Titanium alloy has been widely used in the weapons industry, becoming an indispensable material, weapons with titanium, such as tiger wings, more miraculous. Titanium alloy weapons are not only light weight, good maneuverability, and power rise, especially suitable for airborne troops and assault troops to use, titanium alloy mortar base plate than steel plate more than 50% lighter, titanium alloy is the manufacture of mortar tubes, seat plates, gun barrels, gun racks and other superior materials, but also the preparation of protective clothing and helmets good material.

Since the industrial production of titanium and titanium alloy in the mid-1940s, the United States and the Soviet Union began to pay attention to and study their application in weapons, the United States Watertown (Watertown) ordnance factory has done a lot of pioneering work on the application of titanium alloy in weapons, and is the world's largest and most advanced unit to study titanium alloy in the field of weapons. In 1955, the United States used 57 tons of titanium in the weapons industry, 281 tons in 1961, 1040 tons in 1971, and it is estimated that it will reach 2100 tons in 2020, because it is not a war period, so the growth rate is not fast.

Application in artillery

Titanium and titanium alloys are important materials for the manufacture of gun structural parts, and have been used in some world-famous guns since the 1950s. The barrel, chamber, nozzle and firing piston of the M28 120mm Crockett recoillless gun manufactured in the United States in 1950 are forged and extruded with Ti-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu alloy. The whole gun mass is 68kg, 34.9% lighter than the steel gun 104.4kg. In 1961, mass production began, equipped with infantry battalions, paratroopers, mechanized infantry battalions, tank battalions and airborne divisions, with small size, light weight, high power, high mobility and easy camouflage. TI-6Al-6V-2Sn-0.5Fe-0.5Cu is an (α+β) alloy with mechanical properties of tensile strength 1098MPa, yield strength 1030MPa, elongation 13%, cross-section shrinkage 37%, Brinell hardness 34.

In the 1970s, TI-6AL-4V-2SN titanium alloy was used to manufacture the gun barrel, and Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-7Al-4Mo and Ti-5Al-1.5Fe-1.4Cr-1.2Mo titanium alloys were used to manufacture the chamber, nozzle and firing piston, with the total gun mass of only 49kg, and four people could resist running forward. After the tail frame and gun frame of the T66 76mm gun are changed to titanium alloy, they are 93.55kg lighter than the steel, only 142.9kg. The cannon's titanium frame is 42% lighter than steel. After that, the United States made T227 81mm mortar base plate with industrial pure titanium, which is 50% lighter than the steel plate, only 10.9kg. The gun plug is also made of titanium alloy, which is used to connect the barrel to the seat plate, and hundreds of tests have been conducted on the ground and gravel ground, with good results. After the T227 81mm mortar changed to titanium base plate, the mass decreased to 34kg, the range increased to 4500m, and the steel gun mass 42.25kg, the range of 3600m, not only the mass reduced by 20%, the range increased, and the mobility greatly improved.

After Japan's 155mm mortar base plate was changed to Kobe Steel's titanium alloy, the quality was reduced by about 50%, and 5mm and 8mm Ti-6Al-4V alloy plate was used for welding, and the test showed that the welding quality was good and could fully meet the operational needs. The 100mm mortar base plate of TA7 alloy in Japan is 10kg lighter than that of steel, which was designed in 1981 and installed in 1983. The body, base and bracket of the 82mm mortars installed in 1984 were switched to titanium alloy, which was 16.6kg lighter than steel.

On January 31, 2007, the US Army Times reported that the new 155mm M777 howitzer, the first ground combat system made of titanium alloy, was about 3,150 kg lighter than the retired M198 gun, with a mass reduction of nearly 50%. The reduction in the mass of the artillery system did not affect its range and accuracy, but its maneuverability was greatly improved.

Helmet, body armor and other equipment

From 1959 to 1961, the United States used Ti-6Al-4V, Ti-5Al-2.5Sn titanium alloy to spin M-1 standard helmet was not successful, and later changed to Ti-4Al-3Mn titanium alloy and explosive forming process successfully, the mass is only 0.794kg-1.02kg, in terms of bulletproof effect, titanium helmet and steel helmet are the same. However, titanium helmets are 0.45kg lighter than standard steel helmets.

The United States uses 25.4mm thick plate composed of 10 layers of nylon and 1 layer of Ti-5Al-2.5Sn titanium alloy sheet to make bulletproof vests, whose mass is only 3.86kg, which can protect against shells, grenades and mine fragments, but cannot protect against 7.62mm bullets.

The muzzle brake of the Russian Union 152mm twin self-propelled gun is made of titanium alloy, and it has two gun barrels, which are used alternately when launching, and the firing speed is fast and the firepower is strong, up to 15-18 rounds per minute. Maneuverability, strong off-road ability, and strong survival ability.

Since the 1970s, China began to study the application of titanium alloy in weapons manufacturing, and remarkable results have been achieved. The anti-tank missile steering gear and frame are made of TC9 titanium alloy, which is an α alloy of Ti-0.2Pd and applied in annealed state. The Type 85 antiaircraft machine gun brake made of TC4 titanium alloy achieved very good results, and later, the precision casting ZTC4 alloy replaced the TC4 alloy extrusion bar achieved better results, the material utilization rate rose from 18% to 94%, and also saved a lot of cutting costs, killing two birds with one stone. TC4 is a commonly used Ti-6Al-4V alloy with excellent properties, α+β type, applied in the annealed state. Titanium light flamethrower can shoot up to 70m, is a short-range light weapon, lighter than steel more than 3kg, can be prepared by industrial pure titanium, Ti-3Al-2.5V and other alloys.