Integrated use of acoustic emission and brittle oxide strain-sensitive coatings at early stages of deformation of damage and fracture zones in the specimens of polymeric composite materials (PCM) may be the most effective method of nondestructive defect detection and strength assessment of modern composite materials. An external load applied to the tested structure forms a crack pattern in brittle tenso-sensitive coatings (TSC), which reflects the actual distribution of the maximum primary stress not only in the zones of stress concentration at the surface but also in the vicinity of the local defects. Proceeding from the resulted crack pat terns and refined characteristics of tenso-sensitivity of the brittle coating we may estimate the distribution of the maximum principal stress (strain). The limitations of the method of brittle coatings are attributed, first, to the location of tenso-sensitive coatings (in the zones that are technologically accessible for deposition) and, second, by the necessity of remote monitoring of the crack formation. To solve the aforementioned shortcomings and automate monitoring of the crack formation in a tenso-sensitive coating, we propose to use the method of brittle coatings in combination with acoustic emission (AE) and video recording. The developed integrated procedure provides a good opportunity to determine zones of the most probable fracture and the rate of specimen degradation during the entire period of structure testing, starting with 10- 15% of the critical load, long before the beginning of the active phase of degradation of the PCM structure. The method ensures an accurate determnination of the area of forthcoming destruction of the sample and provides determination of the field distribution of the main principal strains in the area of TSC cracking and their quantitative assesment.