Abstract: In order to study the dynamic response and anti-penetration performance of multi-layered heterogeneous composite structures, Hopkinson's test equipment was used to perform impact loading on the multilayer composite structures with different material arrangement sequences and aluminum foam cores. The waveforms of the incident wave, reflected wave, and transmitted wave measured by the strain gauges on the incident rod and the transmission rod were used to verify the correctness of the numerical simulation model. Combined with numerical simulation, the influence of different structures on the stress wave propagation characteristics and the stress field distribution of the specimen was studied. According to the characteristics of the dynamic response of composite structures, composite targets were designed and subjected to an anti-penetration test. The plastic deformation characteristics of the target plate and the mechanism of anti-penetration energy dissipation were analyzed. The effect of thickness of aluminum foam sandwich on protection performance was analyzed by numerical simulation. The results show that the armored steel post-composite structure and foam sandwich structure can help to reduce stress concentration and reduce the area of ceramic damage. Aluminum foam cores are too thick to provide support for deformation of the target board and increase resistance to penetration. In the five kinds of aluminum foam thickness h=2 mm, h=5 mm, h=10 mm, h=20 mm and h=30 mm, multi-layer heterogeneous target board with h=10 mm has the best protective performance.