On 27/2/2019, Hanoi hosted the summit between two of the world’s most infamous leaders: President Donald Trump of the USA and president Kim Jong Un of North Korea. Even though the visit of President Kim, as normally, was shrouded by mystery, there is one image that takes the world by storm.
This green train is entirely bullet-proofing, it is Kim Jong Un’s favorite means of transportation and carries the symbol of the North Korean leader. In light of this bizarre event, this article would address a fact only military specialists may know: bulletproof vests and glass, as we often see in movies and television nowadays, all have plastic as one of the chief components. The history of bullet-proof vests Throughout the medieval and feudal eras, protection suits for combat soldiers was associated with the famous term “amour”. For centuries, soldiers stormed into the battlefield with mail armor, a costume consisting of iron, steel, or brass chains. In many regions like China or Japan, people developed scale armor, with materials taken from animal scale, bone or hone to make leather and metal clad.
The arrival of World War I triggered severe changes and revolutions in the use of weapons. Gunfire erupted the battles and experiments were called to invent a modern armor that can challenge the force of a gun. Reinforced steel plates would also limit soldiers’ movement and impede their arms. Several models of gunfire-proof were introduced but in the end, none really made a significant effect. The plastic revolution of the 1940s marked a turning point in the history of weapon technology. Military scientists invented the first models of the modern bullet-proof vest, made of ballistic nylon fused with plates of fiberglass, titanium, steel, and ceramic. They bore the strength of steel and the resilience and light weight of plastic. Due to such convenience, the vests were widely used by law enforcers and military personnel. In 1965, Du Pont chemist Stephanie Kwolek invented Kevlar, the most common bullet-proof suit until today. Instead of ballistic nylon, Kwolek turned to poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide, a type of polymer that can be transformed into aramid fiber and sewed into cloth. Since then, the Kevlar suit has been the standard and traditional bullet-proof vest.