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New Body Armor Standards

Written by Ed Sanow

Five years ago, a 40 S&W bullet penetrated the soft body armor of a Forest Hills, PA police officer. This was the first confirmed time a ballistic vest failed to stop a bullet that it was rated to stop. This event set in motion a massive re-evaluation of how soft body armor is tested, specified and purchased. The NIJ is making a long list of changes to be sure that kind of failure never happens again.

Most Zylon and Zylon-hybrid vests have been decertified. As it turns out, the Zylon fiber loses up to 30% of its tensile strength after a few months, even if it is not worn. A retest of field returns showed that 96% did not meet NIJ standards and 58% actually had perforations.

To the point, NIJ-0101.04 was upgraded to the .05 interim level and will then become NIJ-0101.06 in 2008. The new .06 Standard affects handgun-caliber ammo only. The Threat Level III (rifle-high power) and Threat Level IV (rifle-armor piercing) have not been changed at all. Threat Level I has been removed. In Threat Level IIA and II, the muzzle velocity of the 9mm and 40 S&W test ammo has been increased by about 10%. In Threat Level IIIA, the 9mm has been replaced by the 357 SIG, again a velocity increase on basically the same bullet.

The NIJ has a new, bewildering list of test velocities. For example, in Threat Level IIA, the 9mm 124-grain FMJ in the .04 Standard has a test velocity of 1,120 fps, an average street velocity of 1,109 fps, a reference velocity of 1,165 fps, and an elevated .06 Standard velocity of 1,224 fps. Don’t be confused. The .06 velocities are all higher. The reference velocity is the one used against aged, used or degraded armor.

The wet “conditioning” has been made tougher. There will be a 30-minute immersion in water rather than a mere 6-minute water spray, which will probably require sewn seams to be sealed. The NIJ found that rough handling, i.e., tumbling the vests to simulate wear, didn’t really affect performance, but temperature and humidity certainly did.

Body armor panels of different sizes will be tested, one larger and one smaller. The NIJ found out (under certain test conditions) the larger armor sizes may be more easily perforated, while the smaller armor sizes may allow more backface deformation.

The testing will both include a revised shot pattern to test closely spaced bullet impacts, i.e., three shots in a 4-inch circle. It will also include shots fired closer to the edge of the armor, 2 inches from the edge instead of 3 inches. In addition to all this, the NIJ greatly increased the number of armor samples that it tests, including both new and artificially aged or conditioned armor.

The NIJ is also performing V50 testing on the armor. The V50 is the velocity at which 50% of the vests will fail. So far, the V50 will be performed as a test only and not as a compliance standard.

The NIJ is also better defining the bullets used in the test procedure. Differences exist in different makes of FMJ bullets, i.e., bullet profile, jacket thickness, antimony content in the lead core, etc. All this affects the bullet’s ability to penetrate, and the NIJ wants to standardize on one FMJ bullet design in each caliber. The NIJ also wants full disclosure of all of the ballistic fabric materials used in the armor and clear labeling.

As the end result of all this, the long-debated comfort versus performance pendulum is definitely swinging toward performance and away from comfort. You may be able to select a lower level of armor for more comfort and better flexibility because the lower threat levels are tested at higher velocities. Ultimately, however, the rule in selecting soft body armor is to select the threat level of armor to stop your OWN handgun.

Yes, the body armor of the future may become slightly less comfortable, less flexible and slightly more expensive than the earlier generations. However, soft body armor has already dramatically improved over that of five to 10 years ago. The NIJ is clearly now overly cautious. While the new armor may be a bit over-designed for the threat level, the last thing we want the armor to do is fail.