Ahmedabad: Gujarat Forensic Science Laboratory, which provides services to various companies for testing of armour panels and bullet-proof jackets, is likely to soon tie-up with a US-based firm to share best practices in the field of ballistic testing.
The Gandhinagar-based FSL has it own ballistic testing centre where it tests products for Indian Army and now it is also providing this service to private defence companies and is also in touch with other companies to test their products.
"We, here in Gujarat FSL, have conducted tests for US-headquartered company DuPont for their products like Kevlar and Tensylon which are being used as ballistic-proof jackets and ballistic-panels used in armoured vehicles," FSL's deputy director H P Sanghvi told PTI.
Upbeat by the experience with the FSL, DuPont is eyeing better ties with the local lab in the form of an 'agreement'. "We are in discussion for a mutual collaborative effort with FSL which would include sharing of knowledge and best practices in the field of ballistics testing. The nature of the agreement is not finalised yet," a senior official of the company said in an e-mail reply.
Sanghvi also confirmed that an agreement with the private company is in the pipeline.
To a query over US-based company selecting Gujarat FSL, the official said, "Testing at FSL Gandhinagar was done to validate the internal results and also offer third party independent reports to our customers."
He said, "DuPont has its own ballistics range and R&D (research and development) team at DuPont Knowledge Centre in Hyderabad. We design the armour solutions, make prototypes and test them internally before offering to customers."
On their association with the forensic lab, the official said, "Our experience with FSL Gujarat was very good. They have a good infrastructure in place backed by a competitive and responsive team. We tested soft armour panels and hard armour panels made of DuPont Kevlar? XP and TensylonT."
'Kevlar' is a ballistic fibre for the military soft body armour and is also used in products like bullet-proof jackets for military and police persons, as per DuPont's website.
'Tensylone' is an Ultra High Molecular Weight, High Performance Polyethylene Material (UHMWPE) that is being used in hard armour panels.
"Tensylon is being used in theatre as a spall liner in more than 2,4000 mine resistant ambush protected vehicles. It is currently integrated in shield system solutions and body armour protection and has been successfully tested for use in maritime, aerospace and architectural armour applications," the website said regarding Tensylon.
Elaborating further, the official said, "DuPont made Kevlar? brand fibre is extensively used by military and police organisations across the world for making bullet resistant jackets and helmets."
"DuPont has recently introduced Ultra High Modulus Polyethylene brand TensylonT for hard armour panels," he added.
