TankNutDave

Just read the Helmand Blog where it says that new body armour for British troops will be sent out to Afghanistan when 16 Air Assault Brigade deploys in October. Here is a link to the article that I read;

http://helmandblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/mod-scientists-develop-upgraded-body.html

The article makes interesting reading, and is quite reassuring that our troops are getting the best possible protection while on ops.

Best?  errr....how wrong you are  :O  The attached piccy is me in a FOB in northern helmand not to long ago, im standing in front of my wagon (the land rover) and a Vector is next to it (the biggest waste of money the army has ever done)

Neither give any sort of significant IED protection. The land rover has 1/4 inch steel under-plate, which wouldnt stop a handgrenade let alone a 155mm shell (which is the favorite homemade IED component) The "doors" are a woven mesh type thing which stops 7.62...if you are lucky!

The vector has a "shaped hull", yeah right, shaped to channel the explosion from a front wheel strike up under the driver/front passenger's arse!! Vectors armour is "only" .50 proof and its about as reliable as a chocolate fire guard.

Attachments
 CNV00019.JPG [633 KB]

I heard this body armor can easily be penetrated by the MP7... is that true?

I've just read another story about how good the Osprey body armour is;

http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/EquipmentAndLogistics/RoyalMarineSurvivesTalibanBullet.htm

I'm guessing (although I have no definitive proof) that the bullet was fired from an AK47, it went through the Marine's arm and hit the inside of the side plate of the body armour. Bearing in mind what I said in an earlier post, about the front and back being level 4 protection and the sides being level 3, I believe this answers any questions or doubts about Osprey's effectiveness.