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Soldier Armed Body Armor Update by Scott R

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Soldier Armed Body Armor Update by Scott R Soldier Armed Body Armor Update By Scott R. Gourley In a June 2006 statement before the dier Survivability with the Office of House Armed Services Committee, Program Executive Office Soldier, the mong the most significant recent then-Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Speakes, latest system improvements inte- Adevelopments that directly in- who was director, Force Development, grated into the new improved outer crease warfighter safety and effective- Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8, tactical vest, as with earlier advances, ness are the enhancements to the pro- offered a brief chronology of the IBA reflect additional feedback from sol- tective ensemble known as Interceptor program, which highlighted the link- diers in the field. body armor (IBA). As the most up-to- age between that program’s evolution “We receive that feedback in differ- date body armor available, IBA is a and warfighter feedback. ent ways,” Myles explained. “One way, modular body armor system that con- I 1999—The Army started fielding for example, was through a soldier pro- sists of an outer vest, ballistic plates the OTV with small arms protective tection demonstration that we con- and attachments that increase the areas inserts (SAPI) to soldiers deployed in ducted in August 2006 at Fort Benning, of coverage. The system increases sol- Bosnia. Ga. We had industry provide us some dier survivability by stopping or slow- I April 2004—Theater reported 100 body armor for soldiers to evaluate. ing bullets and fragments and reducing percent fill of 201,000 sets of IBA (OTV These were soldiers that had just re- the number and severity of wounds. and SAPI) for every U.S. Army soldier turned from Iraq and Afghanistan. And The front-opening IBA outer tactical and DoD civilian in theater. they went through several round-robin vest (OTV) and the new side-opening I April 2004—Theater requested del- events with different types of body ar- improved outer tactical vest (IOTV) toid and axillary protectors. Fielding mor from the different vendors.” protect the warfighter against frag- began in June 2004, and the require- The soldier experience in those events—which included egress, in- gress, obstacle courses, road marches and weapons-range firing—helped to support an operational need statement (ONS) that called for enhancements to the outer tactical vest element of IBA. “In February of 2007 we received an operational need statement from the field,” Myles said. “And [in the ONS] the field was asking us to provide a Interceptor body armor fice Soldier lighter body armor, a quick release consists of an outer and a system that would distribute the vest, ballistic plates load of the body armor and the load and attachments that stop or slow bullets that soldiers were carrying.” and fragments. The immediate response was the ogram Executive Of Pr creation of the IOTV. Myles noted that ments and 9 mm rounds. The protec- ment of 172,860 DAPs was met in Jan- just 60 days after receipt of the ONS, tion level of both vest designs is further uary 2005. the Army was shipping IOTVs to the- enhanced through the addition of the I January 2005—Theater requested ater. The shipments represented the enhanced small arms protective insert enhanced small arms protective in- first of 230,000 of the new IOTVs be- (ESAPI) plates and the enhanced side sert, which provides increased protec- ing fielded as theater provided equip- ballistic inserts (ESBI). The inserts, com- tion for soldiers. Requirement estab- ment to meet the immediate needs of posed of composite ballistic ceramic lished at 201,000 sets. warfighters in Iraq and Afghanistan. plate with coated ballistic fiber backing, I September 2005—Theater re- Two contractors are currently in- can withstand multiple small-arms hits, quested ballistic side plates. Expected volved in the IOTV fielding to theater: including armor-piercing rounds. In completion of the 201,000 requirement Point Blank Body Armor and BAE Sys- addition, deltoid and axillary protec- is December 2006. tems (formerly Specialty Defense, a tors (DAP) provide additional frag- I January 2006—Theater ESAPI re- part of Armor Holdings’ Aerospace & mentation and 9 mm protection to the quirement met. Defense Group before the acquisition upper arm and underarm areas; groin According to Lt. Col. Robert Myles, of Armor Holdings by BAE Systems). and throat protectors are also available. U.S. Army product manager for Sol- “The most significant improvement 100 ARMY I March 2008 During a training session for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Sgt. Brian Freeman pulls the quick-release cable on Sgt. William Huff's improved outer tactical vest (IOTV). in the IOTV is the quick-release sys- tem, which provides the soldier with the capability to remove his or her vest in emergency situations,” Myles said. “If soldiers find themselves in a vehi- cle that turned over or in a body of water—those types of emergency situ- ations—then they would use the quick release.” Moreover, the new design also re- duces overall system weight by 3 to 3.5 pounds between the outer tactical vest and improved outer tactical vest, depending on size. Significantly, that weight reduction was accomplished while retaining the same ballistic ef- U.S. Army/Maj. Wayne Marotto fects and actually increasing the area improve fit, weight distribution and Myles noted that in April, the Army of coverage—tactical magic achieved load-carriage capabilities, as well as a will be completing deliveries of the first through a reduction in overlapping mesh lining for better ventilation. 230,000 IOTVs to soldiers in Iraq and and a more streamlined design. Afghanistan, as well as soldiers on their “We also added three more sizes,” ince components of the two vests way to those theaters. He added that Myles continued. “The OTV was in Sare compatible, Myles said that sol- follow-on plans call for an expansion of eight sizes, but now we have 11 sizes diers who receive the new IOTV will IOTV fielding across the Army. of IOTV.We added sizes for soldiers take the deltoid and axillary protectors “We have been approved to field who had longer torsos; so we now from the OTV and put them on the the entire Army,” he noted. “Our have medium-long, large-long and ex- IOTV, as well as their ESAPI plates and AAO [Army acquisition objective] is tra large-long vests.” the ESBI side plates. The IOTV has 966,000 of the IOTV. And there is a re- Other enhancements in the IOTV throat protection and underarm protec- quest for proposal for the remainder include multiple adjustment points to tion built in. of the 966,000 that we will field to the remainder of the Army.” In terms of future potential en- hancements to IBA, the Army product manager observed, “We are always looking for ways to improve the pro- tection for our soldiers. We do contin- uous research and development on ways to increase the levels of protec- tion and at the same time keep the weight down to something our sol- diers can carry. So we do have efforts all the time to improve the body armor and increase the levels of protection. “I want the soldiers to know that A. Burgess they have someone who is looking to provide them equipment in their best interest, and to know that the body ar- mor they are currently being fielded is the best body armor currently avail- ficer 2nd Class Molly able. But we are never satisfied. [We’re] always looking at advanced Petty Of Lt. Col. Robert Myles, product manager for Soldier Survivability for the Program technologies for ways to improve our Executive Office Soldier, demonstrates features of the IOTV at the Pentagon. body armor.” ( 102 ARMY I March 2008.
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