Nowadays, any person knows about means of individual armor protection. Still, people at least occasionally watch action films, news and other programs in which they regularly show strong guys who are reliably protected from bullets, shrapnel and knives. Of course, this includes not only bulletproof vests, but also many other elements that some readers will be interested in learning about.
Protection for legs and arms
It is very important to provide in battle (especially urban, when there are a lot of broken bricks, rusty sharp objects and other dangers) reliable protection for the limbs. Of course, armored elements are not usually used - most often, either conventional metal inserts or high-strength plastic are used.
First of all, safety shoes are included. Unsuccessfully hitting a brick, it is quite possible to break your toes, and stepping on a sticking nail, punch your foot and fail for a long time. Therefore, the military uses berets - reliable boots that firmly fix the lower leg, which reduces the risk of damage to the ankle joint. A high-strength outsole on good products is more likely to bend or break a nail than to be pierced. Some shoes are equipped with metal inserts on the toe - this allows you to break bricks without harming yourself, and at the same time can come in handy in battle. The only drawback is the high weight of the boots - getting used to them is not always easy.
Special kneecaps, elbow pieces, and in some cases special armor plates protecting limbs are also used. Knee pads, like elbow pads, allow you to fall on any surface without fear for the integrity of the joints. Imagine only: fall on a grand scale with a bare knee on a pile of broken brick. This will lead, if not to a fracture, then at least to a pain shock.
Bulletproof shield
Also in many films and computer games you can see a metal shield. Of course, ordinary fighters do not wear it - it is too bulky and uncomfortable when moving. But the soldiers of the air assault brigades, which are important to ensure high reliability when crossing open spaces or moving along long corridors, he can save a life.
Few people know, but the first armored shields appeared at the end of the 19th century. However, insufficiently strong materials have led to the fact that they are not widely used. Today, everything has changed - special alloys allow you to stop almost any bullet fired even from a short distance. There are small shields (individual) that protect only the head and chest of a fighter, and huge (group), thanks to which you can protect the body from head to knees. Usually the first fighter in the group carrying a metal shield uses only a gun. But the rest, being under the cover of this shield, may well work productively with shotguns and machine guns.
Proven helmet
But this attribute is the oldest used to date. After all, since the time of edged weapons helmets have been used, which have transformed into helmets, and there has been practically no interruption in use.
In a more or less familiar form, this means of individual armor protection appeared before the Great Patriotic War. The reason for this was a real breakthrough in the field of metallurgy. New alloys have appeared that make it possible to produce thin and at the same time very durable army helmets that can withstand even a shot from a rifle and machine gun from a relatively short distance.
Today they are made not only of metal, but also of aramid materials. They can boast not only less weight, but also a reduced risk of getting a concussion when hit by a helmet. Often, a new helmet protects not only the upper part of the head, but also the face - in this case, high-strength glass is used to provide good visibility.
What are bulletproof vests made of?
Nowadays, a variety of materials are used to make body armor. It can be a metal alloy, special ceramic plates or high-strength fabric - a well-known Kevlar. There are also composite and combined options.
This is not to say that some of them are better than others. The bad ones are simply sorted out and sent to the landfill. The fact is that for high security you have to pay with mobility. For example, a fighter wearing 6B45 body armor gets much more reliable protection than when using body armor class 1 protection. However, you have to pay for it - you can escape with such armor, but dexterity is significantly reduced.
But if you take a sapper suit, then in front of him this body armor frankly fades. This colossus reliably protects the limbs, body and head. It's just that it is impossible not only to run in it, but just to walk fast. Of course, no one would ever think of using such a colossus in battle. Even if he protects against splinters and most bullets, but due to terrible slowness, sooner or later one of dozens or even hundreds of bullets will find a weak spot.
Perhaps it’s worth talking about the different materials that are used today for the manufacture of personal protective equipment, in more detail.
Fabric
Every person interested in military affairs must have heard of aramid fiber. It is also called Kevlar (not quite exactly - about the same as calling all copiers xeroxes).
The main advantage of such body armor is weight. It is small. In addition, Kevlar protection, even with 5-7 layers, still remains very soft - it can be hidden under a jacket. She does not constrain movements at all. It is also almost impossible to cut through it - the knife simply slides off the armor during cutting blows.
It would seem that the perfect defense has been found! Alas, this is not entirely true. After all, aramid fiber has its drawbacks.
The main one is instability to moisture. Yes, if the armor gets exposed to rain or is just used in conditions of high humidity, its strength is almost halved! Yes, it will recover when it dries. But until this time, the fighter seriously risks his health and life.
In addition, Kevlar, which is almost impossible to cut through, pierces relatively easily. Where an ordinary knife fails, an ordinary awl will easily break through the armor.
Finally, it is softness that can lead to the death of the owner. From a bullet fired from a rifle, machine gun or even an ordinary hunting rifle, the armor will not be able to protect. The vest itself will not suffer. But a blow to the body will be of such force that it will break bones, damage the insides.
Therefore, completely different types of bulletproof vests Kevlar did not supplant.
Ceramic
For some time, ceramic plates were considered a successful solution. In the USSR, bulletproof vests with them were developed back in the 1980s. For some time it was even planned to produce tanks with ceramic armor, the test results were so impressive for everyone.
Relatively lightweight, body armor perfectly extinguished the blow, protecting a person from shell shock, which metal analogs could not boast of. Here are just a minus was discovered pretty quickly. After the first hit, the plates were damaged - this ensured the absorption of the bullet pulse and reliable protection of the bulletproof vest carrier. For the first time, that was enough. But when it re-hit the same plate, it simply crumbled, leaving the fighter practically defenseless.
So this development was effective, but one-time. Having escaped from a serious battle, the military of the air assault brigade would have to almost completely change the filler, and even the uniform itself, which is simply unacceptable.
Metal
Finally, the most common and time-tested body armor is metal. As the main protection are used as titanium plates, and many others - alloys having high strength, today there are quite a lot.
Alas, in most cases, the weight of the body armor, providing a high level of protection, is quite large. So, the effectiveness of a fighter is sharply reduced.
In addition, the question arises of the size of the plate. If it is too small, it will not be able to effectively distribute the momentum of the bullet through the body when hit. But the metal simply cannot quench the momentum. If the plate is large, then the distribution will be much more efficient. But the mobility and, consequently, the mobility of a soldier are sharply reduced.
Combined
Therefore, today very often combined means of individual armor protection are used. In their manufacture, both Kevlar and metal or ceramic inserts are used. For example, steel bibs in this case are supplemented with an aramid base. Steel reliably protects from bullets and piercing blows, and Kevlar softens the blow, avoiding shell shock.
Of course, they are more complicated and more expensive to create, and in most cases the weight is more than conventional body armor. On the other hand, they provide a high level of protection, and the mass is still much easier than a sapper suit.
Pros and cons of body armor
Someone may be surprised by such a statement of the question. After all, it is clear that bulletproof vests regularly save the lives of law enforcement officers and the military. However, not all so simple.
With the plus, everything is clear - reliable armor will protect against a knife, a fragment, a bullet, or a regular blow to the stomach with a butt. More is not required.
With one minus, everything is also clear - reduced mobility by more or less reliable body armor.
But there is another drawback, not so obvious. It is a matter of concussion. In some cases, tangential bullets could inflict a relatively minor wound — scratching the skin or even tearing a piece of muscle, but such a wound is easily treated even in the field. And in the presence of body armor, the plates of which take a hit, the bullet deals a terrible blow to the internal organs, beating off the liver, tearing the kidneys. As a result, even emergency hospitalization does not always save.
However, usually such situations are private and cannot compete with cases where bulletproof vests save lives.
Body Armor Classes
According to the degree of protection, all body armor is divided into classes. They most often differ in the materials used in the manufacture. It is clear that the lower the protection class, the less armor fetters the body.
The first class provides protection against weak pistol cartridges (5-6 mm), as well as some types of knives. It is usually made of several layers of aramid fiber.
The second class already has 7-10 layers of fabric, stops bullets from PM and Nagan, as well as shot from a hunting rifle. Like the first, it is easily hidden under a jacket or jacket.
The third class combines 20-25 layers of Kevlar and rigid armored inserts. It is already impossible to hide such a vest under the clothes, but it stops any bullets from pistols and even from smooth-bore weapons.
The fourth class is similar to the third, only the inserts are larger, and their thickness is increased. Can stop 5.45 and 7.62 mm bullets that do not have a hard core.
The fifth grade is made mainly of solid inserts. Reliably protects from almost all non-armor-piercing bullets, even fired at a short distance. This includes body armor 6B45.
Sixth grade is the hardest and most reliable. It stops non-armor-piercing bullets fired from sniper rifles and machine guns (of course, if the shooting is not point blank).
What is the weight of the bulletproof vest?
It is impossible to say unequivocally how much body armor weighs. After all, there are a lot of them, and the mass, as mentioned above, is seriously different. You can give only approximate data - depending on the protection class:
- The first class is 1.5-2.5 kg.
- The second class is 3-5 kg.
- Third class - 6-9 kg.
- The fourth class is 8-10 kg.
- Fifth grade - 11-20 kg.
- Sixth grade - more than 15 kg.
As you can see, the weight spread is very large, as is the level of protection.
