this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2024
358 points (97.9% liked)
Ukraine
8107 readers
559 users here now
News and discussion related to Ukraine
*Sympathy for enemy combatants in any form is prohibited.
*No content depicting extreme violence or gore.
Donate to support Ukraine's Defense
Donate to support Humanitarian Aid
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
The extra plate stops rifle rounds up to caliber .308 / 7.62mm (which carry more force than the assault rifles used by most infantry now), at least in the American Level III/IV vests.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_body_armor_performance_standards#NIJ_armor_standard_(United_States)
Funnily enough, the European standard goes up to armor ratings that would protect against 3 point blank shots from 14.5×114mm rounds (what this thing shoots), but I couldn't find a picture of any armor with that rating, and it would likely break every bone in your torso even if the bullet doesn't penetrate.
This is what Level III/IV full body armor looks like:
How is that something a person could wear? Those bullets penetrate light vehicle armor.
I'm guessing they just defined the standard for any round fired by a human-portable rifle, without worrying about whether it's possible to meet the standard.
That would make sense, bulletproofing your standard before the bulletproofing technology catches up.
Even Master Chief's Mjolnir armor from Halo wouldn't pass. (It would stop one bullet but not three in a row without time to recharge the shield.)