Soldiers soon to get side protection on body armor

Army News ^ | June 16, 2004 | Joe Burlas

[Southack]

Soldiers soon to get side protection on body armor

By Joe Burlas

XM8 carbine
PEO Soldier

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, June 16, 2004) -- Deployed troops will soon start getting side protection for their Interceptor Body Armor, thanks to the efforts of Program Executive Office Soldier.

The IBA Deltoid Extension was one of dozens of pieces of equipment PEO Soldier officials showed off to the Pentagon press corps during a media briefing June 14.

In the two years since the organization stood up, it has researched and fielded or is in the process of researching more than 350 pieces of equipment -- everything from boots to parachutes to new rifles –- in order to save Soldier lives, improve their quality of life and increase their effectiveness on the battlefield, said Brig. Gen. James Moran, PEO Soldier executive officer.

“Outfitting Soldiers is just as important as (acquiring) a major piece of equipment,” Moran said.

At about 16 pounds, IBA is lighter than the 25-pound Vietnam-era flack jacket it replaced and it offers better protection, Moran said. The Deltoid Extension will add about another five pounds and protects the sides of the ribcage and shoulders.

However, the extension comes with a price for the Soldier. Moran explained that it can limit movement and block air from circulating under the body armor -- decreasing the Soldier’s ability to cool off in a hot environment.

“Everything we do is a balance,” Moran said. “We want all Soldiers to come back without any injuries. At the same time, we want them to be combat effective. Nothing can be made to be indestructible.”

Despite the weight of IBA, Moran said he has no doubt that the new body armor has saved lives. In the past 18 months, the Army has purchased about 300,000 full sets of IBA.

The current Army budget buys 50,000 Deltoid Extension sets this fiscal year, all of which will be shipped to selected troops by the end of September, according to Col. John Norwood, program manager for PEO Soldier--Equipment. The Army plans to request enough funding in next year’s budget to equip all 132,000 Soldiers in the Central Command area of operations with the extension.

“We have a clever enemy, an adaptable enemy, so we must be clever and adaptable,” Moran said.

Another piece of equipment PEO Soldier showed off is the Microclimate Cooling System now in use by Army aviation flight crews. The system is a liquid-filled vest worn next to the skin that is connected by a flexible tube to a 12-pound box that circulates the coolant. A quick disconnect allows users to move around the aircraft as necessary and a rheostat allows users to control the coolant temperature.

PEO Soldier tests of the system have demonstrated that flight crews can increase flight times from 1.5 hours in a hot environment to about five hours, Moran said.

The third piece of equipment PEO Soldier demonstrated was the XM8 rifle. While the XM8 still faces four more formal tests before the decision is made whether to buy it, Moran said the Special Forces Soldiers and other troops who have tried it out all said they want it now.

There are three variants of the XM8: a light version with a collapsible stock and a 9.5-inch barrel, a standard version with a 12-inch barrel and a designated marksman version with a 20-inch barrel. While a longer barrel means greater weight, it also means greater accuracy over greater ranges and a higher rate of fire, Moran explained.

In addition to being lighter than the M16 and M4 rifles, the XM8 has the advantage of being easier to maintain with significantly lower problems with stoppages. The first XM8 tested fired 15,000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication without a first misfire, said Col. Michael Smith, program manager for PEO Solider--Weapons.

The last new type of rifle the Army has bought was the M16 in the 1960s, Moran said.

If the XM8 passes its remaining tests and the decision is made to buy it, the Army will likely purchase about 8,000 next fiscal year to equip two units of action, Moran said.

[Southack]

[JSteff]

". The first XM8 tested fired 15,000 rounds without cleaning or lubrication without a first misfire,"

So they are testing the AK?

[fourdeuce82d]

So they are testing the AK?

No. They are testing a firearm which is more accurate, and fires a cartridge which does more damage than a .38 round nose. (given that the 7.62X39 doesn't hit bone)

[Squantos]

I want to go on record NOW stating that I personally believe the XM8 purchase is a mistake. Just a quick glance tells me the designer of that flash supressor doesn't understand the term "wait'a minute vine". The plastic magwell and plastic magazines worry me also. Plastic C7 (?) mags I "borrowed" from canadians in desert storm had a bad habit of getting really fuzzy with the abrasive sand exposure. Once they got fuzzed per se they were hard to insert into a metal mag well on a M16, I wonder if that mag well is plastic as it appears ?? And thats just what I can see in the pics......

Just my biased M-14/M1A Supermatch loving initial impression from the couch.......Stay safe !

[Squantos]

Awwww come on now the AK is a fine CQB tewl.........:o)

A nice cheap stay out of the gun safe house gun that ya don't anguish over if it's stolen, dropped or taken as evidence after ya smoke a burgler at point blank range.....

Hope yer well 4.2..........Stay safe !

[Newbomb Turk]

Great. More extra weight to strap to my a$$. When will the Army learn I am not a pack mule. Inhibits cooling too. Always a great plus in the desert.

[Southack]

A quick Google seems to show a consensus of AK-47's jamming once every 1,200 to 1,500 rounds fired.

Re: Ak 47 vs M 16 (AK Site. AK-74 Discussion.)
... In basic I fired 1200 rounds through the rifle and expereinced 1 magazine related
jam (the magazine ... Re: Ak 47 vs M 16 Kurt 01:38:28 4/15/2002 (0): Re: Ak 47 vs ...
kalashnikov.guns.ru/wwwboard/board4/messages/1980.html - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

Re: clueless about guns (ak or ar15) (AK Site. SKS Discussion ...
... i have only seen an ak47 jam on reloaded hollowpoint with shells that have been
reloaded 9times plus. that says a lot for them not jamming much, Follow Ups. ...
kalashnikov.guns.ru/wwwboard/board3/messages/3552.html - 5k - Cached - Similar pages
[ More results from kalashnikov.guns.ru ]

AK-47.net: Copyright Information
... So in certain circumstances we allow soldiers to have an AK-47. ... rebel movements around
the world, because it is light, durable and known to jam less frequently ...
www.ak-47.net/currentnews.html - 36k - Cached - Similar pages

AK47 vs M16
... quote: AK47 won. ... The AK-47 is very good at what is made for, being an adaptable and ... big
more powerful, has better trajectory, and has a lower fire/jam rate than ...
forum.japantoday.com/AK47_vs_M16/m_70234/tm.htm - 101k - Cached - Similar pages

Warrior Talk Forums - AK-47 vs. AR-15: What I've seen in Tactical ...
... the AK-47 will not be settled here any more than it has been on hundreds of other
posts ... I have only seen one AK jam one time, and that because of a bad magazine ...
www.warriortalk.com/showthread.php?t=1876&page=1 - 69k - Cached - Similar pages

All AgitProp, all the Time...: The Decline of the South African ...
... opponents. Some of them had their *AK-47's* jam. (AK47's can jam? Who
knew? What do you have to DO to an AK to get it to jam?). THe ...
fim.ondragonswing.com/archives/002911.html - 11k - Cached - Similar pages

[Reagan is King]

Good news on the body armor and interesting info on the new weapon.

THE XM8 SYSTEM

[Southack]

"A unique feature of the XM8 modular weapon system is the ability to easily and quickly reconfigure the weapon from one variant to the other to meet changing mission requirements, to include caliber conversion."

I'm not sold, either, but I am intrigued...especially with the 100 round drum.

[jaykay]

However, the extension comes with a price for the Soldier. Moran explained that it can limit movement and block air from circulating under the body armor -- decreasing the Soldier's ability to cool off in a hot environment.

"Everything we do is a balance," Moran said. "We want all Soldiers to come back without any injuries. At the same time, we want them to be combat effective. Nothing can be made to be indestructible."

The next generation of body armor will solve those problems.

Army Scientists, Engineers Develop Liquid Body Armor
Apr. 21, 2004, Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, Army News Service, by Tonya Johnson
Liquid armor for Kevlar vests is one of the newest technologies being developed at the U.S. Army Research Laboratory to save Soldiers' lives. This type of body armor is light and flexible, which allows soldiers to be more mobile and won't hinder an individual from running or aiming his or her weapon. The key component of liquid armor is a shear thickening fluid. STF is composed of hard particles suspended in a liquid. The liquid, polyethylene glycol, is non-toxic, and can withstand a wide range of temperatures. Hard, nano-particles of silica are the other components of STF.

[Tailback]

The AK-47 is very good at what is made for, being an adaptable and ... big more powerful, has better trajectory

Better trajectory? You have got to be kidding me. I'll take an out of the arms room M16A2 against any AK47 and shoot across the course EIC match. I'd bet the AK would be lucky to get half the rounds at 600 yards on the target board let alone a scoring ring. Anyone that claims an AK47 is more accurate is on drugs. More reliable, cheaper and easier to make, and easier to maintain, yes. More accurate, heck no. Of course, in 17 years service I only had 1 malfunction with the m16 and that was because of a bad round of ammo. We were given pre loaded mags at the range and one round was badly deformed and wouldn't chamber.

[Southack]

I've never seen an AK-47 hit MOA at any reasonable distance. It is *not* an accurate weapon.