---
title: "SSAB launches world’s first protection steel powder"
url: https://www.voxelmatters.com/ssab-launches-what-it-claims-is-worlds-first-protection-steel-powder/
date: 2026-06-15
modified: 2026-08-04
lang: en
author: "Joseph Caron-Dawe"
description: "Swedish steel producer SSAB has taken its Armox 500 AM Powder – the first in a series of planned powder grades – to the Eurosatory Defense and Security tradeshow in..."
categories:
  - "AM Powders"
  - "Defense"
  - "Metal Additive Manufacturing"
tags:
  - "insights"
image: https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SSAB-Armox-500-AM-Powder-01-640x427.jpg
word_count: 405
---

# SSAB launches world’s first protection steel powder

[Swedish steel producer SSAB](https://www.voxelmatters.directory/company/ssab-am/) has taken its Armox 500 AM Powder – the first in a series of planned powder grades – to the Eurosatory Defense and Security tradeshow in Paris this week, positioning the material as what the company claims is the world's first [armor steel powder with properties matching those of its plate equivalent](https://www.voxelmatters.com/mehler-systems-upgrades-armor-steel-with-protec3d/).

Armox protection plate has held a leading position in the armor steel market for more than four decades, and the powder variant is designed to extend those ballistic and blast-resistance characteristics into geometries that plate-based fabrication cannot produce.

![SSAB launches what it claims is world](https://www.voxelmatters.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/SSAB-Armox-500-AM-Powder-02-314x340.jpg)

The case for additive manufacturing in armor applications rests on what plates fundamentally cannot do. Components produced from Armox 500 AM Powder — whether solid parts such as hinges and housings or multilayered structures incorporating lattice or honeycomb geometries — absorb and dissipate energy from projectiles and explosives in the same way as plate, while enabling the organic shapes and weight reductions that DfAM) makes possible. Parts of equivalent complexity would be difficult or impossible to achieve through conventional machining and welding.

“The demand for protection steel is growing globally, and SSAB's unique offerings give us a leadership position with customers in the defense industry,” said Per Elfgren, Head of SSAB Special Steels. “In addition, demand for high-performance metal powders for 3D printing is growing. 

“We have developed our own high-strength steel powders optimized for additive manufacturing, based on many decades of experience in high-performance steel products. This enables advanced designs with low weight and high strength.”

## Protecting beyond the armor plate

A particular focus for the material is [protecting](https://www.voxelmatters.com/np-aerospace-3d-prints-110-kg-suspension-for-armored-vehicle/)[ external components on armored vehicles](https://www.voxelmatters.com/np-aerospace-3d-prints-110-kg-suspension-for-armored-vehicle/) — elements that must remain exposed to function but represent concentrated vulnerabilities. 

Cameras, antenna mounts, sights, radar systems, hydraulic couplings, and cable assemblies can all be fitted with customized additive-manufactured housings in Armox 500 AM Powder without requiring post-print heat treatment. 

SSAB noted that destroying a single sensor or aerial mount can render an otherwise intact vehicle combat-ineffective, making targeted protection of these installations operationally significant.

## Swedish production

SSAB produces Armox 500 AM Powder at its mill in Oxelösund, Sweden, where the material has been tested against flowability, particle shape, and particle size distribution criteria. Printed components have also undergone ballistic and blast-resistance testing. 

The Oxelösund facility is set to expand from 2026 to support commercial-scale output, with production planned to ramp gradually from the first quarter of 2028 toward a capacity of approximately 350 tonnes per year.