Troops' Body Armor Being Replaced Again

[Seraphim]

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050814/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/pentagon_body_armor

[SOG]

awesome. nice to see fast turn arounds getting to the troops. wtg to all those involved in getting this out fast.

[Ratamacue]

So are these new vests or just new plates?

[szr]

So are these new vests or just new plates?
I doubt even the AP writer is entirely certain what he means by "body armor" but I'm certain it's plates. That article is needlessly vague.

[Creeper]

Plates.
Maybe this time they may figure that one can save weight on a plate by cutting the edges up about 1" +/- 1/4" to reduce further weight. Probably will not.

[Oddbod]

Maybe they should give some of the current stuff to UK forces as a replacement for the "lowest bidder" stuff we presently have :(

[ViktorNavorski]

Maybe they should give some of the current stuff to UK forces as a replacement for the "lowest bidder" stuff we presently have :(

I believe the "lowest bidder" concept is pretty much 99% universal. :petting:

[Wickwire]

Doesn't Murphys Law of Combat state something like: "Remember, your equipment is always made by the lowest bidder." :P

[Naga Sadow]

How about ceramic plates for helmets.

Body armour for the chest is well and good, but as far as I know all helmets in use at present (certainly US, British models that I know of) will surrender to just about anything over 9mm.

And whereas being shot through the chest might kill you, being shot through the head will.

(Yes, I know there've been weird cases of people shot through the head, losing half their brain and living, but those are like 0.0000001% of all people shot through the head, and even then most of those ended up severely disabled due to losing the bit of their brain responsible for walking, seeing, hearing, speaking or whatever. As a general rule, a person shot through the head is Dead, with a capital D.)

[FutureGrunt]

How about ceramic plates for helmets.

Body armour for the chest is well and good, but as far as I know all helmets in use at present (certainly US, British models that I know of) will surrender to just about anything over 9mm.

And whereas being shot through the chest might kill you, being shot through the head will.

(Yes, I know there've been weird cases of people shot through the head, losing half their brain and living, but those are like 0.0000001% of all people shot through the head, and even then most of those ended up severely disabled due to losing the bit of their brain responsible for walking, seeing, hearing, speaking or whatever. As a general rule, a person shot through the head is Dead, with a capital D.)

Hehe, the bullet might not penetrate armored helmet, but the energy left over will definatelly snap your neck.

[Digital Marine]

ceramic plates for the helmet, dude... the helmet is quite heavy. Ceramic stuff weighs even more... you'd have to have a bull's neck to be wearing a helmet like that all day long

[wiking]

body armor for infantry seems sort of weird to me. I mean, yes it saves lives (especially the video of the guy who gets shot, goes dow, and then gets up and runs for covor), but it still seems weird. But i'm the kind of guy who wishes infantry still carried Brown Bess muskets and wore red coats :D


@Digital Marine; Alo, Alo rules!

[Seraphim]

How about ceramic plates for helmets.

Body armour for the chest is well and good, but as far as I know all helmets in use at present (certainly US, British models that I know of) will surrender to just about anything over 9mm.

And whereas being shot through the chest might kill you, being shot through the head will.

(Yes, I know there've been weird cases of people shot through the head, losing half their brain and living, but those are like 0.0000001% of all people shot through the head, and even then most of those ended up severely disabled due to losing the bit of their brain responsible for walking, seeing, hearing, speaking or whatever. As a general rule, a person shot through the head is Dead, with a capital D.)

Hehe, the bullet might not penetrate armored helmet, but the energy left over will definatelly snap your neck.

Stop talking BS and stick to what you know.

[gilgoul]

I know here in Israel some troops get a ceramic helmet, and althought heavy, still bearable to be worn over long period of time.
But what would be the justification for everyone wearing this kind of stuff?
What are the odds of being shot throught the head? And then would a class 4 helmet be of any use when shot throught the face or forehead? BTW, is there any decent statistic on this subject? I looked but found only junk so far

Helmets where generalized during WW1 to protect mainly from schrapnells (fuse shells delivering schrapnells from above where decimating troops concentrations).

[Zarathustra]

Welcome back gilgoul

[GrimmyRX]

How about ceramic plates for helmets.

Body armour for the chest is well and good, but as far as I know all helmets in use at present (certainly US, British models that I know of) will surrender to just about anything over 9mm.

And whereas being shot through the chest might kill you, being shot through the head will.

(Yes, I know there've been weird cases of people shot through the head, losing half their brain and living, but those are like 0.0000001% of all people shot through the head, and even then most of those ended up severely disabled due to losing the bit of their brain responsible for walking, seeing, hearing, speaking or whatever. As a general rule, a person shot through the head is Dead, with a capital D.)

Hehe, the bullet might not penetrate armored helmet, but the energy left over will definatelly snap your neck.

Stop talking BS and stick to what you know.

I do believe that we've had a topic about this already. Something about how the neck can actually take quite the beating, and if we had a helmate that could stand a .50, the neck would too.