Tom Clancy Drool-Fest

Has Star Trek’s “transparent aluminum” become real? Sort of:

Engineers here are testing a new kind of transparent armor — stronger and lighter than traditional materials — that could stop armor-piercing weapons from penetrating vehicle windows.

The Air Force Research Laboratory’s materials and manufacturing directorate is testing aluminum oxynitride — ALONtm — as a replacement for the traditional multi-layered glass transparencies now used in existing ground and air armored vehicles.

The stuff is expensive, but worth it. Check out the whole thing for all the tech details.

(Hat tip to longtime reader Garrett Banse, who’s been reading my stuff since Ye Olde FidoNet Days.)