Will the military ever accept Dragon Skin armor?

Question

A new kind of body armor that can stop repeated 7.62x54R hits with no penetrations. The Army ran a few suspicious tests, overseen by those in charge of Interceptor body army procurement, and claimed it failed. Civilian testers, including the NIJ, (National Institute of Justice), tested it and concluded that it was vastly superior to any other kind of body armor available. Will the military ever accept it?

http://www.military.com/soldiertech/0,14632,Soldiertech_060420_dragon3,,00.html?ESRC=soldiertech.nl

Philip-- If you read thae article you linked carefully, you would see that the person making those comments was the same person in charge of the Interceptor body armor program for the military. He is under a gag order to say anything except the official Army story, and there have been many other tests that say otherwise.

Philip-- The NIJ isn't getting paid either way, and they say it works.

Answer 1

I was in the chute for a personally funded purchase of Dragon Skin body armor before I was told that my SGLI would be forfeit if I wore it. Not wanting to put my life insurance beneficiaries out of $400,000 should I be killed in the line of duty, I wore Interceptor gear instead. Gradually my original vest saw additions to shoulder and deltoid protection that I swear must have doubled both the bulk and the weight.

You're claiming complete 7.62x54R protection, but what I see on the URL you tossed is testing primarily done on 7.62x39mm and 7,62x51mm NATO. Some of that new ammunition fired out of SVDs nowadays is a different animal.

As for the military accepting it, "The Army Times" was profiling a new contract put out for form-fitting body armor. It's going to get really, really messy with the Land Warrior and FCS programs both putting design parameters and additional weight on the drawing board. In a decade, we won't see anything like what's being worn today. There are a lot of duds in the procurement system, like the Stryker already, so seeing one lemon exit out the door when so many careers ride on it is a remote possibility. We'll see what happens.

Answer 2

Many soldiers refuse to wear all their armor and now there is a general order for them to wear all their armor. The armor that they were all finally issued can take a RPG round all though it will still blow off some or all their limbs.

There is also issue with ranking. The military labels it as level 3, which is basic police body armor. The company labels it as class 4 body armor. The U.S. military uses level V which is basicaly anti-explosive armor as well as anti-bullet armor.

Answer 3

The military like all entities have limited resources.

As long as they have access to more and more recruits- and it is cost effective then they will replace them with more recruits rather than spen the money to protect them.

This is an economic issue - The military had limited funds- is it cheaper to pay for the suits (if they indeed work) or replace the people with more people

Do a side by side comparrison of the costs to train a soldier and the cost of the suits.????

Answer 4

Independent tests have shown that it fails where the interceptor armor does not. It fails especially against repeated shots from 7.62mm ammo, a leading round used almost universally.

Here you are talking about a military spending conspiracy when the people who did your tests are promoting their are, isn't it possible they only want to many money themselves? The conspiracy door swings both ways.

Answer 5

it all depends on if that company gets a grant from the military to produce them for the military. you gota remember tho the military goes with the lowest bidder for what it needs.

Answer 6

I don't think the military will accept it. if they say it failed, they won't take it until some one else says they have too or the terrorists start wearing them.

Answer 7

For a second there I thought you were playing Runescape too much lol. But definetly if it benifits them they will do anything.
If its as good as you described it.

Answer 8

seeing their humvees lacked body armor in the beginning i say no. cost too much