Armour Kits Summary

Since our personnel and clients operate within high-risk locations and conflict zones, they require protection against ballistic threats such as explosive blast and fragmentation (car-bombs, mortars, etc.) and ammunition used in machine-guns and other military-style weapons. We have studied and tested many commercially available armour systems and found that most have not met our quality standards and operational requirements. To overcome this deficiency, we have designed and developed a number of armour kits designed to provide effective protection of different asset types against ballistic threats.

These products are designed to demanding specifications to ensure they will function properly in the harshest environments, such as conflict zones. Failure of products or services within these types of environments often has results detrimental to the health of the operator or organization which exists in these environments. This requires a sometimes foreign mind-set from conventional product design and requires unique and innovative solutions which must be thoroughly thought out in advance from a security view-point.

Construction of Ballistic Armour

Two material classes have emerged to perform this task, commonly referred to as soft and hard. Each has its own limitations, advantages and disadvantages. The generally accepted world standard for rating the ability of soft and hard armour to absorb and dissipate energy and protect against ballistic threats has been set by the U.S. Government National Institute of Justice, or NIJ.

Soft armour is typically available, and effective, up to Level IIIA inclusive and will effectively protect against most pistol and shotgun ammunition. Very high-power pistol and shotgun ammunition as well as rifle ammunition is included in Level III and IV and requires hard armour to stop it. For most applications, an effective compromise in performance, image, cost and flexibility of use is achieved by using the following materials, which are used in our armour kits as standard;

• Soft Armour – Aramid (Kevlar, unless otherwise stated), and

• Hard Armour – Aluminium Oxide (Al₂ O₃) Ceramic plates.

There are two main categories of armour systems available, each containing all the necessary components required to provide effective protection against ballistic threats rated up to and including NIJ-0101.04 Level III/IV (effectively all commercially available small arms ammunition), as follows;

• In-Conjunction-With (ICW) Armour System (NIJ Level II certified soft armour layer and an NIJ Level IV certified hard armour layer when used in-conjunction-with a Level II soft armour layer), and

• Stand-Alone (SA) Armour System (NIJ Level IV certified hard armour layer only).

Essentially, the ICW system requires two armour layers to achieve the same level of protection as the SA system which only requires one layer of armour. The advantages and suitability of each are detailed in our catalogue. Depending on the tasks to be performed by the wearer, and the ballistic threats present, one of these systems may be more suitable than the others as described in the following section.

End-User Considerations

It is generally recognized that the market for ballistic armour is limited to the following select user groups;

The end-user refers to the group that will purchase and use the armour for their own purposes. Military and Police are self-explanatory, but it needs to be mentioned that "security" has two sub-groups and refers to both contract-oriented organization/individuals which provide security services and products to external clients and those individuals/departments internal to an organization (also called in-house) which are responsible for providing security services and products to protect the assets they own or control. Members of these primary groups ultimately protect others and their armour needs reflect this.

Selecting an Armour Kit

It is simply not possible to select one armour type, material, or system which will be suitable for, or usable in, all situations. Therefore, the user must identify, classify and rank the most probable, possible, and emergency response situations in which armour may be required to provide effective protection of the targeted assets. Only through a thorough analysis of their characteristics and protection requirements can a suitable armour system be chosen which will provide effective protection in these situations. A number of factors must be taken into consideration when selecting suitable armour for the tasks to be performed and the assets to be protected.

In accordance with the first criteria of the preceding selection guide, specific and distinct armour kits designed for use by organizations operating in high-risk situations have been created to protect the following main asset classes;

• Personnel;

• Vehicles;

• Structures, and

• Portable Objects.

In general, a separate armour kit is required to adequately protect each different asset type and its contents. However, there will be many situations in which the user can not accurately identify, in advance; the assets to be protected; the threats, and any other factors which may be present in any given situation. It is also entirely possible that some individuals, or organizations. may be required to be operating in a large variety of situations, threat levels and own/control a variety of assets (with or without similar characteristics and protection/performance requirements) requiring protection at any given time. For this scenario, a generic armour kit which can be used in a large variety of situations and assets is available. Its modular nature allows it to be scaled up and down to protect both small and large assets of various types and construction.

Specific product descriptions, photos, pricing and technical specifications are available in their respective kit catalogues and price lists, accessible by clicking on the photos below;