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Army extends proposal for better body armor

The Army wants new body armor that will provide better protection than what soldiers currently wear into combat, and will consider flexible vests.

A solicitation for proposals posted on Federal Business Opportunities includes requests for a new X Small Arms Protective Insert to be worn with Interceptor body armor and separate Flexible Small Arms Protective Vests, capable of providing protection against high-powered rifle rounds without plate inserts.

Both the XSAPI plate and the flexible vests would be designed to stop “specific 5.56mm and 7.62mm” ammunition, the solicitation states.

The body armor soldiers now wear consists of vests designed to protect against shrapnel and 9mm rounds, fitted with protective composite ceramic plates known as Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts and Enhanced Side Ballistic Inserts. The ESAPI plates protect against larger-caliber ammunition, including armor-piercing rounds.

The 30-day solicitation originally was released May 27, but acting Secretary of the Army Pete Geren extended the request in the wake of a recent television report that questioned whether Dragon Skin, a type of flexible armor made by Pinnacle Armor, was superior to the Army-issue vests. The report prompted a June 6 hearing before the House Armed Services Committee.

The original closing date for the solicitation was June 27; that has been extended 30 days, Geren wrote in a June 22 letter to several House Armed Services members.

“As part of the evaluation process, the Army will test all body armor products that are submitted, including any products submitted by Pinnacle Armor,” he wrote.

The Army and Pinnacle began to clash in March 2006, when the service forbade soldiers from wearing Dragon Skin. The “safety of use” message banned soldiers from wearing any commercially purchased body armor, but singled out Dragon Skin by name.

The Army then tested Pinnacle's SOV 3000 Level VI Dragon Skin vests May 16-19 of that year at the National Institute of Justice-certified H.P. White labs near Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. In that test, Dragon Skin “failed miserably,” according to Brig. Gen. Robert Brown, who oversees Army body armor as commander of Program Executive Soldier.

But Army officials still say they are open to retesting the system.

The feud went public in May when NBC News aired a report on tests the station commissioned that showed Dragon Skin outperforming Army-issued ballistic protection. The Army contends the testing fell far short of standards.

Lawmakers have called on the Defense Department to oversee a technical assessment of all commercially available body armor to put the debate to rest.

Pinnacle Chief Executive Officer Murray Neal told Army Times on June 29 that his company has attempted to enter the solicitation, but said the document’s wording excludes his company from participating.

“The way the [specifications] are written, we are disqualified before we enter,” said Neal, who would not elaborate. He said his company is trying to work with the Army to clarify the issue.

Meanwhile, Pinnacle has been listed on http://www.epls.gov, the Excluded Parties List System’s Web site, after Air Force Materiel Command recommended June 8 that the Air Force bar Pinnacle from signing new contracts with the U.S. government.

As of June 21, Pinnacle is excluded indefinitely from participating in any government contracts, said Gerry Boicourt, who runs the help desk for EPLS.

Neal said he knew nothing about Pinnacle being placed on the list.

The June 6 House Armed Services hearing revealed that Pinnacle has been under investigation by the Air Force Office of Special Investigations since May 2006.

OSI opened a joint criminal investigation with Defense Criminal Investigative Service for false National Institute of Justice certification on Dragon Skin and false representation of its capabilities, Douglas Thomas, executive director of the Air Force's OSI, testified at the June 6 hearing.

OSI had purchased 590 sets of Dragon Skin and issued sets to deployed and deploying personnel until January 2006. Dragon Skin subsequently failed two tests conducted by the Air Force and “in February 2006, we issued a ‘stop order/immediate discontinue’ message to all our personnel,” OSI spokeswoman Capt. Christine Millette said.

Pinnacle has denied any wrongdoing.

Ballistic testing for the solicitation entries will be conducted at Army Testing and Evaluation Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, with oversight by DoD’s director of operational test and evaluation, Geren stated in his letter to lawmakers.

The solicitation is designed to help “complete the procurement of the ESAPI and to initiate the procurement of the next generation of hard ballistic inserts for the Interceptor Body Armor, the XSAPI,” the document states.

The Army also wants to look at two different Flexible Small Arms Protective Vests. An E-Level vest would provide protection against 7.62mm ball and armor-piercing rounds and an X-Level would protect against “specific 5.56mm and 7.62mm” ammunition, the solicitation states.

Army body armor officials at Program Executive Office Soldier said they could not comment on any aspect of the solicitation during the request-for-proposal process.