U.S. Army tests Kraig Labs ballistic panels

Kraig Biocraft Laboratories, a developer of spider silk–based fibers, has delivered ballistic shootpack panels to the U.S. Army, Innovation in Textiles reports. The panels to be evaluated for effectiveness in stopping bullets are made with Kraig Labs’ Dragon Silk, a genetically engineered spider silk that mimics the strength of natural spider silk and is produced by the company’s specially developed silkworms.

By using spider silk in the ballistic panels, Kraig hopes to deliver lightweight protection, flexibility, comfort and mobility to the wearer. Spider silk is also reported to be biocompatible, allowing its use in skin contact applications.

The company continues to develop the next generation of high-performance recombinant spider silk materials and is opening a production facility in Vietnam to expand its production capabilities.