The Department of Defence has unveiled the latest body armour upgrade to be given to every soldier in the Irish army.
Costing at least €3,000 each, the department says the integrated modular body armour system (Imbas) combines the latest technology and is modified in the wake of lessons learned from conflicts in Afghanistan and Ukraine.
All 8,100 members of the Defence Forces will receive the armour and it will cost the exchequer €25 million.
The new system will replace the General Service Body Armour (GSBA), which has been in service since 2006.
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The Defence Forces are also working on a modified helmet that will cost at least €1,000 each.
The armour comes in different sizes and 1,500 members of the Defence Forces were fitted last year to ensure all sizes could be accommodated.
The first deployment of the equipment in the field will be next month with the 69th Infantry Group, which, as it stands, will be the last United Nations interim force deployed to Lebanon.
It is also being designed for the needs of women who have previously struggled with body armour made exclusively for men.
Col George O’Connell said the armour, which weighs 12kg (26½ lbs) when complete kit is worn, contains components from Romania, Italy, Austria, France, Germany and Turkey.
The most important part of the equipment is the ceramic plate, which is intended to be a shot stopper.
Contrary to the name, the word “bulletproof” is a misnomer, he says, as no vest is fully bulletproof. He did, however, produce a plate which stopped rounds from a Russian-made Dragunov sniper rifle.
“We’ve taken what we consider to be the most common armour-piercing version of that, and we’ve tested our body armour against it,” he said.
“I don’t want our soldiers to know what this protects them against, because I don’t want them thinking, ‘Sure, I’ll be okay’.”
However, it did show indentations from the round, which would cause significant trauma to internal organs, though the soldier would be likely to survive.
The Imbas system is designed with ergonomics in mind and will provide a significant improvement on the GSBA regarding protection, size, fit and comfort.
