Military Flak Jacket - Two components of an obsolete British military bulletproof vest. On the left is a nylon vest. On the right, several layers of ballistic nylon that provide actual protection.

Body armor or bulletproof vest is a form of body armor. Body armor is designed to protect against casing fragments ("fragments") from high-explosive weapons, such as anti-aircraft guns ("flak" is the German abbreviation of Fliegerabwehrkanone, "aircraft defense gun"), fragments of grade , are used in some Shotgun and other low-velocity projectile projectile type. It is not designed to protect against bullets fired from most small arms such as rifles or pistols. However, some body armor can withstand certain bullets, depending on the armor, the projectile, the angle of fire (such as tilt angle) and the distance of the shot.

Military Flak Jacket

Military Flak Jacket

The term "body armor" is often used colloquially to refer to a new type of body armor with protection against small arms projectiles, but the actual usage presupposes the existence of advanced and stronger body armor. , and the two are not interchangeable in terms of performance.

Mens Army Vest

Stories describing clothing designed to protect the wearer from penetration by weapons go far back in the historical record. Both types of American Civil War protective clothing in the 1860s were similar in basic design to modern flak jackets or flak jackets, both with solid panels as primary ballistic protection. The "Soldier's Bulletproof Jacket" is manufactured by G&D Cook & Co. of New Haven, Connecticut. It consists of two steel plates and is inserted into the pocket of a plain black military vest. The infantry version weighs 3.5 pounds, while the cavalry and artillery versions weigh 7 pounds. They sell for $5-7. The Atwater Armor Company, also in New Haver, made more medieval-style armor. It consists of four large steel plates on the body with wide metal hooks that hang from the shoulders and a belt attached to the waist. Atwater vests are heavier than Cook's and nearly double the price.

During World War I, many British and American officers realized that with effective weapons, many casualties could have been avoided. Attempts to manufacture armor were isolated, and soldiers could purchase or commission them individually, but no armor was issued to soldiers. Just as today, issues of weight, cost, material availability and/or environmental stability complicate the development of an equally effective weapon. For example, soft armor made of silk was tried on a small scale in accordance with Japanese designs, but the material was not durable in harsh environmental conditions.

The first use of the term "body armor" refers to the armor originally produced by the Wilkinson Sword Company during World War II to protect Royal Air Force (RAF) crews from flying debris and shell fragments thrown by German anti-aircraft guns. Helped to save. flak itself is an abbreviation of the German word "Fliegerabwehrkanone" (anti-aircraft gun).

The idea of ​​body armor came from British-based U.S. Eighth Air Force Surgeon Colonel Malcolm C. Gero. He believed that many of the wounds he was treating could be protected by some form of light armor. In 1943 he was awarded the Order of Merit.

Original U.s. Wwii Army Air Force M1 Armor Flyer Flak Vest

The RAF then supplied these jackets to the US Army Air Corps, which adopted them as defense standard.

During World War II, US Navy personnel wore body armor and steel helmets on battleships because the ships, and especially their flight decks, provided little protection for the crew. These jackets are supposed to keep out shell fragments and heat.

Colonel Grove requested the Wilkinson Sword Company to develop a vest that would block .45 caliber rounds fired at close range.

Military Flak Jacket

They proved to be less effective than expected. Body armor is now generally considered inferior to modern bulletproof jackets.

Military Woodland Tactical Vest

The M-1951 body armor is said to be capable of stopping 90 7.62×25mm Tokarev pistol rounds at the muzzle. However, even the improved body armor of the Vietnam War could not stop high-powered pistol rounds, let alone AK-47 rifle rounds (7.62×39mm). Still, it does a good job of stopping shell explosions, flying splinters, super splinters, ricochets, underpowered pistol rounds, and sometimes stray rifle rounds fired from far away.

Although not tested to NIJ standards, the Army's M1952a and M69 ballistic nylon body armor performed slightly better than NIJ Level 1 body armor.

It wasn't until the 1970s that the National Institute of Justice, which now publishes body armor testing and performance standards, began a deliberate program to develop body armor for law enforcement officers that could withstand specific threats. would be effective against which were common causes of injury to officers. Death at the time involved mainly .38 Special and .22 Long Rifle bullets, as well as 9mm, .45 and .32 caliber bullets.

The first body armor consisted of manganese steel plates sewn onto a vest made of ballistic nylon (a material produced by DuPont); Thus, body armor serves as an evolved form of plate or mail armor. The first piece of body armor weighed 22 pounds.

Body Armor Stock Photo

Body armor changed during the Korean and Vietnam wars, and other materials replaced the manganese steel plates.

US Army vests (Body Armor, Fragmentation Protective, Vest M69) weigh less than 8 pounds and are made of 12 ply ballistic nylon. The vest (Vest, Armored M-1955) used by the US Marine Corps weighed over t lbs and consisted of fiberglass panels combined with layers of ballistic nylon called Duron.

Duron is made from glass fibers that are placed under high pressure in ethyl cellulose resin. It is named after Colonel Georges F. Doriot, Director of the Military Planning Division in the Office of the Quartermaster General.

Military Flak Jacket

A new generation of armor developed by the National Institute of Justice in the 1970s featured a soft armor layer in the form of DuPont Kevlar fabric, which has since become synonymous with ballistic protection and so on. is a general term for many (aramid-based) materials.

Us Army M1969 Flak Vest

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