Overview

The first coverings worn by humans were to protect against the elements and injury. While that requirement still exists in everyday clothing, very specialised garments have been developed to protect against the effects of bullets, bombs, knives and other weapons. This book is about these forms of protective clothing – body armour and helmets. The protection of personnel against the effects of weapons has become an important not only to those in the military or in law enforcement but also to others such as journalists and medical staff who might be at risk in the course of their duties.

The authors have written this introduction to the modern body armour and helmets of the early 21st century in non-technical language, mainly for the reader who has little or no previous knowledge of materials technology, design, or ballistics. They have attempted to provide answers to the questions that such a reader may have. The book describes anti-personnel weapons and ammunition and the materials which are used to stop these threats. The reader will learn why and how such forms of protection work. The book also explains how body armour and helmets are designed, how both the basic materials and the finished clothing and headwear are tested and how to select appropriate armours and helmets.

After briefly discussing the development of body armour and helmets in Chapter 1, Chapter 2 looks at the classification of threats, including small-arms, rifle and handgun bullets; fragmenting munitions, and knives. Based on the protection required for each of these threats, Chapter 3 discusses the armour materials including steel and other metals, flexible armour materials, fibre composites, ceramic-faced armours, and transparent armours. Chapter 4 discusses basic armour design considerations and Chapter 5 looks at helmet design and face protection. Chapter 6 discusses ballistic tests for body armour, testing of stab-resistant materials and non-ballistic test methods for helmets. Chapter 7 addresses the issues of cost, protection levels, weight, comfort, and compatibility. Chapter 8 looks briefly at alternative materials and systems. Finally, Chapter 9 provides technical data and information including: useful conversion factors; data on bullets, ballistic-protection testing standards, ballistic limit velocities, armour materials, body armour weight, knife protection standards, drop heights for helmet and knife testing, and blast.

Laurence Tobin had been both a soldier and a police officer before spending thirty years as a senior scientist in the UK Ministry of Defence, engaged exclusively on the research and development of body armour. He has served on several NATO and European research groups and was the originator of the only international symposia on personal armour systems which continues to be held every two years. He is now the director of a protective clothing consultancy.

Dr Michael Iremonger has taught at the Royal Military of Science (now the Defence College of Management and Technology) at Shrivenham in the UK for over thirty years. As well as teaching many students about the fundamentals of body armour he has conducted research on many aspects of body armour systems from the computer and experimental modelling of armour mechanics to the factors that influence their wearability.

Preface

WHO IS THIS BOOK FOR?

Before the first arrow pierced the apple, William Tell had the second ready to fire.
Gessler said ‘What was the second arrow for?’
Tell said ‘If I had missed, it was for you’.
From ‘The Story of William Tell’
A Swiss legend

If you have got as far as this page, then this book is probably aimed at you.

The authors of this book and their expert advisers from both the police and military spheres have many years of experience in the world of research, development, and application of ballistic protective body armour and helmets. They have been aware that there was no single source of information which explains in non-technical language the science and technology that is devoted to ensuring that the best possible personal protection is available for members of the military services, the police forces, or just anybody who needs this sort of protective clothing. If that is what you have been looking for, then this is it!

You may be a serving soldier or policeman who wants a better understanding of the kit that you have been provided with. You may have the responsibility within a security firm for deciding which models of armour and/or helmets should be purchased. You could be an individual, perhaps a freelance journalist or a business representative, who needs to travel to potentially dangerous areas, with a need to buy your own protective clothing. You could be interested in military or police matters in general, or you may just have an interest in unusual clothing. Even though we have taken great care not to use technical jargon or formulae, and we have tried to explain as much as possible by illustrations rather than asking you to plough through masses of text, it should even be useful to the scientist or technologist who has an interest, but perhaps limited experience, in this area. On the other hand you may have no idea what the title means and you have picked up this book in order to find out. It is for all of you.

As you read on, you will learn about the historical development of personal protection systems which are light enough to be carried or worn by an individual but which will protect him or her against ballistic attacks and some other forms of assault. You will learn something about the weapons that are used in those assaults. You will also read about the underlying research and development which is aimed at improving levels of protection even higher than they are currently. This will include descriptions of the materials that are used and how they work; how body armour and helmets are designed; how both the basic materials and the finished clothing and headwear are tested; and how to recognize armours and helmets which pass those tests

You may be surprised to learn that although all body armours look very similar in photographs, in fact they often have important differences. We will also explain why the most widely used military helmets look almost identical although they are designed independently. It may be even more surprising for the average reader, in spite of what you may have been led to believe, that most ballistic casualties in warfare are not caused by bullets or that police armour has to provide protection against weapons which are usually not even considered for the construction of a military body armour. Why do so many soldiers in Hollywood films have their chinstraps undone? And why in modern TV and newspaper pictures of real combat situations do they not? Why isn’t the armour that gives the highest level of protection not necessarily the best armour? Interested in finding out more? Then buy the book.

(If you need an independent recommendation, we think it is great and so do our families.)

We would like to acknowledge the invaluable advice and assistance provided by Paul Fenne and Phil Gotts. Phil has been leader of the team of scientists in the UK Ministry of Defence who are responsible for the research and other technical support relating to most UK military ballistic-protective clothing. Paul holds a similar position in respect to London’s Metropolitan Police Service, one of the largest police forces in the world. It was Paul who first saw the need for a non-technical introductory book on body armour and the chapter on knives in particular leans heavily on information and advice that he offered. Both he and Phil helped us to decide what to both include and exclude, and in addition to reading and commenting on the draft versions they were both of considerable assistance in helping us to find suitable illustrations. Paul both provided illustrations and elicited the help of Jamie Egerton who drew cartoons for the book. Phil suggested where we may find other illustrations and also gave us permission to photograph some items which may otherwise have been difficult for us to obtain. We are particularly indebted to Jamie who, with his superlative illustrations, has introduced a lighter side to the serious subject of personal protection.

Table of contents

CONTENTS
1	THE HISTORICAL CONTEXT	1
1.1	THE EARLIEST FORMS OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING	1
1.2	THE FIRST WORLD WAR	3
1.3	THE SECOND WORLD WAR	7
1.4	THE KOREAN AND VIETNAM WARS	9
1.5	POLICE BODY ARMOUR	11
1.6	THE RECENT PAST—AND WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW?	19
1.7	AND FINALLY ...	13
2	THE THREAT: WHY DO WE NEED PROTECTION?	15
2.1	INTRODUCTION	15
2.2	THREAT CLASSIFICATION	17
2.3	SMALL-ARMS BULLETS	20
2.4	RIFLE BULLETS	22
2.5	HANDGUN BULLETS	23
2.6	FRAGMENTING MUNITIONS	26
2.7	KNIVES	29
2.7.1	What Happens During a Stab?	31
2.7.2	Principles of Stab Body Armour Design	31
2.7.3	Stab Protection Levels	32
3	BODY ARMOUR MATERIALS AND MECHANICS	35
3.1	THE ‘BEST’ ARMOUR MATERIAL	36
3.2	STEEL AND OTHER METALS	37
3.3	FLEXIBLE ARMOUR MATERIALS	38
3.4	HOW DO SOFT ARMOURS WORK?	40
3.5	FIBRE COMPOSITES	44
3.5.1	How Do Fibre-composite Armours Work?	45
3.6	CERAMIC-FACED ARMOUR MATERIALS	46
3.6.1	How Do Ceramic-faced Armours Work?	48
3.7	TRANSPARENT ARMOURS	50
4	BODY ARMOUR DESIGN: HOW DIFFICULT CAN IT BE?	53
4.1	BASIC DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS	53
4.2	ADDITIONAL PLATES	65
5	HEAD AND FACE PROTECTION: HOW DO WE PROVIDE IT?	69
5.1	HELMET DESIGN	70
5.2	FACE PROTECTION	80
5.2.1	But What Transparent Materials Do We Use?	82
6	TEST METHODS: HOW DO WE KNOW WE ARE GETTING THE PROTECTION THAT WE EXPECT?	87
6.1	INTRODUCTION	87
6.2	BALLISTIC TESTS FOR BODY ARMOUR	91
6.2.1	Bullets	91
6.2.2	Fragments	96
6.3	TESTING STAB-RESISTANT MATERIALS	103
6.4	NON-BALLISTIC TEST METHODS FOR HELMETS	105
6.5	A WARNING NOTE	106
7	SELECTING A BODY ARMOUR: HOW DO WE KNOW WHICH ARMOUR TO BUY?	107
7.1	INTRODUCTION	107
7.2	COST	109
7.3	PROTECTION LEVELS	110
7.4	WEIGHT, COMFORT, AND COMPATIBILITY	110
7.5	WHO TO BUY FROM	111
7.6	SUMMING UP	112
8	ALTERNATIVE MATERIALS AND SYSTEMS	113
9	FOR WHOM IT MAY CONCERN	121
9.1	INTRODUCTION	121
9.2	USEFUL CONVERSION FACTORS	121
9.3	BULLETS	122
9.4	BALLISTIC-PROTECTION TESTING STANDARDS	123
9.5	BALLISTIC LIMIT VELOCITIES	125
9.6	ARMOUR MATERIALS	126
9.7	BODY ARMOUR WEIGHT	128
9.8	KNIFE PROTECTION STANDARDS	129
9.9	DROP HEIGHTS FOR HELMET AND KNIFE TESTING	129
9.1	BLAST	130
	GLOSSARY	131

Sample Chapter

Download a sample chapter of Modern Body Armour and Helmets: An Introduction (PDF)