Data for projectile penetration of silicon carbide (SiC) from two types of experiments are combined. For impact velocities, v, in the range 1.5 – 4.6 km/s the data are from reverse ballistic two-stage light-gas gun experiments with long tungsten rods. For impact velocities of about 5 – 7 km/s copper shaped charge jets are the projectile. The data exhibit an apparent inflection in the penetration velocity, u, versus impact velocity curve at u ≈ 3 km/s, corresponding to v ≈ 4.5 km/s. The apparent decrease in the slope of u versus v for u = 3 km/s, and the consequent rapid increase in the Alekseevskii and Tate target resistance term Rt with v is tentatively interpreted in terms of a failure wave in SiC. With this interpretation the propagation speed of the failure wave in SiC is about 3 km/s or 1 3 of the compressional wave speed.