Researchers work to develop better body armor

[Batgirl]

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Spc. Robert Loria’s life’s was changed when a roadside bomb blasted his Humvee in Iraq. With no armor on the vehicle or his body, the Middletown, N.Y., soldier lost part of his left arm and suffered other injuries.


Dr. James Thagard holds a new body armor material he developed in his lab at Florida State University in Tallahassee, Fla. — Steve CannonAP Photo

“I can’t be too angry,” he said in a recent telephone interview from his home. “Things happen for a reason. It was God’s intent. It just so happened it was my time.”

Loria has taken a philosophical approach to his injuries but critics of the U.S. military say inadequate armor is costing many troops their lives and limbs in an increasing Iraqi insurgency. Injuries like those he suffered are prompting the military to come up with answers to give the troops more protection

But the helmets and bulletproof vests that soldiers now wear don’t protect their arms and legs. And many, who suffer blasts such as the roadside bomb that injured Loria in February, are losing limbs or are bleeding to death because their extremities are exposed.

Researchers at Florida State University and Jacksonville armored-equipment manufacturer Armor Holdings think they have a solution. They are developing lightweight armor for soldiers’ arms and legs that could reduce fatalities and loss of limbs.

“Most of the folks who die over there, die from flying debris, they bleed to death,” said lead researcher James Thagard, a visiting assistant professor at FSU’s engineering school. “We hope to help save lives and help save limbs. It’s not feasible to believe we can protect everybody.”

Thagard’s team is experimenting with polymers toughened with carbon nanotubes (a tube structure made from carbon molecules) to strengthen fabrics used to make bulletproof armor. The developers bound multiple layers of fabric and plastic materials together to create the armor.

The school’s researchers have begun making prototype pieces similar to pads worn by football and hockey players, which will be given to Armor Holdings to manufacture on a broad scale for field-testing. Armor Holdings already manufactures vests and other plates that soldiers wear to protect their torso.

The developers will first focus on armor protection for the upper arm and shoulder areas, where bleeding wounds can be fatal, then for the forearms and legs. The armor will likely be field tested at military training facilities in the coming weeks to determine if it can be comfortably worn and isn’t too bulky for soldiers.

Thanks in part to bulletproof vests, the survival rate for soldiers injured in Iraq is the highest of any war in U.S. history. But many of the injured troops have had their arms and legs blown off. And most deaths result from excessive bleeding. Thagard believes the new Armor will help reduce those injuries and deaths.

“The reality is you can’t protect everybody from everything,” Thagard said. “If we can reduce 15 percent or (even) 10 percent of the casualties, or protect these soldiers from losing their arms or losing their legs, that’s huge.”

Since the start of the war in Iraq, more than 10,000 troops have been wounded and another 1,335 have been killed. Nearly 90 percent of the Americans wounded in Iraq survive, compared to 78 percent in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and 73 percent in Vietnam.

In Iraq, many injuries and deaths result from car bombs or improvised explosive devices, known as IED’s. There was far too little advanced body armor and there were too few armored vehicles to deal with what the Pentagon has acknowledged is a far stronger and longer insurgency than expected

The issue of inadequate protection for troops was highlighted recently when a soldier complained to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Kuwait that troops have to scrounge landfills for scrap metal and discarded bullet-resistant glass to provide armor for their vehicles.

“This case has come up many times,” Loria said. “I’ve seen where people didn’t want to do missions because they didn’t have proper equipment.”

Armor Holdings, one of several companies that manufactures protective equipment for the military, has provided an initial grant of $100,000 to FSU cover two months of research. The partnership is the latest area of high-tech, composite-materials research at the Florida Advanced Center for Composite Technologies.

Besides the new body armor, Thagard and other researchers have developed lightweight, custom leg supports for various uses. One brace, for example, helps Navy Seabee Anthony Muller of Jacksonville to walk after he sustained a severe leg wound in Iraq.

Ballistics tests show the combination of materials for the body armor being developed at Florida State exceed the new requirements for bulletproof vests and still fit comfortably over the body areas they’re designed to protect.

The improved protection was something Loria could have used. He lost part of his left arm three inches above the wrist when hot metal fragments from the explosion ripped into the Humvee he was driving.

“I couldn’t tell my commanding officers I’m not going to do this mission because I don’t have the proper equipment,” Loria said. “It really doesn’t matter. You still have to do it.”

Associated Press

[AmericanGirl]

I'm glad they are looking into better armor... I would like to see if something could be developed to take out IED's like if you could pulse a laser at a suspicious looking piece of debris and if its an IED it will explode.... yeah I know its a little sci-fi, but anything is worth a try if it saves American lives and makes the tools of terror ineffective.

[Rusty24]

Well here is the problem with "Body Armor". I will start basic for those that do not know.

There is no such thing as body armor-just a hardened plate in the front of a vest that has the capability to stop certian caliber rounds; i.e 7.62, which coincedentaly the insurgents have.

The vest is the same thing that was used in Nam, so essientially its a flak vest, just a different design and better materials to make it lighter.

Now put better flak vest technology with bullet proof plates and you now have what is referred to as body armor.

But this is where your trouble starts. Flak vests are intended to do just that stop flak.
Same thing goes for the plates, they are intended to stop bullets.
The paltes only cover a 10x12 area.
Mine is an 8x10.

Well --- when a artillery shell goes off, the basis of this vest are put in jeopardy because of the Velocity and Overpressure of the blast --- not to mention the chunks of steel --- not fagments a.k.a flak.

Most of the SOF guys don't even bother with the vest part because it doesn't stop rounds, plus coupled with the above statement the vest is considered by many as excess weight. Most wear plate carriers, but yes, some stilll wear the full get up.

Anothe thing that these assholes are doing is taking and putting the arty shell under a mine. Double the blast. Old lady had a picture of a Hummer that was thorwn about 30 feet through the air. The main reason is to try and disrupt the larger vehicles; tanks, 5-tons etc.

However when a Hummer hits one the blst is so great that it is throw before alot of damage can be done.