The armor raw material produced from "special alumina" at the Eti Aluminum Facilities in Konya will provide higher protection than the steel armor used in land, air and sea vehicles.
Eti Aluminum, a subsidiary of Cengiz Holding, has developed an armor raw material for the defense industry from aluminum oxide, which increases explosion damping and ballistic protection.
The mass production of the raw material, which has been developed through R&D studies and provides high protection with its non-flammability feature, will start next year at the facility.
Mehmet Arkan, General Manager of Eti Aluminum, told Anadolu Agency that they are among the strategic institutions of the country with special aluminum trihydroxide (ATH) and special alumina they have developed with advanced technology.
Stating that there are difficulties in the supply of raw materials in the defense industry, Arkan said that they started this work in line with the demands received from domestic armor production companies.
12 thousand tons of 20 thousand tons of ATH consumed annually are produced in this facility.
Emphasizing that Turkey has an annual consumption of 20 thousand tons of ATH, Arkan said, "We started to produce 12 thousand tons of this. With these investments, we prevented 22 million dollars from 50 million dollars of annual imports. We will reach a capacity of 30 thousand tons by the end of the year. ATH is very important in the defense industry. It is a material that provides high protection thanks to its non-flammability feature. ATH must be used in the cables of tanks, ships, submarines and airplanes." he said.
Mentioning that they also obtained "special alumina" from the high quality ATH developed, Arkan continued as follows:
"We turn ATH, from which we throw away the water molecules at high temperature, into aluminum oxide, that is, special alumina. We mainly use it in metal production. We produced armor raw materials for the defense industry, which is not a producer in the world, by giving alumina different properties. "We will start the mass production of the raw material and supply it to companies producing armor. The defense industry is developing and our armored vehicles attract the attention of the world. For this, international standards must be met. We have succeeded in producing this raw material."
Doesn't melt even at 2,000 degrees
Arkan stated that Turkey is among the few countries that can produce this raw material.
Drawing attention to the superiority of the armor raw material produced from alumina over steel armor, Arkan said:
"Special alumina is a material that is resistant to very high temperatures and does not melt even at 2 thousand degrees. This material does not melt because it withstands very high temperatures, and the ammunition cannot penetrate inside and explodes outside. It also prevents attacks with assassination weapons and armor-piercing bullets. It increases the strength of the armor and provides extra protection. Composites to be produced with this armor raw material can also be used in armored vehicles of the armed forces that require modernization."
Konya'daki Eti Alüminyum Tesisleri'nde "özel alümina"dan üretilen zırh ham maddesi, kara, hava ve deniz araçlarında kullanılan çelik zırha göre daha yüksek koruma sağlayacak. - Anadolu Ajansı
www.aa.com.tr