Kevlar has new competition

[Maxmars]

Kevlar (para-aramid) is one of those patented fibers that save lives ...

By some measures it can be 10x stronger than steel... and woven into fabric is can absorb and redirect
damage...

There has been some attempt to make a better Kevlar.... using different chemical structures, and even a serious look at adapting spider silk for the purpose...

And now a newcomer.... a carbon nanotube technology (CNT)

Popular mechanics published an article about it: 

Scientists Created a Bulletproof Material 3 Times Stronger Than Kevlar—It’s Already Breaking Records

Although it reads a bit like yet another example of press-release journalism, there is some good information in there....
 

The carbon nanotubes—technically called treated long single-walled nanotubes (tl-SWNTs)—are extremely strong and are each as thin as a human hair. Researchers first forced the aramid chains and CNTs to be parallel by making aramid chains more flexible and then stretching them to the proper alignment. This nanoscale organization made it possible for the components to essentially lock into place and avoid slipping past each other, which allowed the material to absorb more energy (a.k.a. 

REF: MATTER - Aramid fibers with dynamic strength up to 10 GPa and dynamic toughness up to 700 MJ m−3

[BeyondKnowledge]

Kevlar (para-aramid) is one of those patented fibers that save lives ...

By some measures it can be 10x stronger than steel... and woven into fabric is can absorb and redirect
damage...

There has been some attempt to make a better Kevlar.... using different chemical structures, and even a serious look at adapting spider silk for the purpose...

And now a newcomer.... a carbon nanotube technology (CNT)

Popular mechanics published an article about it: 

Scientists Created a Bulletproof Material 3 Times Stronger Than Kevlar—It’s Already Breaking Records

Although it reads a bit like yet another example of press-release journalism, there is some good information in there....
 


REF: MATTER - Aramid fibers with dynamic strength up to 10 GPa and dynamic toughness up to 700 MJ m−3

Does it shatter into dust with repeated bending under load like Kevlar does? That would be a great improvement. 

Kevlar turns to dust when used as the core of a rappelling rope.

[Sky727]

The first thing I thought about was the efforts of the Armed services to provide a rifle caliber with more penetration against body armor.

[Maxmars]

Does it shatter into dust with repeated bending under load like Kevlar does? That would be a great improvement. 

Kevlar turns to dust when used as the core of a rappelling rope.

Actually the one thing that this enhancement does is to change that reality...

The Kevlar molecule becomes brittle - snapping or or breaking once stressed... 
by attaching a carbon nanotube along the molecule... (CNT) 

it is more likely to bend than break... (see article.)