Ballistic & Mechanical Testing (BMT) is a leading ballistic resistance testing laboratory based in Port Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Established in 1997, we are a privately owned and operated company that was founded with the aim of independently verifying compliance to international standards.

Accredited laboratory for ballistic testing

BMT is a National Association of Testing Authorities – Australia (NATA) accredited (ISO17025:2017) testing laboratory that specialises in performing tests and evaluations for the defence, law enforcement, and security sectors.

Our cutting-edge equipment, efficiency in delivering test results, and the scope of our testing capability uniquely supports the needs of our clients to achieve the highest levels of compliance.

BMT has earned a reputation for its world-class laboratory and expertise, providing ballistic testing services to a range of clients in Australia and abroad, including to New Zealand, the UK, Malaysia, Singapore, Israel, Thailand, and China.

We are a Defence Recognised Supplier of destructive and non-destructive ballistic testing solutions to the Australian Defence Force, setting the standard in ballistic testing for the country’s armour manufacturing industry.

Ballistic testing services for the defence industry

BMT’s comprehensive range of compliance and performance evaluation services for military organisations includes:

• Body armour – including helmets, vests, eyewear, textiles and stab and spike protection
• Batch testing, Life-Of-Type and extension testing, R&D testing and tailored testing programs
• Bullet resistant glass, steel and composites used in armoured vehicles and buildings
• Physical attack and intruder resistance testing
• Specialised impact testing of glass for the rail and public transport industry
• Terminal ballistics and lethality testing of ammunition
• Weapons testing
• Environmental testing
• Testing to AS/NZS, MIL, NIJ, HOSDB, NATO and other international test standards
• Only authentic ammunition natures used for testing.

State-of-the-art laboratory for testing military armour and equipment

BMT’s laboratory offers testing services for armour and impact resistant products used for a range of defence industry operations. We test for compliance to international test standards.

With extensive experience in establishing test programmes that enable compliance in any market or tender, BMT has the ability to pre-condition test samples prior to ballistic or radiographic testing.

We can also assist in conducting research and development, certification, as well as batch and life extension testing.

Non-destructive digital radiography testing for military applications

BMT uses high-resolution digital X-ray to conduct advanced radiographic analysis of body armour strike plates and other ceramic amour types. This produces highly accurate data that can be used for research and development and quality assurance protocols.

We provide clients with secure internet access to our archive server for X-ray images. This enables the images to be viewed and edited using zoom, contract and measure tools.

BMT has the capability to detect defects as small as 85 microns. We can identify manufacturing defects in raw tiles prior to laminating into complete hard armour systems.

Areas we specialise in include:

• Detecting cracks resulting from the manufacturing process of hard armour systems
• Non-destructive ‘through life’ and ‘life extension’ examination of soldier body armour
• Conducting drop or durability test analysis on ceramic hard armour plates
• Assessing defects and damage prior to the acceptance of ceramic materials

Ammunition performance evaluation testing services

BMT offers an extensive range of ammunition evaluation services, testing ammunition to the most accurate parameters.

We have knowledge and experience conducting ammunition tests, including:

• Pressure tests
• Propellant burn rates
• Lock time and velocity measurement
• Accuracy evaluation
• Penetration analysis
• Chamber and peak pressure consistency
• Recoil measurement
• Lethality testing of ammunition using ballistic gel

We have a comprehensive range of threat ammunition that is sourced from the same batch lots, ensuring absolute continuity and traceability for test data.