The United States plans to improve the body armor provided to troops in Iraq.

The Defense Department has sent modification kits that would increase the protection provided by the Interceptor Body Armor. The upgraded body armor has been provided to U.S. troops in Iraq to enhance protection of the throat and groin.

[On Monday, Iraqi insurgents killed eight U.S. marines in two separate incidents in Iraq's Anbar province, Middle East Newsline reported. Another 13 people were killed and 15 were injured in a suicide attack at an entrance to the Green Zone in Baghdad.]

The Deltoid and Axillary Protector was designed in response to the complaints of troops that the body armor did not protect vital body parts.

The Pentagon obtained deliveries of the Interceptor Body Armor in 2000 and replaced an 11.8 kilogram vest deployed in the early 1980s and upgraded a decade later.

The new IBA vest weighs 7.45 kilograms and contains attachments for throat and groin protectors. The vest was meant to protect against light arms fire.

Point Blank Body Armor and Second Chance manufacture the components of the outer tactical vests. Armorworks, Ceredyne, Cercom ForceOne and Simula produce the plates for the vests.

In May 2004, Point Blank Body Armor was awarded a contract for 50,000 Deltoid and Axillary Protector sets. Six months later, another 10,000 sets were ordered.