Future soldier
As a result, combat clothing is generally designed to mitigate against smaller fragments – which Russell refers to as “secondary projectiles” – from a threat, such as improvised explosive devices (IEDs). With this in mind, the combat clothing Dstl is looking at comprises of relatively low-areal density protective material, which are acceptable from a comfort perspective to its users. These ‘human factors’ cover not just the physical burden of the clothing, but also the cognitive and thermal burdens.
A secondary benefit of defeating smaller fragments is the reduction in the amount of debriding that surgeons have to perform when cleaning and treating wounds. “This essentially involves surgeons removing fragments from the individual’s wounds to prevent infection,” says Russell. “It’s much easier if there’s a small amount of protection to help limit the depth of penetration of those smaller fragments.” While every material has a ballistic property, the traditional polyester/cotton blend that makes up the regular clothing used by British Army soldiers has a relatively low one in terms of its ability to mitigate fragments. Combat clothing, on the other hand, makes use of high-strength fibres that offer improved ballistic properties within an acceptable weight limit. “We can’t stop a bullet with low-weight materials,” explains Russell. “But we can stop a relatively small fragment going at a representative velocity, using those materials – while polycotton might not.” Even if these fibres fail to prevent penetration, they can lessen the residual effects, reducing the energy of the fragment and consequently its depth of penetration. As a result, the fragment might only perforate a few millimetres, for example, rather than 10mm or more, reducing the risk of damage to underlying structures, and making the debriding process easier and thereby reducing the risk of secondary infection. Combat clothing also has non-ballistic requirements, specifically non-melt and non-drip properties – in the event of exposure to fire, such as a vehicle fire, for example, or a public order situation. Dstl’s role in all of this is to conduct work in-house in order to advise the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), crime and policing authorities, industry and other government departments on the nature of injuries from threats such as bullets, fragments or blast, and so on, and the levels of physical protection required to mitigate those dangers. And then, consequently, observing and analysing the resulting influence on soldier performance from a human factors perspective, once materials have been put in place to combat those threats. This process, Russell explains, ensures that UK soldiers “are provided with the best available solution and options”. This involves close collaboration with industry partners to inform the development of combat clothing materials and in “trying to reset the nirvana of balancing protection, burden and mobility, while
offering acceptable levels of comfort to the wearer, which is obviously paramount”, Russell adds. However, sometimes issues you don’t foresee can lead to complications regarding that balance, where comfort or mobility can be compromised. When that happens, militaries need to be able to modify and adapt their combat clothing offerings, in order to best equip their soldiers.
The Virtus system
Back in January 2015, SOURCE – Israel’s largest tactical gear manufacturer and exporter – signed a multi-year contract with the UK MOD to supply integrated personal protection and load carriage systems to the British Military. This body armour system was known under the name ‘Virtus’, and was developed to withstand the challenges and needs of modern infantry soldiers, increase agility, and make it easier for soldiers to carry heavy burdens. Developed as a successor to the Osprey body armour, the Virtus system offers the same protection while being significantly lighter, moving more easily with the body and producing a slimmer profile. Virtus is also scalable, allowing it to adapt to the challenges of current and future operating environments and threats by adding or removing soft armour and hard ballistic plates. However, that’s not to say that this new body armour system was without its own share of issues. Despite being designed to be lighter than the Osprey system it replaced, there were challenges when outfitting female soldiers, who became eligible for all roles within the UK military in 2018. In the summer of 2021, a new version of the Virtus system was trialled, with narrower straps and a shorter torso length and width, in order to increase comfort, fit and the range movement. “The modifications to the Virtus scalable tactical vest (STV) focus on reducing excess material for the users – particularly for females – with ill-fitting or oversized STVs,” notes Russell. “We’ve conducted
Defence & Security Systems International /
www.defence-and-security.com
Virtus body armour was developed to withstand the challenges and needs of infantry soldiers.
100,000
The number of military personnel that have used the Virtus armour system across all of the British services.
UK MOD 17
Crown Copyright
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