Apparatus, methods and system for improved lightweight armor protection

An armor structure comprising:

• a backing plate comprising a thickness, said backing plate comprising a plurality of concentric receiving channels, each of said receiving channels comprising:
• a depth,
• an inner surface inclined at an incident angle, and
• an outer surface inclined at an incident angle;
• and
• a frontal member comprising a thickness, a front surface, and a back surface, said back surface disposed on said backing plate and said back surface comprising a plurality of concentric grooves that extend substantially uninterrupted about the back surface of the frontal member, and at least one of the plurality of grooves of said frontal member corresponds to at least one of the plurality of receiving channels of said backing plate, each of said grooves comprising:
• a height, with the height of at least one groove less than the depth of at least one corresponding receiving channel so that the at least one groove does not contact a bottom surface of the at least one corresponding receiving channel,
• an inner surface inclined at an incident angle, and
• an outer surface, inclined at an incident angle;
• wherein said armor structure protects from the impact of a projectile.

A method of providing armor protection for defeating projectiles to a host carrier comprising:

• forming a backing plate, said backing plate having a thickness and comprising a plurality of concentric receiving channels, each of said receiving channels having
• a depth,
• an inner surface, and
• an outer surface inclined at an incident angle;
• forming a frontal member, said frontal member having a thickness, a front surface, and a back surface, said back surface disposed on said backing plate and said back surface comprising a plurality of concentric grooves, each of said grooves having
• a height,
• an inner surface, and
• an outer surface inclined at an incident angle;
• and
• compressing said frontal member onto said backing plate, wherein a resulting force between said outer surface of at least one of said grooves and said inner surface of at least one of said receiving channels results in a compressive preload onto said frontal member;
• wherein said armor protection protects the host carrier from the impact of a projectile bullet.