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The production of cutting-edge flak jackets and composite helmets is one of knowledge-intensive sectors in Russian industry, which involves many experts from chemists, supplied with high-molecular polymers and producing heavy-duty aramid fibres, to integrators and engineers, manufacturing equipment, outfit and protection devices themselves.
Each Russian BAG item is subject to prolonged firing, performance, range and service trials for exposure of various adverse factors and compatibility with other components of combat gear (CG). Sometimes the adjustment of CG components
takes several years. The Americans were the pioneers in development of new generation BAGs. The assessment of U.S.
Army causality has shown that 70-75% injuries were shrapnel wounds; the most of them being body ones.
During the Korean War GIs were provided with flak jackets of sandwich nylon. With these flak jackets the USA entered the Vietnam War while these BAG models did not protect against small arms bullets but only against small fragments. The birth of Kevlar, extra strong synthetic material developed in 1995 by DuPont (USA), and special ceramics let the USA to launch production of flak jackets capable to protect their soldiers against bullets more or less.
The USSR adoption of flak jackets was late a little, but the Afghanistan War became a drive for further development. The first development was Zh-81 military flak jacket introduced in 1981, which was made of 30 layers of SVM fabric (SVM is a Soviet counterpart of Kevlar) and sewed in armour plates of 1.25 mm thick. Unfortunately, it provided protection against fragments only; a rifle bullet could penetrate it from 400-600 meters even. That was why in 1985 it was substituted by Zh-85T and Zh- 85K flak jackets, in which thicker armour plates of titanium and boron carbide were implemented.
The unified flak jacket was included into supply inventory in 1986 and designated as 6B5 (Zh-86). The new flak jacket is a jacket which accommodated soft ballistic shields of TSVM-DZh fabric and so-called mounting pads, pouches of which accommodated armour plates. The protection design could utilise armour plates of ceramics, titanium and steel. Depending on type of protection design and, accordingly, protection class provided, the flak jacket had nine modifications.
Theoretically, a flak jacket can be reinforced by an armour plate even capable to withstand a bullet of heavy machine gun. But by no means can it safe a soldier's life. The armour, steel, Kevlar or composite, merely stops a bullet or fragment:
only a part of bullet/fragment kinetic energy is transformed into heat during plastic deformations of flak jacket and bullet itself. However, the impact is still present. And on impact into flak jacket the bullet causes a heavy strike, which often breaks ribs and hurts soldier's vitals. To absorb that impact, shock pads of sponge elastic materials are used. But they have limited energy consumption. That is why improving a bullet resistance of flak jacket is reasonable only for particular limits.
Each Russian BAG item is subject to prolonged firing, performance, range and service trials for exposure of various adverse factors and compatibility with other components of combat gear (CG). Sometimes the adjustment of CG components
takes several years. The Americans were the pioneers in development of new generation BAGs. The assessment of U.S.
Army causality has shown that 70-75% injuries were shrapnel wounds; the most of them being body ones.
During the Korean War GIs were provided with flak jackets of sandwich nylon. With these flak jackets the USA entered the Vietnam War while these BAG models did not protect against small arms bullets but only against small fragments. The birth of Kevlar, extra strong synthetic material developed in 1995 by DuPont (USA), and special ceramics let the USA to launch production of flak jackets capable to protect their soldiers against bullets more or less.
The USSR adoption of flak jackets was late a little, but the Afghanistan War became a drive for further development. The first development was Zh-81 military flak jacket introduced in 1981, which was made of 30 layers of SVM fabric (SVM is a Soviet counterpart of Kevlar) and sewed in armour plates of 1.25 mm thick. Unfortunately, it provided protection against fragments only; a rifle bullet could penetrate it from 400-600 meters even. That was why in 1985 it was substituted by Zh-85T and Zh- 85K flak jackets, in which thicker armour plates of titanium and boron carbide were implemented.
The unified flak jacket was included into supply inventory in 1986 and designated as 6B5 (Zh-86). The new flak jacket is a jacket which accommodated soft ballistic shields of TSVM-DZh fabric and so-called mounting pads, pouches of which accommodated armour plates. The protection design could utilise armour plates of ceramics, titanium and steel. Depending on type of protection design and, accordingly, protection class provided, the flak jacket had nine modifications.
Theoretically, a flak jacket can be reinforced by an armour plate even capable to withstand a bullet of heavy machine gun. But by no means can it safe a soldier's life. The armour, steel, Kevlar or composite, merely stops a bullet or fragment:
only a part of bullet/fragment kinetic energy is transformed into heat during plastic deformations of flak jacket and bullet itself. However, the impact is still present. And on impact into flak jacket the bullet causes a heavy strike, which often breaks ribs and hurts soldier's vitals. To absorb that impact, shock pads of sponge elastic materials are used. But they have limited energy consumption. That is why improving a bullet resistance of flak jacket is reasonable only for particular limits.