The Army’s next-generation body armor plates
The Army’s new Soldier Protection System has been billed as a lighter and more powerful replacement for the service’s existing personal protective equipment, but a recent evaluation from the Defense Department’s top weapons tester suggests the next-generation system has a long way to go before it can be trusted to reliably protect soldiers downrange.To get more news about
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According to a new analysis from the Pentagon’s operational testing and evaluation arm published in January, the Army spent the 2020 fiscal year testing the lightweight Generation III Vital Torso Protection (VTP) armor plate inserts that, when added into the system’s new Modular Scalable Vest, will offer the first line of protection for soldiers against ballistic threats.
The VTP consists of front and rear hard armor torso plates (either the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert (ESAPI) or the X Threat Small Arms Protective Insert (XSAPI)) and corresponding hard armor side plates (either Enhanced Side Ballistic Insert (ESBI) or the X Threat Side Ballistic Insert (XSBI)), per the OT&E report.
Together, the lightweight plates reportedly achieve a 7-14 percent weight reduction over the current armor plates issued to soldiers downrange, according to the Army.
The results of testing, however, were less than encouraging: during initial testing, various versions of three out of four of the armor plates — the ESBI, ESAPI, XSAPI plates, specifically — failed to meet ballistic protection requirements. And while the Army was able to readjust the ESBI and ESAPI plates to meet “revised” requirements, the service is still working to develop a revised version of the XSAPI plate.
Indeed, the OT&E report ends with one simple assessment: “The Army should continue the testing of the lighter-weight Generation III VTP designs,” which roughly translates to “the Army’s next-generation armor plates aren’t ready for prime time.”
And if you’re wondering why that’s such a big deal, we’ll put it this way: The plates may weigh a little less, but don’t count on them to stop incoming rounds — which is their one job.
Now, this isn’t to say that the entire SPS is a loss. Indeed, the system’s new Integrated Head Protective System (IHPS) helped save an armor soldier’s life during an Afghanistan deployment in mid-2019 when the helmet’s next mandible repelled an incoming brick.
