(ASK) PLA body armour

IronsightSniper

IronsightSniper

Junior Member
Roughly speaking, Chinese standards seem to be comparable to Russian GOST standards, which are 6 tiered too.

The only problem is that I don't see a 'Grade' for small-caliber armor-piercing rounds (i.e. 7.62x51 mm NATO AP or 7.62x54mmR AP.) The highest grade it goes up, when converted into NIJ standards, is Class III, and when converted to GOST standards, is Class V.

Also, I found the article interesting, mostly this:

1317865840960325656.jpg


That looks like a 1/4" (6 mm) of ballistic steel that the Type 95 round failed to penetrate.
 
MwRYum

MwRYum

Major
IronsightSniper said:
Roughly speaking, Chinese standards seem to be comparable to Russian GOST standards, which are 6 tiered too.

The only problem is that I don't see a 'Grade' for small-caliber armor-piercing rounds (i.e. 7.62x51 mm NATO AP or 7.62x54mmR AP.) The highest grade it goes up, when converted into NIJ standards, is Class III, and when converted to GOST standards, is Class V.

Also, I found the article interesting, mostly this:

1317865840960325656.jpg


That looks like a 1/4" (6 mm) of ballistic steel that the Type 95 round failed to penetrate.
Click to expand...

Your pic link doesn't work.

And the lack of selection may due to China don't produce that many variants of rounds - what known today for 5.8mm are: ball, MG rounds (which also served as sniper rounds), tracers and blanks.
 
J

jwangyue

Junior Member
I was browsing through the IDEX exhibitors and came across this company.

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It certainly looks like China has the know how to manufacture high quality body armor.
 
I

Inst

Captain
Ironsight Sniper:

5.8mm IS AP; all 5.8mm rounds are designed with penetration in mind first and fore-most.

Unfortunately, the round cited is their standard penetration round, not the heavy MG or sniper round, so their grade 6 is somewhat below Class IV and Class 6.
 
J

jwangyue

Junior Member
tanlixiang28776 said:
The problem is that they can't afford to buy it for most of their soldiers.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt that is the case. Most body armor plates and vests have a finite shelf life. If China has the capability and capacity to manufacture them when the need arises, it should be sufficient. Otherwise, it will be a giant waste of money.
 
I

Inst

Captain
However, it's important to acclimatize soldiers to working and moving under body armor. You don't need high-end carbides for that, just something stiff and heavy as training armor can do in peace time.
 
IronsightSniper

IronsightSniper

Junior Member
jwangyue said:
I highly doubt that is the case. Most body armor plates and vests have a finite shelf life. If China has the capability and capacity to manufacture them when the need arises, it should be sufficient. Otherwise, it will be a giant waste of money.
Click to expand...

On page 66 of this
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,

Age alone does not cause body armor’s ballistic resistance to deteriorate. The care and mainte- nance of a garment—or the lack thereof—have been shown to have a greater impact than age on the length of service life of a unit of body armor. Armor that is 10 years old and has never been issued may be perfectly acceptable for use, provided that the rated level of protection
is still appropriate for the typical threats faced. Conversely, 2- or 3-year-old armor that has been worn regularly and improperly cared for may not be serviceable.
Click to expand...

Cost wise, just for referencing purposes, the Standard body armor of U.S. Army Infantry is the IOTV (Improved Outer Tactical Vest), which has up to NIJ Class IV protection and the Size Medium weighing 13.6 kg, all while costing about roughly $580 USD a piece.
 
I

Inst

Captain
Maintenance also costs money.

As far as those statements about 5.8mm rounds go, the 5.8mm standard round has about comparable performance to the American M61 round. It is somewhat superior at short ranges; 10mm penetration versus hardened steel compared to 7mm penetration, but tapers off against the heavier round at long distances due to lighter projectile weight resulting in increased energy loss.

Looking up NIJ Class IV, M61 is included in the NIJ Class IV category, but the newest tungsten rounds would be class V.

In this case, the GJB 4300-2002 standard is approximately equal to NIJ and GOST armor rating systems.
 
J

jwangyue

Junior Member
IronsightSniper said:
On page 66 of this
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,

In the same document, if you read page 51-52 you can find the condition for care. Military training condition will be a lot more rigorous than police training. A police officer is not expect to tread through water, mud, hills, pouring rain, fighting/training in over 30 degree or below 0 etc while carrying 50-80 lbs of gear etc. All these conditions will accelerate the deterioration of body armor.
Click to expand...
 
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