“THIS VEST MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE!”
“THIS VEST MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE!”
U.S. Army Body Armor from WWII to Present
by Christopher E. Howard SoC.mil
The use of body armor is motivated by one of the most powerful impulses in our psychological makeup, i.e., the desire to survive. In the heat of actual combat, soldiers have reported later, time and again, that they rarely notice the weight and bulkiness of the vests. In these tense periods it seems that the desire for protection outweighs the physiological deficit resulting from the added burden.”1
This observation was made in 1952 by the U.S. Army Body Armor Test Team, during the field test of the Army T-52-1 body armor vest with front-line troops in Korea. The team found that the new vest stopped 75.7 percent of all fragments, and 24.4 percent of small arms projectiles.2 This was remarkable progress, given the state of body armor development when the Korean War started in 1950.
Since then, the U.S. Army has continuously developed body armor to increase the survivability of soldiers. This article summarizes the advancements in U.S. Army body armor from World War II to the present. It also includes a brief description of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) body armor initiatives, specifically through its Special Operations Forces (SOF) Personal Equipment Advanced Requirements (SPEAR) program.
WORLD WAR II
During World War II, under the direction of its Command Surgeon, Colonel Malcolm C. Grow, the U.S. Army Eighth Air Force pioneered the development of modern body armor.3 In 1943, bomber pilots and aircrew in the ‘Mighty Eighth’ began receiving an armored vest manufactured in Great Britain.4 Incorporating two-inch square manganese steel plates, sewn into a canvas vest, it protected against shrapnel from exploding antiaircraft shells, commonly known as ‘flak.’5Once testing was complete, the design was standardized and U.S. Army aviation vest manufacturing was moved stateside.6 Officially dubbed the Flyer’s Vest, M1, the vests were more commonly referred to as ‘flak vests’ and ‘flak suits.’7
The Flyer’s Vest, M1, seen here with the Flyer’s Apron, M3, was developed during World War II to protect U.S. Army Air Forces bomber crew from antiaircraft shell fragments. Combined, the armor vest and apron weighed approximately 22 pounds.
The 17 pound, 6 ounce weight of the M1 vest was not a significant issue for bomber pilots and seated crew members, some of whom sat on their vests, because the greatest threat came from below the aircraft. Sitting was not an option for the waist gunners, who manned .50 caliber machine guns on either side of the fuselage.8 In time, specialized armor was provided to crew members, based on their biggest threats. The Flyer’s Apron, M3 was for crewmen in confined spaces, such as ball turret gunners; the Flyer’s Apron, M4, for waist gunners; and Groin Armor, M5, for seated personnel (pilots, copilots, bombardiers, and navigators).9 By war’s end, over 300,000 Flyer’s Vest, M1s, had been produced, along with nearly 100,000 Flyer’s Vest, M2 designs, the latter of which was provided to pilots and copilots, who sat in armored cockpit seats.10
A 1944 Eighth Air Force study of battle casualties reported that body armor had led to a reduction in fatalities from thoracic [chest] wounds (36 to 8 percent) and from abdominal wounds (39 to 7 percent).11 This data, complemented by first-hand bomber crew testimonials, validated the effectiveness of body armor. Still, the Army initially rejected armor for ground troops, due to its weight and restrictive designs.12 Late in the war, the Army Ordnance Corps developed the 12-pound M-12 vest, consisting of aluminum plates and nylon fabric. The war in the Pacific ended before the field tests could be conducted.13
In 1947, the Army Ordnance Corps relinquished body armor development to the Quartermaster Corps. Based on the threat facing U.S. soldiers, it focused on armor for engineer troops doing mine clearance.14 A 1949 Army study determined that armor for active ground troops was impractical, based on weight.15 Thus, when war erupted in Korea in June 1950, the WWII-era M-12 vest was pressed into service as a ‘stop-gap’ measure, until better designs could be fielded.16
Developed late in World War II, the Armor, Vest – M12 incorporated aluminum plates sewn into nylon and weighed 12 pounds, 3 ounces. The vest pictured here includes the optional Apron, T-65. The M-12 was used in Korea until newer vests could be fielded.
KOREAN AND VIETNAM WARS
Two successful body armor designs emerged during the Korean War. The first, the M-1951 vest, resulted from joint Army-Marine Corps experiments. It incorporated nylon and Doron, a laminated fiberglass material developed during World War II.17 Weighing just under eight pounds, this ‘Marine Vest’ was issued to both Army and Marine troops.18 The second design was the Army’s M-1952A Body Armor, Fragmentation Protective, an 8.5 pound vest made up of twelve layers of flexible laminated nylon.19 It proved effective in field tests, but did not begin reaching front-line troops until late 1952, and then only in relatively small quantities.20
| The Armor, Vest, M-1952 was an all nylon vest that weighed 8.5 pounds. M-1952A vests began reaching U.S. Army troops in Korea in late 1952, and remained in service through the Vietnam War. |
During the Vietnam War, the M-1952 was still widely issued, along with the M-1955, which replaced the M-1951 ‘Marine Vest.’ The M-1952 was replaced by the Body Armor, Fragmentation Protective Vest with 3/4-inch Collar, M-69. Weighing 8.4 pounds, the M-69 vest was very similar to the M-1952, consisting of twelve layers of ballistic nylon filler, sealed in a waterproof casing.21 Its main improvement was the protective collar, which was disliked for interfering with the wear of the M1 helmet.22 Despite armor availability, soldiers seldom wore body armor while patrolling, as it was bulky and trapped heat and moisture in tropical Vietnam.23 Instead, it was worn by troops manning static defensive positions, and those in unarmored vehicle convoys.24
While ground troops found body armor lacking during Vietnam, Army aviators fared somewhat better. During the Korean War, helicopter pilots and crew had not been provided body armor, as it limited the payload of the underpowered early helicopters. This was rectified during the Vietnam War because of the increased ground fire. At first, they were issued World War II and Korean War-era body armor but, in 1963, the Army started issuing body armor made specifically for aviators. However, it was not well-received by pilots, due to its 18.5-pound weight, restrictions on movement, and tropical temperatures. 25
In 1964, the Army introduced ceramic plates to its aviator armor, to protect them from .30 caliber armor-piercing bullets.26 An improved version was introduced in 1966 that provided increased protection and comfort, but weighed as much as 28.5 pounds.27 However, the plates had a tendency to splinter when hit, endangering pilots and aircrew with secondary fragmentation. A field-expedient solution was to wear standard issue M-1952A or M-69 vests over their plates, to contain the fragments.28Helicopter door gunners and crew chiefs wore like armor, but with an additional back plate that added eight pounds.29 In the early 1970s, a new vest was tested that, according to an August 1972 Army testing report, was “less bulky and present[ed] fewer wearer and production problems than any system to date.”30 It concluded that the new vest “is more satisfactory than wearing the standard flak vest over the small arms protective ceramic plates.”31
POST-VIETNAM TO 9/11
Throughout the Vietnam War, body armor for ground troops was Korean War-vintage. The Army relied on laminated nylon primarily for ballistic protection, judging it superior to steel in stopping fragments.32 Despite the increase in small arms wounds in Vietnam, ‘variable-type’ armor that combined ‘soft’ fragmentation protection and ‘hard’ small arms protection did not reach ground troops until 1969, and then in limited quantities.33Post-Vietnam, the Army began redesigning its body armor with a promising new lightweight material: Kevlar.
In 1983, the Army introduced the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT), a Kevlar ‘soft’ armor vest in camouflage print. At nine pounds, the PASGT vest weighed slightly more than the M-69, but provided better fragmentation protection, was more flexible, and fit better. Some U.S. soldiers wore PASGT vests in Grenada (Operation URGENT FURY) in 1983, Panama (Operation JUST CAUSE) in 1989-90, and in the Middle East (DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM) in 1990-91.
To meet the unique fighting requirements of the Army Rangers, the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center developed the PS-930 Ranger Body Armor (RBA) in the early 1990s.34 The RBA had the same Kevlar inserts as the PASGT, but also had an eight-pound aluminum oxide ceramic plate to protect the front torso from 7.62mm ball ammunition. During the Battle of Mogadishu, October 1993, it saved lives and reduced the seriousness of bullet wounds.35 The later addition of a back plate brought its weight up to 25.1 pounds.
Ranger Body Armor was the first Army vest to combine a ceramic plate for ‘hard’ small arms protection with ‘soft’ Kevlar fragmentation protection. It influenced subsequent designs, including the Interceptor Body Armor, and marked the transition away from ‘flak jackets’ that provided only fragmentation protection.
The value of ‘hard armor’ plates was validated in Somalia. In 1996, the Army fielded the Interim Small Arms Protective Overvest (ISAPO), a ‘plate carrier’ with front and back boron carbide ceramic plates to stop 7.62mm bullets. It was worn over the PASGT, adding 12 to 16 pounds, depending on the size of the plates, for a total weight of 21 to 25 pounds. ‘Interim’ meant fewer than 4,000 ISAPO were fielded.36 Yet, the RBA and ISAPO marked a departure from ‘flak jackets,’ for fragmentation protection, to body armor that protected against fragmentation and small arms fire. The cost was more weight to carry while climbing over obstacles and running.
The Interim Small Arms Protective Insert (ISAPO) incorporated front and back ceramic plates and weighed 16 pounds. When worn over the PASGT vest, the complete system weighed 25 pounds.
The Interceptor Body Armor (IBA), introduced in June 1999, solidified this transition. With improved Kevlar inserts in an Outer Tactical Vest (OTV), the wearer could survive fragmentation and 9mm pistol bullets. Two boron carbide ceramic Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI) enabled the wearer to withstand multiple strikes from 7.62mm ball ammunition hits. At 8.4 pounds, the OTV was lighter than the PASGT. The inclusion of two SAPI plates raised the weight to 16.4 pounds, still about nine pounds less than the PASGT with ISAPO.37 An additional benefit of the new OTV was its compatibility with Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment (MOLLE), which allowed accessories such as pistol holsters, ammunition pouches, and first aid kits to be attached to the outside of the armor vest. Relatively few IBAs had been fielded when terrorists attacked the United States on 11 September 2001.