.50 cal vs. coated steel armor - GIF

[nova_robotics]

Looks like they've got two pieces of armor in a whipple shield configuration. It's very interesting. Two pieces of armor separated by an air gap can perform better than one solid piece of armor. They're using this for micrometeroid impacts on spacecraft.

I noticed a very similar effect years ago when I was trying to make a light diffuser for a project. Turns out you can do a mediocre job of diffusing the light with a solid piece of 1.5" UHMW, or you can do a much better job by stacking two 1/4" pieces separated by an air gap.