Patent ID: 8176828

Claim:
A transparent ballistic armor comprising: a hard face defining a front surface and a rear surface, said hard face being fabricated from a glass-ceramic material comprising a glass phase and a crystalline phase, said hard face having a first refractive index, said crystalline phase and said glass phase occurring in a ratio such that said hard face is substantially transparent to visible light, said crystalline phase comprising a plurality of crystals, said crystals having an average dimension such that said hard face is substantially transparent to visible light; a backing layer substantially covering said rear surface of said hard face, said backing layer being fabricated from a material that is substantially transparent to visible light, said backing layer having a second refractive index, said second refractive index being substantially equal to said first refractive index; and a covering layer covering said front surface of said hard face, said covering layer being fabricated from a polymeric material, said covering layer limiting front spall resulting from fracturing of said hard face due to ballistic impact, wherein said backing layer and said covering layer cooperate to compress said hard face.