A fiber-metal laminate of mutually bonded fiber-reinforced composite layers and metal sheets comprises a combination of a fiber-reinforced composite layer and an adjacent metal sheet, in which combination the properties satisfy the following relations: Elam*Ecomp/(Emetal*tmetal2) has a value between a lower bound given by a*(Vf−c)(b/(Vf−c)) with b=0.36 and c=0.3  (1a) and zero when Vf≦̸0.3,  (1b) and an upper bound given by a*(Vf−c)(b/(Vf−c)) with b=0.88 and c=0  (1c) 0.10≦̸Vf<0.54  (2) 0