ABC News reports that a woman in Kansas City was shot in the back of her head by her ex-boyfriend but that the projectile was stopped by her hair weave. While so far there is no information as to caliber or distance, her weave was in fact very dense and she sated that she could feel the heat from the bullet. I wonder what would have happened if she had brushed it out that morning. Think of it as Kevlar for the noggin.
Military.com reported in a recent article about a team of undergraduate students at UVA working on a new armor plate. Interestingly, they claim it will be “The new armor design will be lighter, more flexible and better able to withstand armor-piercing bullets than the 30-pound vest now used by the Army.” Sounds like a new take on scalar armor considering the team hopes to contain as many as 32 rounds of armor piercing. According to National Guardsman and student Jeff O’dell, their design philosophy is to contain the cracks in ceramic materials formed as it stops threats in order to prevent back face deformation.
Just the other day we published a story about IBM’s scheme to push the wearer of their new armor out of the way of a bullet with their name on it. This odd tale has taken another turn, this time, IBM has withdrawn its patent application. Apparently, the publicity was too much, either that or someone realized how hard this was going to be. At any rate, it’s gone, at least for now.
Remember watching the character Neo in the Matrix dodge bullets? Well apparently this has also been an obsession of engineers at IBM who were just awarded a patent for “bionic body armor” designed to scan for projectiles fired from a firearm. If one is detected, the system would deliver a shock to the muscles causing a swift, reflexive action away from the bullet. Something tells me that is going to leave a bruise.
The present invention relates generally to the protection of an individual against a projectile propelled from a firearm. More particularly, the present invention relates to a body armor system and its method of use that is capable of detecting a projectile propelled from a firearm, computing the trajectory of the projectile, and moving the individual out of the path of the projectile to avoid being hit.
Last night AP published a story on the Army’s recall of “Body Armor”. Reading the article as well as a notice on PEO-Soldier’s website, we believe that it is actually a recall of plates.
WASHINGTON – Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered the recall of more than 16,000 sets of body armor following an audit that concluded the bullet-blocking plates in the vests failed testing and may not provide soldiers with adequate protection.
The audit by the office of the Defense Department inspector general, not yet made public but obtained by The Associated Press, faults the Army for flawed testing procedures before awarding a contract for the armor.
In a letter dated Jan. 27 to Acting Inspector General Gordon Heddell, Geren said he did not agree that the plates failed the testing or that soldiers were issued deficient gear. He said his opinion was backed by the Pentagon’s top testing director.
Despite his insistence that the armor was not deficient, Geren said he was recalling the sets as a precaution.
Geren also said he’s asked for a senior Pentagon official to resolve the disagreement between the Army and the inspector general’s office.
“To ensure there can be no question regarding the effectiveness of every soldier’s body armor, I have today ordered that the plates at issue be identified and collected until such a time as the matter has been adjudicated by the deputy secretary of defense,” he wrote.
Hundreds of thousands of body armor sets have been manufactured by nearly a dozen different companies over the past seven years. The vests are now standard gear for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The audit by the inspector general’s office was the second requested by Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-N.Y. She first asked the watchdog agency to look into the acquisition of the ballistic vests in 2006 after she read newspaper reports saying inadequate body armor was causing U.S. casualties.
The first audit was completed last year, but Slaughter said it wasn’t thorough enough.
Slaughter said Wednesday she’s satisfied with the latest report but remains concerned the Army has not changed its contracting methods to ensure the troops are getting the best gear.
“I’m not through,” she said. “I really want to know which contracts are bad.”
Heddell is scheduled to give Slaughter a briefing Thursday on the audit’s findings.
Auditors focused on a step called first article testing. These tests are to confirm the product meets the Army’s specifications. But the audit says the Army didn’t perform or score the tests consistently.
“Consequently, we believe that three of the eight ballistic insert designs that passed first article testing actually failed,” the audit says.
The contract examined by the inspector general’s office is listed in the audit only as W91CRB-04-D-0040. An Aug, 20, 2004, an announcement on the Defense Department’s Web site states a contract under that designation was awarded to Armor Works of Chandler, Ariz.
The Army bought 51,334 sets of the protective inserts under the contract for just over $57 million, according to the inspector general.
A call to Armor Works was not immediately returned.
As the MoD’s PECOC comes closer to reality, we continue to find additional details and photos.
Note that the helmet depicted is a ver 1 helmet and the current ver 3 helmets provide more coverage.
In addition to their solid line of armor and other tactical products, DBT is unveiling several new items at SHOT Show 2009.
Federal agents attending SHOT Show will be in for a real treat. They will able to see the new ATF Agent kit (tactical and concealable) featuring the new UTOC carrier and family of pouches for the first time and Diamondback will have their new LE focused team on hand to answer any questions.
DBT will also debut their full line of Flame Retardant pouches and vests designed for military use. Visit their booth at SHOT Show to see video from testing along with the actual vest from the test. Make sure you also ask about their new line of Ultra Lightweight military pouches when you stop by the DBT Booth number 23154.
Photos courtesy of DBT.
MARCOSYSCOM is preparing to engage in a quest for a replacement carrier for the ill-fated MTV. In 2007, the Commandant of the Marine Corps halted further procurements of the bulky MTV and last summer the Marine Corps fielded a limited number of Scalable Plate Carriers. Rather than throwing the baby out with the bathwater, officials at MARCORSYSCOM are formulating a plan to replace the carrier and retain the armor systems purchased during the MTV program. It looks like the concept of “Survivability Through Mobility” espoused by PM-ICE at MARCOSYSCOM is coming to fruition.
Perhaps they will make use of the upcoming SHOT Show in order to take a look at the current state of the art in armor carrier design.
