![](media/image1.wmf) **U.S. Department of Justice**

Office of Justice Programs

*National Institute of Justice*

Office of the Director *Washington, D.C. 20530*

**Q&A**

**Third Status Report to the Attorney General on Body Armor Safety
Initiative Testing and Activities**

**August 24, 2005**

1.  **What is the Attorney General's Body Armor Safety Initiative?**

> On November 17, 2003, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced a body
> armor safety initiative in response to concerns from the law
> enforcement community regarding the effectiveness of bullet-resistant
> armor. These concerns followed the failure of a relatively new
> Zylon^®^-based body armor worn by a Forest Hills, Pennsylvania, police
> officer. Attorney General John Ashcroft directed the National
> Institute of Justice (NIJ) to initiate an examination of
> Zylon^®^-containing bullet-resistant armor (both new and used), to
> analyze upgrade kits provided by manufacturers to retrofit
> Zylon^®^-containing armors, and to review the existing process by
> which bullet-resistant armor is tested to determine if the process
> needs modification. To accomplish these goals, NIJ has worked in
> collaboration with its technical partners, the Office of Law
> Enforcement Standards (OLES) at the National Institute of Standards
> and Technology (NIST) and the National Law Enforcement and Corrections
> Technology Center (NLECTC) in Rockville, Maryland.
>
> NIJ has issued three status reports to the Attorney General containing
> results from its body armor studies. These reports are available at
> <https://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp>.

2.  **Thus far, what has the Department of Justice's research discovered
    concerning Zylon^®^-containing bullet-resistant armor?**

-   Used Zylon^®^-containing armor may not provide the intended level of
    ballistic protection.

-   Of 103 used Zylon^®^-containing armors tested by NIJ, 60 (58%) were
    penetrated by at least one round during a six-shot test series. Of
    those that passed penetration testing, 91% showed backface
    deformation in excess of that allowed by the NIJ standard for new
    armor. Only four armors met all performance criteria expected under
    the NIJ standard for new body armor compliance.

-   Zylon^®^ yarns taken from used armor samples exhibited degraded
    tensile strength characteristics.

-   A visual inspection of body armor and its ballistic panels does not
    indicate whether a particular piece of Zylon^®^-containing body
    armor has maintained its ballistic performance.

-   A sealed tube study confirmed that if PBO[^1] is isolated from
    external sources of moisture there is no significant change in its
    properties.

> Prior NIJ status reports included the following additional findings:

-   Ballistic-resistant material, including Zylon^®^, can degrade due to
    environmental factors, thus reducing the ballistic resistance safety
    margin that manufacturers build into their armor designs.

-   The ultimate tensile strength of single yarns removed from the rear
    panel of the Forest Hills armor was up to 30% lower than that of
    yarns from "new armor" supplied by the manufacturer. Artificially
    aged armors of the same type that failed in the Forest Hills
    incident were ballistically tested but no bullet penetrations
    occurred.[^2]

-   The "upgrade kits"[^3] tested by NIJ did not appear to bring used
    armor up to the level of performance of new armor. However, used
    armors with upgrade kits performed better than the used armor alone.

3.  **What is NIJ doing in response to these findings?**

-   NIJ is taking the following steps:

[]{.mark}

-   NIJ intends to adopt new interim requirements for its body armor
    compliance testing program to aid in ensuring that officers are
    protected by body armor that maintains its ballistic performance
    during its entire warranty period. These actions are set forth in
    detail in Section VI of the *Third Status Report to the Attorney
    General on Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities*.
    Under the NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements for Bullet-Resistant Body
    Armor, armor models containing PBO or Zylon^®^ will not be
    compliant, unless their manufacturers provide satisfactory evidence
    to NIJ that the models will maintain their ballistic performance
    over their declared warranty period. Also, manufacturers will be
    required to submit information concerning materials used in the
    construction of any armor submitted for compliance testing by NIJ.

-   In the future, NIJ will issue advisories to the field regarding
    materials used in the construction of body armor that appear to
    create a risk of death or serious injury as a result of degraded
    ballistic performance. Any body armor model that contains any
    material listed in such an advisory will be deemed no longer
    NIJ-compliant unless and until the manufacturer satisfies NIJ that
    the model will maintain its ballistic performance over its declared
    warranty period.

-   NIJ is expanding its research program to provide a better
    understanding of degradation mechanisms of other ballistic materials
    and how they affect armor performance. NIJ will also continue its
    research to assist in developing nondestructive methods for testing
    the ongoing performance of body armor.

4.  **Why is NIJ adopting interim changes to its compliance testing
    process?**

> There are limited data concerning the ongoing performance of
> ballistic-resistant materials and associated armor systems currently
> in widespread use in the United States. Also, there is no accepted
> test protocol to evaluate the performance of used body armor over a
> period of years of typical law enforcement use. Future testing and
> research will support the development of a comprehensive and
> scientifically-rigorous compliance testing process to help assure
> officers that their armor will continue to protect them over the
> armor's full warranty period.

5.  **Does this mean that NIJ will no longer be testing
    Zylon^®^-containing body armor?**

> Zylon^®^-containing armor models will be eligible for NIJ compliance
> testing if the manufacturer can provide satisfactory evidence to NIJ
> that the armor model will maintain the intended level of ballistic
> performance throughout the warranty period.

6.  **What specific Zylon^®^-containing body armor models have been
    tested in the Body Armor Safety Initiative?**

> A complete list of all body armor models tested (and the results) is
> contained in the *Third* *Status Report to the Attorney General on
> Body Armor Safety Initiative Testing and Activities*, which can be
> found at [https://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp]{.underline}.

7.  **What about the testing of body armor that does not contain
    Zylon^®^?**

> The Body Armor Safety Initiative focused on Zylon^®^-based body armor.
> Future phases of this initiative will examine other commonly used
> ballistic-resistant materials.

8.  **My Zylon^®^-containing armor is not a model that was tested as
    part of the Body Armor Safety Initiative. Should I replace it?**

> While current testing results do not conclusively prove that all
> Zylon^®^-containing body armor models have performance issues, the
> results clearly show that used Zylon^®^-containing body armor may not
> provide the intended level of ballistic resistance. In considering
> whether to replace body armor, NIJ's research findings should be
> carefully reviewed, since there were performance variations among the
> Zylon^®^-containing armors that were tested.

9.  **How long is newly purchased Zylon^®^-containing body armor safe to
    use?**

> Based upon the results of NIJ's research, there is no clear
> correlation between armor age and ballistic performance. The research
> indicates that Zylon^®^-containing armor that is more than two years
> old may demonstrate significant ballistic degradation. As the armor
> samples that were tested did not include a significant number of
> armors that were less than two years old, the performance of newer
> armors cannot be predicted.

10. **I have closely followed all of the care instructions provided by
    the manufacturer of my armor and my vest looks like new. Does this
    mean that purchasing replacement armor may not be necessary?**

> Based on NIJ's findings, there appears to be no correlation between
> the appearance of Zylon^®^-containing armor and ballistic performance
> in NIJ's testing. The results imply that a visual inspection of the
> armor and its ballistic panels does not indicate whether a particular
> piece of Zylon^®^-containing body armor will perform acceptably.
> Nonetheless, users are strongly urged to follow all care instructions
> for their armor.

11. **Are there other lightweight ballistic armors available that I can
    purchase?**

> The Department of Justice cannot recommend any specific body armor
> model for purchase. NIJ is replacing the list of armor compliant with
> NIJ Standard 0101.04 with a new database of armor compliant with the
> NIJ 2005 Interim Requirements. A database of compliant armor will be
> maintained at [http://www.justnet.org]{.underline}.

12. **When will further test results be forthcoming?**

> NIJ is conducting its scientific examination as quickly as possible.
> Further status reports to the Attorney General will be posted on the
> Bulletproof Vest Partnership Program website
> ([https://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp](http://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp)).
> Additional reports on body armor testing and research results will be
> provided to law enforcement as soon as possible after the test data
> have been obtained.

13. **In light of these current research findings, is the Department of
    Justice establishing any new or additional funding assistance for
    the purchase of replacement body armor?**

> Funding provided by the Department of Justice for body armor purchases
> is coordinated and administered through the Office of Justice
> Programs' Bureau of Justice Assistance's Bulletproof Vest Partnership
> (BVP) Program. To better meet the vest replacement needs of America's
> law enforcement agencies this year, the Department will make available
> \$10 million, in addition to the \$23.6 million available through the
> FY 2005 BVP Program, for bullet-resistant body armor. For information
> regarding this special BVP solicitation visit:
> <http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/bulletproof.html>. More details
> about the BVP program may be found at:
> [https://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp](http://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp).

14. **What is the Department of Justice doing to keep law enforcement
    officers informed about the latest developments in the ongoing
    analysis and study of armors?**

> A new web resource entitled "Body Armor Safety Initiative" has been
> incorporated into the Internet-based Bulletproof Vest Partnership
> Program application at
> [https://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp](http://vests.ojp.gov/index.jsp),
> with links and information on official government and industry
> statements, the Vest Safety Initiative Summit, current evaluation
> activities, and FAQ's. Additional information may be found at
> [http://www.justnet.org]{.underline}.

15. **My body armor contains Zylon^®^. Should I stop wearing it?**

> **Absolutely not.** NIJ urges officers to continue to wear the armor
> that is issued or authorized by their agencies. An officer\'s risk of
> fatality is 14 times greater when not wearing body armor. Since
> bullet-resistant vests were introduced more than 30 years ago, they
> have saved 2,900 lives and officer homicides have decreased by
> two-thirds.
>
> Even armor that may have degraded ballistic performance is better than
> no armor.
>
> NIJ will continue to provide timely results on our ongoing examination
> of Zylon^®^-based armors to assist in future decisions.

[^1]: PBO: PBO fiber -- poly-*p*-phenylene benzobisoxazole, the chemical
    basis for Zylon^®^.

[^2]: NIJ continues to study the Forest Hills body armor penetration to
    resolve the cause of that failure.

[^3]: Upgrade kits were provided by the body armor manufacturer, Second
    Chance, to retrofit Zylon^®^-based bullet-resistant armors.