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“This Vest May Save Your Life!”



This observation was made in 1952 by the U.S. Army Body Armor Test Team, during the field test of the Army T-52-1 body armor vest with front-line troops in Korea. The team found that the new vest stopped 75.7 percent of all fragments, and 24.4 percent of small arms projectiles.2 This was remarkable progress, given the state of body armor development when the Korean War started in 1950.To get more news about bulletproof zone, you can visit bulletproofboxs.com official website.

Since then, the U.S. Army has continuously developed body armor to increase the survivability of soldiers. This article summarizes the advancements in U.S. Army body armor from World War II to the present. It also includes a brief description of U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) body armor initiatives, specifically through its Special Operations Forces (SOF) Personal Equipment Advanced Requirements (SPEAR) program.
During World War II, under the direction of its Command Surgeon, Colonel Malcolm C. Grow, the U.S. Army Eighth Air Force pioneered the development of modern body armor.3 In 1943, bomber pilots and aircrew in the ‘Mighty Eighth’ began receiving an armored vest manufactured in Great Britain.4 Incorporating two-inch square manganese steel plates, sewn into a canvas vest, it protected against shrapnel from exploding antiaircraft shells, commonly known as ‘flak.’5 Once testing was complete, the design was standardized and U.S. Army aviation vest manufacturing was moved stateside.6 Officially dubbed the Flyer’s Vest, M1, the vests were more commonly referred to as ‘flak vests’ and ‘flak suits.’7

The 17 pound, 6 ounce weight of the M1 vest was not a significant issue for bomber pilots and seated crew members, some of whom sat on their vests, because the greatest threat came from below the aircraft. Sitting was not an option for the waist gunners, who manned .50 caliber machine guns on either side of the fuselage.8 In time, specialized armor was provided to crew members, based on their biggest threats. The Flyer’s Apron, M3 was for crewmen in confined spaces, such as ball turret gunners; the Flyer’s Apron, M4, for waist gunners; and Groin Armor, M5, for seated personnel (pilots, copilots, bombardiers, and navigators).9 By war’s end, over 300,000 Flyer’s Vest, M1s, had been produced, along with nearly 100,000 Flyer’s Vest, M2 designs, the latter of which was provided to pilots and copilots, who sat in armored cockpit seats.10

A 1944 Eighth Air Force study of battle casualties reported that body armor had led to a reduction in fatalities from thoracic [chest] wounds (36 to 8 percent) and from abdominal wounds (39 to 7 percent).11 This data, complemented by first-hand bomber crew testimonials, validated the effectiveness of body armor. Still, the Army initially rejected armor for ground troops, due to its weight and restrictive designs.12 Late in the war, the Army Ordnance Corps developed the 12-pound M-12 vest, consisting of aluminum plates and nylon fabric. The war in the Pacific ended before the field tests could be conducted.13

In 1947, the Army Ordnance Corps relinquished body armor development to the Quartermaster Corps. Based on the threat facing U.S. soldiers, it focused on armor for engineer troops doing mine clearance.14 A 1949 Army study determined that armor for active ground troops was impractical, based on weight.15 Thus, when war erupted in Korea in June 1950, the WWII-era M-12 vest was pressed into service as a ‘stop-gap’ measure, until better designs could be fielded.16