Inspired by crocodile scales, Chinese armour tech said to deflect projectiles

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Diamond-shaped ceramic tiles arranged at 45-degree angles could be used for body armour, vehicles and armed helicopters, researchers say

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Chao Kongin BeijingPublished: 2:00pm, 11 May 2026Chinese researchers say they have developed a crocodile-inspired ceramic body armour that can deflect projectiles and potentially offer a low-cost alternative for lightweight ballistic protection.

The team – led by associate research fellow Zhaoxiu Jiang at Ningbo University – based their design on the asymmetric, overlapping scales of crocodile skin, which provide a protective barrier against predators and other crocs.

Their research findings were published on March 25 in the peer-reviewed Chinese journal Acta Armamentarii.

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“The asymmetric structure can indeed cause projectile deflection – that is an experimentally verified result,” Jiang said in an interview.

Instead of the conventional hexagonal ceramic tiles common in composite armour, the team built a mosaic of diamond-shaped alumina ceramic units arranged at 45-degree angles, bonded with epoxy resin onto an aluminium alloy backing plate.

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Ceramic materials were used due to their hardness, high compressive strength and low density.

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