NEW “PLASTIC ARMOUR”

Press, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 26523, 11 September 1951, Page 7

NEW “PLASTIC ARMOUR”

PROTECTIVE WEAR IN KOREA

(Rec. 8 p.m.) WASHINGTON. Sept. 9. . Some American troops fighting in Korea will soon be wearing modern versions of the suits of armour which protected medieval knights, the United States Army disclosed to-day. , Instead of the heavy metal in which knights of old clanked around, American infantrymen will be garbed in twentieth century plastics, light m weight, but capable of stopping a .46 calibre bullet at point-blank range. There are two types of body armour. One is rigid and made of several laminated layers of glass fibre and plastic. The other, made of several layers of nylon fabric pressed together, is more flexible. Ulis clothing was developed after medical service studies showed that most wounds were caused by shell fragments and small arms fire which had lost most of their velocity. The Army says that the armour is adequate for protection against this ty §he° rigid type—called the Doron jacket—has stopped a .45 bullet at point-blank ran«e, but neither type is adequate protection against direct fire from a rifle or machine-gun. 1 The clothing weighs from 61b to 151 b depending on how much body surface is to be covered. Another development replaces the steel helmet with a hat made of plastic and covered with an aluminium “■& lightweight plastic helmet has greater resistance to bullets.