Military Specifications for Body Armor
Bulletproof armor and vests commonly now are used in both police and military organizations. Because of advancements in design, many lives have been saved by the equipment. But body armor is not perfect, and it has limitations. Understanding how today's armor is constructed provides a better understanding of how the equipment works for the military.
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Background
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The idea of a projectile-proof armor has been worked on for centuries. But it wasn't until the 1970s that today's type of body armor came into existence with the introduction of Kevlar. Put into production by DuPont, Kevlar body armor took early ideas of multiple thick fabric layers in a concealable vest and reinforced it with synthetic fiber instead. Then, to get true performance credibility, DuPont provided samples for police departments to test in real conditions. Variations were also used in the battlefield starting in the Vietnam War.
The Kevlar vest approach created the foundation for what is used as flexible, lightweight body armor today. Although the civilian version was validated by the saving of lives in the thousands by 2006, according to DuPont, the military continued constantly examining armor technology for its own applications on the battlefield.
Basic Design
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Tactical military vests are designed to deal with not just bullets but fragmentary damage. Unlike bullets, fragment from shrapnel and general destruction of immediate material in the vicinity of an explosion comes in all sizes. A fragment can be a small stone or a piece of torn metal. Both can do tremendous physical damage when launched at high speeds and velocity.
Tactical body armor is primarily worn to protect the body torso area. Additional armor can be worn as a knee pads, helmet and gloves and boots, but only the helmet really provides additional armor benefit.
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The Military Weight Problem
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Traditional U.S. military body armor is heavy. This is because the standard Kevlar design is augmented with ceramic plates, if needed. The design weighs approximately 25 pounds, which is in addition to the soldier's pack load and weaponry. When added up, it's pretty easy to see how a soldier can get weighed down quickly with 100 pounds of equipment and armor, which doesn't bode well for fast movement on the battlefield.
Need for Flexibility Spawns Creation
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In an effort to reduce weight but keep or improve armor, the military has been field testing newer approaches. One is a lightweight Kevlar body armor that has been used in Afghanistan and Iraq with small arms fire in the early 2000s.
Although the new design of the "Interceptor body armor" was significantly effective, it created a new battle trend: a much larger number of limb and leg wounds. While soldiers now survive body/torso kill shots, statistics are showing a spike in limb damage and amputation injuries. Some of this risk has been mitigated by neck and groin attachments to the Interceptor kits.
Cost and Weight
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Given the lightweight Interceptor design, new body armor systems start at $500 per kit and weigh in at 8 pounds. It is fabricated as two systems: a basic armor vest and a second layer of detachable plates that can be added on for extra protection. The system can be beefed up with ceramic inserts, doubling the weight to a still-light 16 pounds for the wearer. In 2002, a full kit with inserts cost approximately $1,500 per soldier.
Effectiveness
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The performance of the latest body armor design and production has some issues. Government auditors have found problems with the current U.S. military products produced, which the military says it already has addressed. The military responded that it has now increased quality control and increased available inventory stock purchased to avoid shortages because of defects found in the field. Nonetheless, neither position has resolved the issue of the increasing seriousness of limb wounds.
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References
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- Photo Credit military man image by Andrey Kiselev from Fotolia.com
