You know, we're getting reallyat grips with the competition, and this afternoon,we'll see what that brings.
00:52:33, well, guys, how is everyone?
00:52:48Real good.
00:52:49Good.
00:52:50,, welcome to the "top shot" practice session for your first team challenge.
00:52:53Today, you're gonna be shooting four very different firearms that were used throughout the 20th century.
00:53:00The 1903 springfield, used in world war i.
00:53:05, the svt-40, used in world war ii, and one of the first semiautomatic rifles.
00:53:15The mosin-nagant, used in the korean war and used extensively by soviet-blocked countries.
00:53:21, and the m-14, used in vietnam, the only one of these four still used by the u.s. military.
00:53:32 sniper craig sawyer, who is an expert with these weapons, to help you guys train and get ready for the challenge.
00:53:40Blue team, you'll head back to the house while craig works with the red team.
00:53:44Then the teams will switch.
00:53:46Good luck.
00:53:48Mike:WHO HASN'T SHOT A RIFLE?
00:53:50Who is really weakwith a rifle here?
00:53:51I think we're all strongwith the rifles, aren't we?
00:53:53Mike's kind of taken chargewithout saying so, without any direct reason,but he has.
00:53:59It's his personality.
00:54:00He's a bigger, older gentlemanwith a lot of experience.
00:54:03The person that's shooting,take your first three shots.
00:54:05don't do anything different.
00:54:07Three shots exactly the same,okay?
00:54:09Kelly will definitely beone of the stronger people because he has competedwith long-range weapons, and he actually gave usa few pointers while we were out there.
00:54:19Sawyer: Okay, shooters, fire when ready.
00:54:23[ Gunshots ] , low left.
00:54:28Frank: Spotting is very important.
00:54:30When you miss a target, you're not able to see the bullet hole.
00:54:33So I'm a little bit rit.t.
00:54:34Your spotter, he'll be looking through a spotting scope, and he'll be able to spot the bullet holes or the point of impact and then tell the shooter how he could adjust his fire , to make a hit.
00:54:45All right, you're almost dead center. low.
00:54:51Two low, two right. perfect.
00:54:52Denny:IT WAS A REALLY NEAT EXPERIENCE FEELING The historical value behind operating these weapons, and it makes the hair on my neckstand up right now ,, just talking about it.
00:55:01I feel that our team is really strong.
00:55:04We communicate well together, and we shoot well.
00:55:06.
00:55:08We're gonna totally win.
00:55:15, the line is hot. the line is hot.
00:55:18Fire when ready.
00:55:21[ Gunshots ] Jim: Using these rifles does give you a picture of what people we're dealing with.
00:55:29You can actually reflect back on what it was liketo be in a trench.
00:55:32You're trying to getthe cartridges into the rifle, but your fingers are not workingbecause they're frozen solid.
00:55:41Six up and three over.
00:55:43Iain: Tara and I were shootinga 1903 springfield.
00:55:46Up until today, my relationshipwith an '03 springfield has been exactly zero.
00:55:52Now, the springfieldhas remained in the service for a very long time,even into vietnam.
00:55:57From center mast, one, two.
00:55:59Iain: The shooter and spotter relationship is really important.
00:56:02It's also a relationship that is developed over a long time.
00:56:05Just being thrown straight in there without any relationship prior to that is a really, really difficult situation.
00:56:13Tara: I kind of dropped the ball onaiain a little bit.
00:56:15It took me a long time to find his target through the spotting scope.
00:56:18Apparently, I'm a better shooterthan I am a spotter.
00:56:19, cease fire! cease fire!

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