There are two aspects to consider when choosing body armor for the army. On one side, you don’t want the guys in the field to get hurt and you don’t want to be presenting folded flags to anyone. On the other side, you don’t want to break the bank when doing so or endanger the viability of the mission.
There are five aspects any strategist will need to consider when it comes to choosing body armor:
- Armor protection
- Individual weight
- Terrain
- Supply
- Transportation
Because the numbers of factors that can be in play are so numerous, this can’t be boiled down to simple math. But, each aspect will impact your decision in some way.
The level of protection provided by the armor will always be number one. Depending on the level of the threat, you might opt to use lighter or heavier armor. Probable danger from anti-personnel high-velocity rifles will require something like the ICW4S™ Level IV SiC SAPI from UARM plates.
Also, if there might be explosives, auxiliary armor will be mandatory.
But, these types of protection are also heavy. The SA3U™ Level III+ plate is half the weight of Level IV plates and offers a lot more mobility and endurance for the combatant.
Further, these aspects will need to be adapted to the terrain and supply. The worse conditions you can expect the more autonomy each unit must have. If you can’t predict which type of TIC they might encounter, they will need to be ready for anything.
Finally, body armor is heavy for the infrastructure as well, especially if you have a lot of troops in the field. You always need to consider how that weight will be moved when not being used by the soldiers, or how replacement equipment might be sent.
Optimized Equipment
In most cases, the information you have about the possible encounter will be just as important as the equipment you will use, if not more so.
Modern body armor is made to be modular and multiple pieces of auxiliary modules and hard plates can be installed to increase the survivability of the soldier. But, to make the correct choice here you will need information.
Knowing about the terrain, enemy weapons, as well as the maximum length of the mission can allow you to completely optimize your forces for that engagement.
Trimming down the excess and only leaving what is necessary will make your forces more maneuverable. Otherwise, you may take more specialized gear and additional ammo.
Transportation Matters
While small forces who operate locally seldom encounter this issue, transportation is one of the largest problems when it comes to larger operations. Moving people and gear around is not as easy as it sounds.
Also, any lapse in judgment on this part can put lives in danger without the enemy needing to fire a single shot.
While forming your transportation around something like the HRB™ Huge Resource Bag is not always necessary, you will at least need to plan in that direction.
