Ceradyne, Inc. is a manufacturer of advanced ceramic systems and components and involved in many technical industries including nuclear power, oil and gas, solar energy, automotive, and defense.

[2] Ceradyne was founded in 1967[3] and in late 2004, the company added new product lines by acquiring ESK Ceramics of Kempten, Germany.

[7] Ceradyne was also the producer of ceramic Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts (E-SAPI) for the US Army's Interceptor body armor, and the blast-proof components of the Ceradyne BULL MRAP/MMPV vehicle project.In January 2008, the company also received an order for $9.6 million worth of body armor from UNICOR (Federal Prison Industries Inc.), which provided jobs and job training to inmates in US federal prisons.

[9][10] In November 2012 thousands of SPEAR Generation III ballistic armor plates manufactured by Ceradyne for issue to United States Special Operations troops were recalled due to "safety defects".

Defects were identified in less than five percent of plates tested according to United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).