The influences of stress-induced dilatational phase transformation and pressure-sensitive property on the target strength of ceramic materials are investigated based on Tate's model. A theoretical solution for the dynamic expansion model of a spherical cavity is developed to consider the effect of dilatational phase transformation toughening. The results of detailed calculations show that dilatational phase transformation could effectively inhibit the cavity-expansion for idealized cases. This work would be of importance in penetration-resistance design.