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US Army Developing Armor Tailored For Females

cylonlover writes, quoting Gizmag: "Body armor is a blessing and a curse for soldiers. Modern tactical armor has saved thousands of lives from bullets and bombs, but it can also be a major problem if it doesn't fit properly. That's what the women who make up 14 percent of the U.S. Army face on a regular basis. Now, according to the Army News Service, the Army is preparing to test a new armor that is tailored to the female form to replace the standard men's armor that the women now use. Working on data collected in studies overseas and at stateside army bases, the Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier has identified several problem areas and has developed a new armor that will be tested in 2013."

22 of 310 comments (clear)

  1. "...has identified several problem areas and..." by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who ever considered breasts a problem area? Seriously...

    edit: captcha spelled "maternal". Hah.

  2. My novel idea by MyLongNickName · · Score: 5, Insightful

    My novel idea is reducing injuries and fatalities through getting involved in fewer conflicts. It is a radical idea, but it just might work.

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    1. Re:My novel idea by h4rr4r · · Score: 5, Insightful

      How will that make defense contractors rich?

    2. Re:My novel idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      While I agree in principle, that doesn't remove the need for this kind of advancement. Regardless of how peaceful and friendly you are, there's always a chance of someone, somewhere attacking you, at which point you probably want to have decent gear for your armed forces.

    3. Re:My novel idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My novel idea is reducing injuries and fatalities through getting involved in fewer conflicts. It is a radical idea, but it just might work.

      That's not something the Army has authority to do, though. Talk to the politicians if you want our military commitments to change.

    4. Re:My novel idea by N0Man74 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sure, but can we compare and contrast these two things?

      1) Having a reasonable standing army, in case it is needed.

      2) Making military spending to be one of the biggest priorities of the country, showering military contractors with money in the hopes of being the most powerful military in the world, and allowing rich and powerful men who profit from war have too much influence on whether we enter conflicts.

    5. Re:My novel idea by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Well, compared to most other things military spends money on, developing better infantry armor is very cheap (look up the cost of a single Tomahawk missile for comparison).

  3. Hit it! by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sweet! Booty armor!

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  4. Doesn't look effective... by Uthic · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All my gaming experience has taught me that it should be skin-tight and leaves arms, legs and midriff bare.

  5. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by durrr · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's not a chainmail bikini and hence the armor rating is really shitty when worn by females.

  6. Re:bewbs? by MozeeToby · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Quite frankly, all but the extremely endowed will have minimal problems in the chest area. They're not exactly wearing pushup bras into combat obviously, and most women wearing a sports bra don't have an appreciably bigger chest than the average male body builder (though obviously the dimensions will be different and there will always be outliers). The areas they are concerned about are those that either cause the body army to slip out of position by not being adjustable to smaller frames (shoulders and waist) or hamper mobility (torso length).

  7. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by Adult+film+producer · · Score: 5, Informative

    As an example, my wife has two scars between her breasts from burning hot shells from a 50 cal machine gun while she was in Iraq. Because she's a D-cup the body armor she was wouldn't fit tight against the neck area like it does on a man.. she describes it as nearly impossible to reach down and grab the shell, sometimes there wasn't time to do anything about it.

  8. Re:bewbs? by DerekLyons · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Are the main differences really torso length, should width, and waist size?

    They're a huge part of the difference, yes.
     

    Or are the authors just being polite and not highlighting jugs as a factor?

    Or maybe they're just being professionals rather than juveniles. (Really, four different slang terms in one post? Grow up.) Or, and I find this likely, given the wide variation in sizes and position of female breasts (and there's no real correlation with other body measurements) they're going for the same "one size fits mostly all" approach.

  9. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by crakbone · · Score: 4, Funny

    The amount of awesome in your post is amazing for slash dot. 1) wife 2) d-cup 3) using a 50. cal 4) body armor. 5) reaching between You have reached a Nirvana few slashdotters will ever attain. ps Tell her "thank you for all shes done for the country."

  10. Sounds good by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    We'll just disband the military entirely and stop all research. After all, if we don't want to get in to a conflict, it'll never happen right? No nation has EVER been attacked or invaded without starting shit.

    Oh please. While I agree that the US need to stop trying to play world police and getting involved in shit all over, that doesn't mean that a military still isn't going to be needed. Not many countries can get away with having no military and the ones that can it is only because another nation or nations protects them.

    This is quite a sensible thing for the military to spend money on. Some women wish to serve as soldiers, they should have body armour that works for them.

  11. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Pull your head out of your ass and stop making assumptions. You think you're intelligent but all you spout is BS talking points someone else came up with.

    1) The post said she was shot. It didn't say she shot back, so you don't know if she killed anyone.
    2) Those so called "freedom fighters" were either A) ex-Iraqi Army soldiers who basically fled in the face of the US military and joined the militias, so the same idiots who worked for Saddam and oppressed other Iraqis, or B) people who joined militias that not only fought the US military but just as often attacked their fellow Iraqis for having the "wrong kind of Islam". You can argue the reasons for the US going into Iraq, but I live in the biggest Marine town in the US (San Diego) and have met numerous marines, and all of them in Iraq really did try to help the Iraqi people. Freedom fighters my ass, they only wanted the freedom to oppress those different from themselves. The only good guys in the whole Iraqi conflict was the average US soldier.

  12. Re:That's good news! by vlm · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Body armor designed specifically for gay soldiers.

    Extensive historical research (no, I'm not kidding) points out that the army with the most stylish and fashionable uniform almost always loses the war. Just saying. Probably don't want to go there.

    --
    "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
  13. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by CCarrot · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Actually, that sounds hilarious.
    Even better that you americans are circumcised and would burn your dick even more.

    Anyway, the guys name still hints at it being a not very personal space.
    Also, she can probably hid it behind her massive tits.

    Now stop being whiteknight.

    Wow...assume much?

    a) not american
    b) not circumcised, mostly because I'm
    c) not male.

    So yes, I know what I'm talking about, more than some teenage boy who never leaves his mama's basement (okay, that's my assumption re: the character of the AC).

    Right or wrong, western society's focus on the female appearance often makes scarring to the face or chest much more traumatic than it is for men. For men, it's considered macho to have scars, for women, it's considered disfiguring. I didn't say that was fair, it's just the double standard that is in place.

    Oh, and assuming that his tag reflects reality also implies that yours does...so am I talking to a wall here? Maybe I should be using smaller words?

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  14. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny
  15. Re:bewbs? by sdoca · · Score: 5, Informative

    Actually, they don't factor in as much as you think. I'm speaking from experience as a woman who was a member of the Canadian Forces Reserve for 12 years. Breasts are soft and can be "squished", within reason, and still not be a comfort issue. Of course this varies from woman to woman and cup size (A and B cups not as much an issue, C and D cups more so).

    But the smaller waist to shoulder ratio and torso length cause real issues. The old style rucksacks that I had to carry came only in one length, long. They had an external metal frame and was designed to end at a man's waist. The metal sat against the upper curves of my buttocks. After wearing that for a full day, I was rubbed raw and bleeding. We learned to tape padding to the frames to minimize the damage they caused.

    There were lots of other issues with gear that couldn't be adjusted to fit the female form, like the webbing that was designed to be snug around the hips and worked for the guys, not so much for the gals. It would rise up to our waist and twist around. We were constantly fighting to keep it in place.

  16. Re:bewbs? by rtfa-troll · · Score: 5, Informative

    Or maybe they're just being professionals rather than juveniles.

    Ah yes. Let's see

    "most females tend to have a narrow or thinner waist as it relates to the chest area,

    "The challenge right now is that when you bring in those complex curvatures, the plate loses some of its strength,"

    "This also allows a new pocket for another armor plate that can be inserted diagonally, which also improves the shape."

    and from the video

    increased "shoulder adjustability"

    Could they perhaps more usefully say something like:

    "because some women have big breasts we need to be able to shape the armour to cover it without compromising the strength and that's difficult". "other differences such as a typically shorter torso and more waist variance have been easier to deal with".

    I'm sure some on Slashdot will go "snigger snigger; he said 'breast'; snigger sigger" like a beavis and butthead edition, but that's not something that a "professional" should even notice. Being clearer and more direct would make the whole thing need much less discussion.

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  17. Re:"...has identified several problem areas and... by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 4, Informative

    Not to mention the fact that a .50 cal is not used to "shoot freedom fighters" as the Geneva conventions specifically restricts the use of such weapons to enemy vehicles and equipment.

    This is a common misconception. There's nothing in the Geneva conventions that prohibits the use of .50 BMG and similar cartridges against human targets. The restrictions on weapons used in warfare actually come from the Hague conventions, and they only prohibit the use of expanding or exploding bullets (hence why militaries all use FMJ).

    Your friends were either bullshitting you, or they misunderstood the nature of the restriction (you wouldn't want to waste these kinds of bullets on soft targets not in cover when a GPMG in .308 would do just fine)