Military wants bulletproof, dimmable windows to protect VIPs

(Credit: GKN)

The U.S. Department of Defense has contracted for the development of bullet resistant windows that dim instantly with a touch of a button, providing "on-demand" light control, privacy, and protection from heat, glare, and ultraviolet rays.

GKN Aerospace was awarded the $425,000 contract by the Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office's VIP Protection Subgroup to incorporate dimmable films with armored glass to provide a "SmartShade" that conceals the location and identity of VIPs traveling in armored vehicles.

The Redditch, U.K.-based company will wed its bullet resistant glazing expertise with a "suspended particle device" technology called SPD-SmartGlass, licensed to it by Research Frontiers. GKN is the same company that designed and produced the windows for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

SmartGlass is already available for architectural and automotive applications, and the developers hope the armored variety will soon be an option on your car, too (view demo).

"This new development will have its initial application in the global counterterrorism market for government VIP armored personnel vehicles but also has real value in the civilian VIP market," said William Fischer, GKN's vice president of technology. "These SmartShade windows will give a level of control, protection, and privacy for vehicle occupants not available until now," he said.

The VIP Protection Subgroup's job is to provide "security enhancing technology" for your betters: recent projects include bulletproof cubicles, portable, air-conditioned rooms for VIPs to hold "sensitive discussions," and canine body armor (PDF).

[tektaktyks]

lol @ the "demo"

[highguard01]

I want generals who can win a war. i want a wife that doesnt whine. And i want lower taxes
so these windows dont help me or you buddy once the farmer you pissed off moves up past
very small arms fire and the tint....... the bad guys just going shoot everywhere same time

so what the military realy needs is a job then it can buy its own windows and bullet proof its eyeballs out. ;] go get a job!

[Bakkster]

"so what the military realy needs is a job then it can buy its own windows"

Funny, that's the exact opposite of the standard "No war for oil" argument, isn't it?

[Mr_fleabite]

uuuuuhhhhh huh and this whole time I thought it was their job to defend the country from enemies foreign and domestic. What would we call a military force that operates for money, mercenaries?

[highguard01]

no no lets spend 800 billion on bulletproof windows. who needs to live forever?i like the 4 pages of forecloser in my newspaper.. ha far as oil man since 1900s people been using electric in new ways. 1931 Nikola tesla made the electric car.
honestly they dont need windows they need something else. to protect them from scalar warfare.lasers.
vacume bombs.ect

[highguard01]

tthese windows are garbage and anything else you try to put inline with them cant stop ****
but small arms useless

[outlaw26r]

This reminds me of talking to some contractors in Iraq who were conducting research on our Stryker vehicles. They were researching the needs on additional protection in the rear air guard hatches. They guy said that nothing penetrates 8 inch glass, which prompeted us to ask why not make the whole go-ram vehicle out of eight inch glass! Sounds like a simple solution here. Slap some triple layered ND on rollers and save the taxpayers $425,000. Or better yet, put em in a Stryker with a v shaped hull. Only 2 million per.

[ivorycruncher]

Here's my question. Why the HECK are we outsourcing this to the U.K.?!?!?!? Good grief, you'd think our own military would at least be patriotic enough to put our tax dollars back into an American company for this. Oh yeah, that's right, there probably isn't an American company capable of this, because our manufacturing industry has been almost completely destroyed by our liberal free trade policies.

[crazynexus]

it's outsourced because that company already has the expertise, so therefor overall cost will be less.

[knowles2]

Because we are allies and often share technology and expertise.
An well Pentagon buys a lot of there stuff from Britain.
And it should not matter where it comes from. What should matter that its provides the best protection for the troops, and deliver value for money. It should not matter whether you buy it from UK, France, Germany or China. Same as it should not matter whether the UK buys from the US.
With the ever growing complexes technology, no nation can have expertise in every field and certainly not the best in every field.

[Jamasama]

Damnit. Should've looked at the article title longer and notice that windows didn't have a capital W. Lol.

[Altotus]

Dark windows are illegal in Ohio.