Eurosatory 2026 brought together many of the world’s leading defense and security companies, making it the ideal setting to explore the latest advances in ballistic protection. During the exhibition in Paris, BodyArmorNews.com sat down with Steve LaGanke, Global Defense Business Leader at Arclin, to discuss the evolution of Kevlar®, the development of Kevlar® EXO™, and what the next generation of ballistic protection could look like.
For nearly 60 years, the name Kevlar® has been synonymous with personal protection. From the helmets worn by soldiers on the battlefield to the body armor protecting law enforcement officers, the iconic aramid fiber has saved countless lives. But as modern threats become more complex and the demand for lighter, more capable protective equipment grows, even an industry benchmark must evolve.
That evolution has arrived in the form of Kevlar® EXO™.
Developed over more than a decade, Kevlar® EXO™ represents the first major breakthrough in aramid fiber chemistry in more than half a century. According to Steve LaGanke, Global Defense Business Leader at Arclin, it isn’t simply an upgraded version of Kevlar®; it’s an entirely new material built from a different chemistry and manufactured through a completely new production process.
“The market needed a higher-strength, higher-performance aramid fiber,” LaGanke explains.
“We spent over ten years developing the chemistry, the manufacturing process, and the design to create something entirely new.”
The result is a fiber that delivers approximately 30 to 40 percent greater tensile strength than conventional Kevlar®. While that figure may sound like an engineering statistic, its real-world implications are significant. Greater material strength means manufacturers can achieve the same level of ballistic protection using considerably less material, opening the door to body armor that is dramatically lighter without compromising safety.
For soldiers and police officers, every kilogram matters.
More Protection, Less Weight
Reducing the weight of protective equipment has become one of the industry’s biggest engineering challenges. Personnel are expected to carry increasing amounts of gear while remaining agile enough to react quickly in demanding situations.
Kevlar® EXO™ was developed with exactly that challenge in mind.
“The stronger the fiber becomes,” says LaGanke, “the less material you need to stop a bullet. Ultimately, that leads to lighter, more comfortable solutions for military and law enforcement personnel.”
The difference could transform how future protective systems are designed. Armor that weighs 30 to 40 percent less could reduce fatigue during long deployments, improve mobility in combat environments, and increase overall operational effectiveness, all while maintaining the same ballistic performance.
Solving the Hard Armor Challenge
While flexible body armor often receives the spotlight, hard armor systems present an entirely different engineering puzzle.
Ballistic helmets and ceramic torso plates must do much more than stop incoming rounds. They must withstand repeated impacts, maintain their structural integrity under extreme conditions, and absorb enormous amounts of energy to reduce blunt-force trauma.
For helmets, stopping a bullet is only part of the equation.
“You want to make sure the energy doesn’t make it into your head,” LaGanke explains. “You don’t want additional damage after stopping the bullet itself.”
Similarly, ceramic armor plates rely on composite materials that keep fractured ceramic tiles intact after an initial impact, allowing them to continue protecting the wearer against multiple hits.
These are precisely the performance gaps Kevlar® EXO™ has been designed to address.
More Than Just Ballistic Protection
Although defense remains its primary focus, Kevlar® EXO™’s capabilities extend well beyond military applications.
The material is already finding its way into high-performance sporting goods, where manufacturers like Kinetixx are using it to produce golf club shafts that combine exceptional strength with reduced weight.
Its potential reaches even further into aerospace. Formula 1 racing teams are using Kevlar® EXO™ in fuel bladders designed to keep fuel contained after punctures, improving driver safety during high-speed accidents. In space, the material is being tested to help shield satellites from Micro-meteoroids and Orbital Debris (MMOD), an increasingly important challenge as Earth’s orbit becomes more congested.
For LaGanke, these examples demonstrate that a material originally designed for personal protection can solve engineering problems across entirely different industries.
Sustainability Becomes Part of Performance
Performance is no longer measured solely by strength or durability.
Manufacturers are increasingly expected to consider the environmental impact of advanced materials throughout their entire lifecycle.
Kevlar® EXO™ offers advantages here as well. Because it is manufactured as a woven fabric, the material can be dismantled at the end of its service life, allowing fibers to be recovered and reused in high-value applications such as cut-resistant protective gloves.
Combined with the reduced material requirements made possible by its higher strength, the technology offers opportunities to lower the overall environmental footprint of future protective equipment.
“We look at everything,” says LaGanke. “The materials used in production, reducing the amount of material needed, and what happens at the end of the product’s life.”
A New Chapter Under Arclin
The launch of Kevlar® EXO™ also coincides with a new chapter for the business following Arclin’s acquisition of the Kevlar® and Nomex® portfolio.
According to LaGanke, the transition has been about much more than acquiring a globally recognized brand. Arclin also acquired the manufacturing facilities, technical expertise, product portfolio and the teams behind the technology.
The company’s immediate priority has been ensuring continuity for existing customers while continuing to invest in innovation.
“We’re excited,” LaGanke says. “Arclin is committed to investing in Kevlar®, Nomex® and Kevlar® EXO™ to support our customers and continue driving growth.”
The Future of Ballistic Protection
Modern battlefields are changing rapidly. Emerging threats, including drones, increasingly advanced ammunition and evolving combat environments, are forcing manufacturers to rethink how protective equipment is designed.
Tomorrow’s armor will need to do far more than simply stop bullets.
It must be lighter, more comfortable, easier to wear for extended periods and better able to protect against multiple types of threats, all without restricting the wearer’s movement.
For LaGanke, that is exactly where the industry is headed.
“As threats evolve,” he says, “we’ll continue developing new protective materials while making armor more comfortable, more mobile and something people actually want to wear.”
After six decades of defining ballistic protection, Kevlar® is entering a new era. And if Kevlar® EXO™ delivers on its promise, the future of personal protection may not simply be stronger, it may finally become lighter, smarter and more versatile than ever before.
