Ukrainian soldiers fighting on the front lines of Russia’s war are now testing curved body armour designed specifically for women so they’re better protected against bullets, shrapnel and drone strikes.
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Ukrainian MP Iryna Nykorak said the majority of the more than 10,000 women serving in combat in her country are wearing ballistic plates for men that are too bulky, heavy and don’t fit their chests. Some decide not to wear the plate at all, which makes it useless, she said.
“Right now, women must adapt to the current system, not vice versa,” Nykorak told CBC News. “It’s a respect to women’s dignity… She left her home, her family, sometimes in the majority of cases children, and joined the army. She sacrificed a lot.”
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Many countries around the world, including Ukraine and Canada, issue servicewomen standard body armour that isn’t shaped specifically for them. Last month, Ukraine started handing out its first round of female body armour vests, saying there’s a need for this protective equipment as the number of women serving grows.
In June, the U.K. also separately donated 2,000 sets of body armour to Ukraine that include curved female-specific ballistic plates by Canadian company NP Aerospace, paired with vest carriers designed by Logistik Unicorp, also based in Canada.
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Military gear should fit like a “second skin,” she said, and if it’s uncomfortable, soldiers can become distracted instead of focusing on their mission.
Basically, what the armor plate does is spread the bullet impact out, turning what would be a puncture wound into blunt force trauma. The mass of your body still has to absorb the momentum of the bullet. The best way to do this is to have the plate strapped as tightly to your body as possible, like uncomfortably tight. If there’s a gap between the plate and your body then the plate is essentially unsupported, which will cause it to bend or break when hit. Wearing an armor vest loose is essentially useless.
So yeah, it really should fit very tightly. It’s still uncomfortable, because you want it to have no air gaps, but then your sweat just soaks into the vest and your clothes and doesn’t evaporate. The plate warms up to your body heat, or warmer if it’s hot outside, and stays warm. But it’s better than having the plate shift around, or turn into shrapnel when it gets hit.
Wearing body armor correctly sucks, but it’s better than getting shot.