Essar Steel develops bullet proof steel for defence segment

MUMBAI: Essar Steel has claimed to have become the first domestic company to launch high performance bullet proof steels largely used in defence sector.

The company said it has developed high performance bullet proof steel and become part of an elite club to produce this grade.

There is good and growing potential for this product as it can be used in light armoured vehicles and protective shields or structures. The steel is ideal for bullet proofing of civilian vehicles and for security personnel, it said.

"The company is known for developing high grade import-substitute steel products. The development of high performance bullet proof steels is a proof of the organisation's commitment towards government's ' Make in India' campaign," Essar Steel Executive Director (Strategy & Business Development) Vikram Amin told PTI here.

The government has emphasised indigenisation of the defence sector and involving private players under the banner of 'Make in India', he said.

Today, manufacturing bullet proof steel is a highly specialised technology. In India, such steels have either been manufactured under the restrictive technology transfer agreements with foreign countries, or simply imported.

The newly developed bullet proof steel at Essar absorbs the impact of bullets travelling at speeds of 700 m/sec with barely a dent on the surface. This steel has hardness levels above 500 (Brinell hardness number) BHN and is extremely tough.

Ballistic performance of this product was successfully tested in India and in Germany, at the Gujarat Forensic Science Laboratory (GFSL), as well as at IABG, an internationally renowned German laboratory.

ESIL is not a new entrant in defence segment. It had been supplying DMR 249A grade, a special steel for building warships, from its hot strip mill since 2001.

After commissioning of its 5 metres wide plate mill with sophisticated heat treatment facilities in 2009, several new grades were developed and the product range for the existing grades were enhanced.

The Essar team had collaborated with the defence sector to produce grades like CDA-99, EN10025-6-S690QL, very tough steels used in heavy armoured vehicles.

However, the crowning glory has been the production of DMR-1700, an ultra-tough steel of yield strength 1,500 Mega Pascal designed by Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO). All of these products had been stabilised and commercialised through the dedicated in-house R&D and operations efforts of its engineers, Amin said.