An interesting product from Saab.

The Barracuda Modular Soft Armour System (formerly from Protaurius ) employs a matrix of ceramic balls to provide protection against small arms and automatic weapons up to STANAG Level III and beyond by increasing the thickness of the containing structure. The balls also stop ricochets and the containers can be refilled as needed.

It looks like a neat solution for rapid deployment and situations where steel plate, composites, sand bags or Hesco/Defencell are not suitable. At 180kg per M2 it is not as lightweight as the more exotic composites but still much lighter than concrete.

The videos below show firing trials using different weapons and ammunition with images from fragmentation tests

It is less likely to be used on vehicles but more so as a demountable solution combined as necessary with RPG screens.

A webbing container can also be used for small spaces

There is of course, a solution for containers and other portable structures

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So not a replacement for any one method, but another option for those looking at defence engineering and force protection.

Read more at Saab