text: Composite metal foam has been tested in a puncture test. Puncture tests were conducted on S-S CMF-CSP with different thicknesses of stainless steel face sheets and CMF core. The bonding of the S-S CMF core and face sheets was done via adhesive bonding and diffusion bonding. Various thicknesses of the CMF core and face sheets created a variety of target areal densities from about 6.7 to about 11.7 kg per each tile of 30 x 30 cm. Targets were impacted using 2.54 and 3.175 cm diameter steel balls fired at velocities ranging from 120 to 470 m per second, resulting in puncture energies from 488 to 14 500 J over a 5.06–7.91 cm2 impact area for the two size sphere balls. None of the panels, even those with the lowest areal densities, showed complete penetration/puncture through their thickness. This was mostly due to the energy absorption capacity of the S-S CMF core in compression, whereas the face sheets strengthen the CMF core to better handle tensile stresses. Sandwich panels with thicker face sheets show less effectiveness, and a thin face sheet seemed to be sufficient to support the S-S CMF core for absorbing such puncture energies. Panels assembled using adhesive bonding showed debonding of the face sheets from the CMF core upon the impact of the projectile while the diffusion bonded panels showed more flexibility at the interface and better accommodated the stresses. Most diffusion bonded panels did not show a debonding of face sheets from the S-S CMF core. This study proved CMF's energy absorption abilities, indicating that CMF can be used to simultaneously increase protections and decrease weight.