Traverse City’s Century Inc. jumps into vehicle armor challenge

A small Traverse City manufacturer is taking on a big challenge. Century, Inc.'s ceramic materials division, Century/3 Plus, LLC, will be participating in the U.S. Department of Defense's Vehicle Armor Challenge program.

The challenge is run by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which heads research and development for the DoD. The challenge enlists manufacturers and developers to present new armor concepts for military vehicles. It's in a format that is designed to get those concepts to the DoD quickly and get an assessment back to the designer or developer quickly, without the cost and time involved in a full-scale armor development program.

Jim McManus is the new business development manager for Century/3 Plus, LLC, and says the armor challenge was ideal for the company, which is veteran-owned.

"It's an honor to have the opportunity to demonstrate our technology and contribute to the mobility and the survivability of our soldiers and their vehicles," McManus says. "DARPA's ability to respond quickly goes hand-in-hand with the responsiveness and innovation of small business."

Century/3 Plus's design for the challenge uses its unique technology to mass-produce ceramic materials, which are part of the DoD's next-generation designs for armor. The technology already has been used in developing lightweight parts for military vehicles, and now is being explored for armor potential.

Writer: Sam Eggleston
Source: Jim McManus, Century/3 Plus, LLC