To lighten the load and increase mobility were the main targets as the USMC Systems Command went looking for the next generation of body armor. Of course not at the expense of decreased ballistic protection. In 2018 the US Marine Corps awarded Vertical Protective [Read More…]
Hey, folks welcome back to another Featured Deals of the Week. One of these days Grammarly is going to stop assuming that “another Featured Deals” should be “another Featured Deal” or “other Featured deals”, but it is not this day. [Read More…]
The PPSS Group is a United Kingdom based company that has been providing protective vests and clothing since 2009. PPSS has focused their energy on ballistic protection as well against edged weapon threats, including a demonstration from the company’s CEO, [Read More…]
For the last three years, I have been running the First Spear Strandhogg SAPI cut plate carrier. I have tried other plate carriers and there are always positive and negatives associated with each. I started with a few older style carriers but the main issue with them [Read More…]
We abuse this 2.9lb Shot Stop Duritium PA Level III+ Body Armor (Model Number D1652SSB) with multiple rounds of 7.62x51mm NATO, .223, and 5.56mm, including M855A1 to assess its ability to protect beyond its rating. Product link: https://www.shotstop.net/rifle-plates#rifle-plates-1 Price: $550 If you [Read More…]
The Army looks set to turn the page on ceramic and Kevlar based armor systems of the past with a revolutionary new armour system. The US Army has signaled its decision to move away from its standard Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV) body armour and adopt a new more [Read More…]
After reviewing the DFNDR UHMWPE body armor, I have a new found interest in similar polyethylene based armor. Angel Armor was at Range Day in the section off to the side of the main entrance. Their armor design caught my eye. The feature that stood out was the two [Read More…]
When it comes to body armor, lots of improvements and changes have occurred over the years, but nothing significant or truly game-changing. Well, with a recent research study performed by some physicists in New York that could all change. A paper was recently [Read More…]
Last October I came across DFNDR Armor at the Big 3 East Media Event. Thanks to Phil White, we got them to send us a rifle rated SAPI plate and a handgun rated plate for backpacks. Both of the armor plates are made of ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWP) [Read More…]
Is the US Army pushing for a new high-powered 6.Xmm caliber with their new NGSAR program? Recently, the listing for the NGSAR industry day in December was updated with a document describing in part the agenda of the second conference. Scheduled for 9:45 in the morning [Read More…]
When the subject is the future of infantry, the conversation inevitably turns to one thing: Powered, armored exoskeletons. Since the publication of Heinlein’s Starship Troopers in 1959, the concept of an armored suit with enhanced mobility from an internal power [Read More…]
The US Army’s latest improvement to the soldier’s gear has finished its final round of field testing. The testing was conducted in mid-October by soldiers with the 71st Ordnance Group and the 10th Chemical Hazardous Response Company, at Fort Carson, [Read More…]
Dfndr Armor has been making armor under their parent company for the military. Their composite armor is lightweight and they offer various protection levels. The armor below is for use in a backpack and it only weighs 3.2lbs. This one is rated for .308 win, just not AP [Read More…]
At the 2017 Association of the United States Army annual meeting (AUSA 2017), US Army Research, Development, and Engineering Command (RDECOM) presented a concept for the US Army’s future soldier of the 2030 timeframe, which promised everything from powered [Read More…]
In the coming decades, it is likely that one of the biggest challenges facing small arms ammunition designers will be solving the problem of how to deal with advanced body armors. The problem is already percolating to the surface, as Level IV body armor – which is [Read More…]
The US Army’s new centralized procurement organization has been named: In his address at the Eisenhower Luncheon at the 2017 Association of the United States Army, US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley announced the creation of a Futures and Modernization [Read More…]
US Army Chief of Staff General Mark Milley has released a letter outlining a major reform and restructuring effort for US Army weapons development, testing, and procurement. In the letter, CSA General Milley spoke of the need for a new procurement command structure: [Read More…]
Rheinmetall has introduced a new take on the ability to check ceramic or metal plates used in plate carriers and vests by Military/LE/Security forces across the world. The idea is to have an extremely lightweight system of electrical wires hooked up to a users plates. [Read More…]
John S. is a guest writer who is concentrating on the subject of body armor. This is his second article on TFB, his first one being For simplicity sake, I’m not going to go too in depth as it can be rather confusing. This also isn’t a blanket guide, different [Read More…]
John S. is a guest writer who is concentrating on the subject of body armor. This is his first article on TFB. We get it, body armor is a complicated subject. There are many kinds of materials, with their own distinct advantages, disadvantages, and properties. Then [Read More…]
It’s currently in fashion to disregard steel armor. To be sure, there are some significant differences between steel and ceramic composite armor, but there are a few things that steel can indeed do better than ceramic composite. It tends to be thinner and it [Read More…]
In yesterday’s article, we took a look at examples of two different methods of design, which I called “preference-driven” and “process-driven”. For these examples, I supposed two engineers from two different cultures – called [Read More…]
If you were designing the next small arms round, how would you do it? What methods would you use to determine its physical characteristics and performance attributes? How would you know what was too large or too small, too powerful or too weak? Perhaps more critically, [Read More…]
In the comments section of my recent article Are We Gearing Up to Lose the Next War? Overmatch, Part 2: Bullets & Backbreakers, two of TFB’s readers shared documents that help us describe the problem of the modern soldier and Marine’s load. The first, [Read More…]
The Republic of Georgia’s state owned “State Military Scientific-Technical Center “Delta” has recently unveiled an entire line of body armor that was first fielded in 2016 by the Georgian Armed Forces in Afghanistan, and then later in the [Read More…]
In an era of increasingly resilient body armor, new small arms ammunition solutions are required to even the odds between the shooter and shootee. The company Stiletto Systems, based out of the UK, is advertising its new bullet as a possible solution for this problem. [Read More…]
OK, who would win in a race: A soldier, a firefighter, or a knight? What, you’ve never asked yourself that? Well, for those of you who did, you finally have your answer thanks to a video released by Daniel Jaquet of the Centre d’Études Supérieures de la [Read More…]
Aside from huge rifles like .50 BMG and the like, that is. NIJ 0101.06 Level IV specifies that the plate must be able to stop .30-06 M2AP at 2,880 fps. I’m case you’re not familiar with M2AP, it is a copper jacketed projectile with a hardened steel core. It [Read More…]
During Thursday’s hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Army Chief of Staff Mark Milley spoke before the Senate and answered questions about the Army’s readiness and future modernization efforts. One of the concerns raised by the [Read More…]
The US Military is looking into lighter weight armor for the infantry. Both the Army and the Marine Corps are looking into reducing the weight of the personal protective equipment (PPE, read “helmet and body armor”) carried by the infantrymen of both [Read More…]