WASHINGTON — The U.S. Army plans to produce new components for body
armor in an effort to improve protection for soldiers in Iraq.
Officials said the army would begin manufacturing side-panel inserts for
the Interceptor ballistic armor. They said the side panels would weigh three
pounds and comprise a component in modular armor.
"We're going to be producing a new side-armor plate," Col. Thomas
Spoehr, responsible for the fielding of body armor, said on Jan. 10.
Spoehr told a briefing that the army has been satisfied with the
performance of Interceptor body armor, Middle East Newsline reported. He said the armor has protected
against most of the threats soldiers face in Iraq and Afghanistan. In
at least one case, the armor stopped a bullet fired toward a soldier in Iraq
at point blank range.
"If the
mission doesn't accommodate wearing that new side armor plate, then the
commander can direct, 'Don't wear that today,'" Spoehr said.
Officials said the army effort to improve body armor has sought to limit
extra weight. They said the typical infantryman carries 85 pounds of gear
into battle, including weapons, ammunition, water and protective gear.
"You could outfit a soldier from head to toe in armor, and he would be
completely useless," Spoehr said. "We have to be sensitive to the weight
burden we put on soldiers in that arduous environment over there. Every
ounce that we put on the back of a soldier could mean the difference between
their ability to accomplish the mission or not."
The Interceptor armor -- comprised of vest and side-armor plate inserts,
along with neck and groin protection -- weighs about 16 pounds. The enhanced
SAPI plates would add three pounds to the weight; the side-panel plates
weigh another three pounds.
The armor also contains options for other shoulder and side protection.
Altogether, the Interceptor could burden the soldier with another 27 pounds.
"We want to give that type of an option to commanders," Spoehr said.
A Defense Department report asserted that thousands of armored vests for
deployment in Iraq failed inspection. Officials said the army recalled the
vests in November 2005.
On Wednesday, the army announced plans to begin production of 230,000
sets of side armor plates and supply them in 2006 to soldiers in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The Pentagon has briefed Congress on a report that asserted
that side plates could have saved up to 21 Marines who died in combat in
Iraq from March 2003 to June 2005.
"We have not given many of our soldiers and marines the protection that
they need. And it is just unforgivable and unacceptable," Sen. Hillary
Clinton, who serves on the Armed Services Committee, said. "The very least
we can do is to give them the option of having the very best body armor and
armored vehicles to make sure that while they're in harm's way they can be
as safe as possible."
