Pat Hassey, Allegheny Technologies' chairman, president and chief executive, said the introduction of the ATI 500-MIL armor steel comes amid strong demand from the defense industry.
"Lead times are long for military contractors and fabricators," he said in a statement. "ATI has the capacity to meet immediate and near-term demand, with the production capacity for future demand that the product is expected to generate."
The armor is designed to meet new U.S. standards for ballistic performance and is being qualified for compliance with NATO and other international standards, according to Allegheny Technologies.
It has been designed for a range of applications, including the protection of medium- and heavyweight tactical vehicles, armored patrol cars, above-deck structures on ships and aircraft, the company said.
The armor can be installed on new vehicles or retrofitted on older ones.
Allegheny Technologies, which reported $5.5 billion in 2007 revenues, supplies military-grade titanium, alloys, zirconium, tungsten and other specialty metals.
The company is introducing the new armor at the Eurosatory arms show outside Paris.
Shares of Allegheny Technologies gained 14 cents to $66.02 in morning trading Monday.
