Modern combined arms body armor of the Russian army

Soldiers in 2B23 body armor - until recently, one of the most common models. Photo of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Currently, the supply of the Russian army consists of a number of combined arms body armor. These products have been developed over the past several decades, and each new project has used the most modern technologies and materials. This consistent development has made it possible to create designs with high levels of protection and ergonomics.

From the late nineties

Until the beginning of the 6s, the main body armor (BZ) of the Russian army was the 5B1999 product in several modifications. In 6, 13B6, developed by NPF Tekhinkom, was adopted. In the future, mass production made such a BZ one of the main ones in the army. Despite the emergence of newer and more effective means of protection, 13BXNUMX still remain in limited use.

BZ 6B13 was built according to the traditional scheme, but using modern materials. The vest completely covered the user's torso and protected the neck. fasteners were provided with the ability to adjust for height and volume. The chest and dorsal sections of the vest were made on the basis of fabric armor packages. On the chest there was one pocket-cover for the armor plate, on the back - two. In the original version, 6B13 was equipped with ceramic-composite plates "Granit-4", which provided protection of class 4.

Product 2B13. The chest cover for the armor element is clearly visible. Photo Guns.allzip.org

The fabric elements of the 6B13 product provided all-round protection from light low-speed fragments; the area of ​​such protection is up to 55 sq. dm, depending on the size of the vehicle. Chest elements "Granit-4" were produced in sizes from 7 to 9 sq. Dm. Dorsal - up to 8,5 sq. In. In total. The total weight of the vest reached 11 kg.

As production and operation continued, improved versions of body armor were proposed. Reinforced armor elements were developed that correspond to the 5th and 6th class of protection. Product 6B13M retained the standard elements, but received covers with MOLLE / UMTBS slings.

Modular principle

In 2003, the BZ 6B23 developed by NPP "KlASS" was adopted for service. This body armor quickly enough replaced a number of outdated samples and became one of the main products of its class in our army. This status is generally retained to this day.

6B23 in different versions. Photo Rusdarpa.ru

Improved ergonomics and modular approach to the formation of protection became a characteristic feature of the new vest. In the basic modification 6B23, such a bulletproof vest uses fabric elements based on 30 layers of TSVM-2 material. They are located on the chest, back and sides. Completion 6B23-1 provides for the installation of a chest steel armor plate, and 6B23-2 uses a ceramic element "Granite-4M" on the chest and steel on the back. Fabric blocks provide class 2 protection - against pistol bullets; steel and ceramic - 3 and 4 classes. The total area of ​​the 6B23 vest reaches 48 sq. Dm. Of these, 8 sq. In. Each fall on the thoracic and dorsal elements. Weight, depending on the panels used, from 4 to 10,2 kg.

Security enhancement

In 2010, the serial production of 6B43 type BZhs developed by Tekhinkom started. When creating this product, the modular principle was again used with the possibility of obtaining different levels of protection. In addition, measures were taken to increase the protected area: the vest received shoulder pads, giving it a characteristic look.

In the basic configuration, 6B43 includes chest, back and side sections, made in the form of a single product. They can be joined by shoulder pads and a groin apron. The textile vest contains protective blocks made of Rusar fabric, corresponding to the 1st class. Chest, two back and two side ceramic panels of the "Granite" series of class 5 can also be installed in the corresponding pockets.

Bullet-proof vest 6B43 with shoulder pads and an apron. Photo of NPF "Tekhinkom"

Depending on the size, BZ 6B43 in a complete set can have a total protection area of ​​up to 69,5 sq. Dm. Of these, up to 30 sq. In. Is accounted for by ceramic or fabric elements. Body armor weight without armor - 4,5 kg. The product with chest and back panels weighs 9 kg, and the complete set gains 15 kg.

To date, 6B43 has managed to gain widespread distribution and become one of the main domestic body armor. It is these products that can most often be observed on military personnel working in hot spots or dangerous areas.

Bullet-proof vest for "Warrior"

The composition of the new military equipment (BEV) "Ratnik" includes several means of protection of different classes. So, a combat protective kit (BZK) 6B49 was created in the form of a jumpsuit or a set of jacket and trousers with flexible fabric protection. UPC can withstand hit by shrapnel and pistol bullets. Also BEV "Ratnik" includes a helmet 6B47 and a modern body armor 6B45.

Product 6B45 without additional elements. Photo Vitalykuzmin.net

BZ 6B45 in its architecture as a whole repeats the previous products, however, it has a number of design and technological differences. The chest, dorsal and lateral sections, as well as the neck protection are preserved. Shoulders and apron are not included in the basic configuration. Cloth armor packages provide class 1 protection. Ceramic-composite elements "Granite-5" are protected by class 5A. The total area of ​​the body armor is 45 sq. Dm, of which at least 25,5 sq. Dm falls on the armor elements. The weight of the product with ceramic protection is 8,7 kg.

An assault version of the body armor was developed - 6B45-1. It features shoulder pads and an apron with bulletproof protection, additional shock absorbers and reinforced ceramic panels. In this case, the elements "Granite-6", corresponding to the 6th class, are used. The BZ is also produced with a buoyancy kit 6B45-2.

Development trends

Modern story Russian combined arms body armor dates back to the early eighties, when the 6B2 product was created and adopted. In just a few years, new models appeared with various differences and advantages. The process of modernizing existing samples and creating new ones does not stop until now and leads to new interesting results.

Servicemen equipped in "Ratnik" with 6B45 body armor and 6B49 BKZ. Photo of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation

Over the past decades, various architecture options have been proposed and implemented in different designs, as well as new materials have been introduced. At the same time, a number of major trends were observed. So, BZh 6B2 of the early eighties protected a person by means of a woven block made of aramid fiber (for the first time in domestic practice) and with the help of titanium plates.

In the future, this scheme was retained, and in the nineties, BZ appeared with ceramic-composite elements, which combined a higher level of protection and less weight. The combined structure with fabric and ceramic armor elements is actively used in modern designs, however, they use modern materials with improved characteristics. The most advanced armor panels for the DB provide protection against armor-piercing rifle bullets - although they are distinguished by their large mass and high cost.

In parallel with the protection materials, the ergonomics of the products were improved. Also, in addition to the chest and back sections, new protection elements were introduced - collars, shoulder pads, side sections and aprons of various designs. These elements made it possible to increase the protection area without unacceptable weight gain.

Possible appearance of promising means of protection. Photo by Rostec

It is known about the continuation of work to improve the existing designs of body armor and to create new ones. Promising materials with reduced weight and increased strength are being developed and tested. It is possible to change the approach to the protection architecture. In particular, the idea of ​​a protective overalls with armored elements on the maximum area can be developed.

It is expected that bulletproof vests and other products based on new technologies and materials will be included in the promising BEV "Sotnik". It is not known what its elements will be and how they will differ from modern products. But in terms of their main characteristics, they will certainly surpass the existing means of protection.

Comments

[The leader of the Redskins]

At our school in 1993, sentries began to issue body armor. I do not know what brand, but the weight in them was 15-16 kilograms. Plus a helmet. This torment has begun!

[Aleks tv]

Quote: Leader of the Redskins

At our school in 1993, sentries began to issue body armor. I do not know what brand, but the weight in them was 15-16 kilograms. Plus a helmet. This torment has begun!

Good day, Igor.

Yeah, we are also in the 91st in the Bursa, as all evil spirits began to climb into the posts, they began to give out harness on guard.
She was cheerful - her necks were just a cracker. )).
...
And we ourselves bought armors for the Caucasus. This is what a tanker needs - lightweight and comfortable.
We took it from the Institute of Physics of Metals at the Ural Branch of the Academy of Sciences.
They traded in the 90s, it was hard for everyone ...
We were sold by ID.
Three overlapping plates front and back.
We asked to cut the bottom, otherwise, while sitting in the tank, the lower edge of the sheet stung - my legs went numb.
2 class.
And he had ergonomics !!! Sometimes I didn't take pictures for three days, it was even more comfortable to sleep in it.))
He took three pieces, handed everything out ... who changed me ...
Help? YES.
Well I was constantly sticking out of the hatch, restless))
Give me all situational awareness))
Thanks to the Ural Research Institute.
...
Not found in the article about liquid armor.
It seems that the future belongs to them in the armor.
We are also developing developments.

[qaz]

This is called "Newtonian fluid". You can do it yourself. We take more starch, fill it with water until it is very thick jelly and voila "

[Evgeny Seleznev]

From 92 to 97 an overcoat or sheepskin coat. And the netting on the tower.

[Andrey VOV]

Exactly, 16 kg .... at first I thought the spine would roll into panties ... horror together with a pea jacket, but we got used to it, but what to do ... but at one time it did not help ... but it was clearly nothing to do with it)))

[Lara Croft]

Quote: Andrey VOV

T used to

A person can get used to everything ... especially in the army ...

[Andrey VOV]

Well, then in the army it is impossible otherwise))))

[PCF]

The article mentions titanium, aramid fibers, ceramics, steel and polyethylene are completely forgotten. I hope that promising NIBs will have panels made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, aka UHMWPE, aka UHMW PE. Their resistance to repeated hits is higher than that of ceramics, they do not chip armor elements, positive buoyancy, chemical neutrality, in short, solid pluses, BUT, it is not necessary to heat over a hundred degrees. It can be pressed into slabs, multilayer soft bags can be used as anti-splinter armor. There is no need for tricky raw materials, everything is made from oil, it remains to build a couple of more factories and ensure mass adoption.

[parma]

Polyethylene at the current technological level does not provide a high class of protection, only pistol cartridges (and not bb) or fragments ... respectively, and is suitable as the main material for civil / police vests ... steel, with adequate parameters, weight / dimensions also does not protect very well , because everyone sits tightly on ceramics ... in terms of the number of hits, not one manufacturer of steel plates gives guarantees of protection after the first hit (shots on YouTube show - almost any plate that is a brick, that steel, that titanium extremely rarely holds more than one bullet, even civilian 9x19) ... By the way, I saw a video on YouTube, where they tested the strength of a PPS vest with steel protection - the very first hit of 9x19 led to a penetration ...
well, and most importantly, the life of the plates, today the first 6b43 most likely do not guarantee their original characteristics, the shelf life has expired ...

[Private-K]

Quote: parma

that titanium rarely holds more than one bullet, even civil 9x19

This is not true. This is so, only for those ancient, 1980s, specific armor elements.
In general, titanium is very good.
But, of course, we are not talking about titanium, but about special armor titanium alloys, where there is a lot of stuff. What makes such an armored element very expensive for mass equipment. Although, there are doubts that modern ceramic elements are cheaper than armored titanium ones of the same level.
Winning with Armored Titan:
- the plate is Lighter than the ceramic plate
- and THINNER than ceramic.
However, in general, ceramics are more promising than metal alloys.
Such paradoxes.

[PCF]

Well, since the links to YouTube have gone, keep a couple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlMLqOLtmf4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsjOV7tcGRI

I looked for a long time and I don't remember whether steel cores participated there or how ...
Within the framework of my understanding, no one forbids making "sandwiches" from different types of plates - tank armor is an example of this, and everything is heading towards this.
BUT, everything is bullshit, here is a video from a war participant in a sandbox, at the beginning of the video he answers the question of what the Motherland has supplied to the really fighting people (the fighter seems to belong to the GRU). Only the Soviet legacy and rare sponsorship reaches the end consumer.

https://youtu.be/X1JGtlubcUQ

[Narak-zempo]

Quote: PCF

I hope that promising NIBs will have panels made of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene

Yes, it is strange that UHMWPE is not mentioned.
Moreover, in this area we are ahead of everyone, thanks to investments in nanotechnology.
Recently there was a publication about "Super thread", on the basis of which they make BZ for "Centurion".

[Vikxnumx]

Informative, Thank you! Otherwise, I only had to deal with antiquity: titanium plates were not sawed on tokens ...

[SaLaR]

I understand what is needed ... but poor spine ... it's time to develop force fields

[saygon66]

-So far there are only devices allowing to redistribute a part of the vest's weight to the legs ... An additional belt connected by a semi-rigid plate (?) To the vest.

[paul3390]

gynny: doesn't the armor plump?
jonny: First it makes you look fat. But already in the second week of wearing it begins to lose weight.

[vladcub]

In my time, they just started talking about "bulletproof vest. It was still at the level of semi-sci-fi.
In the year 89 I saw and tried on a Kevlar vest for the first time. He reached my waist with three fingers. The sales assistant argued: protects all vital organs.
- But what about below the belt?
-This is a vest, not pants. No protection is needed there.
- If you don't need it, give you a cut? For some reason he did not want to.

[Lara Croft]

Quote: vladcub

In the year 89 I saw and tried on a Kevlar vest for the first time.

I wonder where you could get it, and even in the 89th SA and RA I was always skeptical about Kevlar ...

[vladcub]

Croft, you have not read carefully: "sales assistant", and what nafig salesperson in CA?
It was some kind of shop with a loud name: "Kolchuga", there were sold: various "reinforced" locks, eyes for the door and a "hit of sales" -Kevlar

[Avior]

It is curious to see how the equipment changes along with the way of fighting.
With the advent of machine guns and the saturation of battle formations with artillery and mortars, the infantryman's main defense was to sink into the ground and not shine. All equipment was made so that it was either behind or it was possible to move it quickly.
If they were given armor and breastplates, then assault groups, which, by definition, had to move quickly.
These shells were not with a very high level of protection, they protected more likely from fragments and bullets of pistol cartridges than from rifle cartridges, but it must be borne in mind that when a manual reloading magazine rifle was a mass weapon, in close combat it noticeably lost to a pistol, revolver, grenades, etc. bayonet.
Therefore, the assault group was armed with grenades and pistols - and later with submachine guns - and a steel breastplate from the times of world wars gave protection both from the enemy's most dangerous weapon in close combat, and from accidental fragments of their own hand grenades.
And then the nature of hostilities and the situation changed. Millions of battles were replaced by relatively small battles, in which the fighters had to move a lot (even a joke appeared that you need to shoot like a cowboy and run like his horse :)), weapons appeared en masse under intermediate cartridges suitable for close combat, and a steel bib became a burden rather than a defense. The fighters literally got to their feet, the equipment moved to unloading, with which it is already uncomfortable to crawl - there is a lot of everything on the stomach and you cannot move it behind your back in one movement.
And there was a great need for body armor as a method of protection. But crawling has already become not very convenient, and the most protected parts of the body armor when crawling are not very involved in protection.
But body armor is clearly developing, let's see how the equipment will change further.

[silverwolf88]

you go to combat in armor ... you run ... you pull yourself up ... after a month you stop noticing ... but when you take off your body ... it just feels like a terminator)))
the topic is very, very necessary ... the protection of the infantry is the most important task ... in this regard, Ratnik and Sotnik are simply a necessity ... and it does not matter how much you pay for it ...

[Lynx2000]

We dragged BZ Cuirass 5 camouflage covers, front and back plates, weighs about 8 kg.
When he threw his back on the stones, the back plates took a blow from the back, the lower edge of the back plates was at the level of the lumbar region at the sacrum, the butt with its legs went further to the ground by inertia.
The tailbone was repulsed, a bruise for the whole well ..., the guys were laughing - a contusion of the fifth point.

[geniy]

People - tell me how to solve the problem: I want to create a unique bulletproof vest - very lightweight and completely impenetrable by automatic bullets, and not just once, but thousands of times. That is, there will be no cracking plates in it. And something like chain mail made of a special substance. Yes, and also to withstand the blow of a knife, bayonet, spear and ax.
Moreover, in addition to body armor, there is an idea for a helmet with bulletproof glass. And the glass is special - type-setting of the thinnest leaves with a thickness of about 0,1 mm - about 40 layers - so that it can withstand an automatic bullet. And the problem is how to get money for it. That is, I do not want to sell it to bandits and thieves. That is, how to unofficially sell to the police and the army? Moreover, it is necessary to check by shelling.

[saygon66]

- "Cora-Pendant"! An instrument of torture ... akin to a Spanish boot! The most convenient of the "old" - "Visit"!

[agond]

I don't know how real bulletproof vests are arranged in detail, but I know how they should be arranged (yes, knowing a few general principles saves you from knowing a lot of facts) and so
1 curved light frame plates (left and right) are pivotally attached to the carrier, relatively rigid and wide belt, dressed at a level just above the hip joints in the region of the sacrum, which rise upward over the shoulders, then go down and are again hingedly attached to the belt on the right and left below the navel
2 All together, the frame is called and a person can put a heavy log weighing 50 kg (checked) on one of the plates in the shoulder area and carry it up to half a kilometer without rest without stressing the spine, of course, such a walk is still annoying,
3 If you attach protection to this frame, then the person will not experience stress on the spine from the weight of the body armor
4 If an additional bracket is attached to this frame, then it will perceive the load from the helmet, unloading the cervical vertebrae, and if a fragment hits the helmet, it will take on an impulse, which can save it from displacement. vertebrae

[VladChernui]

An excellent overview, I will only add that the weight of the 6B45 body armor also depends on the size, the difference between sizes 1 and 3 is more than 1 kg, because larger area of ​​both the bulletproof vest itself and the granite 5A armored panels

https://voensklad.su/ratnik/bronezhilet-6b45

[Sergei N 58912062]

Fortunately, now in Russia there are enough commercial manufacturers of SIBZ, which in many respects are superior to the 6B45 combined arms body armor.

[Sergei N 58912062]

I wonder if our state-owned SIBZ manufacturers know what a body armor corset, combat belt and StKSS system are. And that they can interact to transfer the weight of body armor from the back to the belt.