Police special operations units may soon be sporting a lightweight, flexible body armor said to be 15 times stronger than steel.

The layered suits, made of a super-strong polyethylene fiber called Dyneema, weigh only 10 pounds and are designed to protect soldiers against roadside bombs and improvised explosive devices that have been used against the military in Iraq.

The new armor also has the potential of protecting police SWAT officers, breaching parties in urban operations, sentry and checkpoint teams, and other law enforcement personnel from similar threats of shrapnel thrown by grenades or other explosives. The armor is designed to reduce the likelihood of severe injuries by protecting against the large number of smaller blast fragments generated by blast weapons and homemade explosives. It provides National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Level IIA protection to meet this fragmentation objective, while providing protection against blast pressure waves and thermal flash.

The armor also delivers protection against Level I threats and is well suited for full time use by police departments, particularly those seeking protection for their officers from lower velocity .40 S&W and 9mm ammunition.

Dyneema fiber muscles up
In the late 1960s, when new fibers were discovered that make today's modern generation of body armor possible, the NIJ initiated a research program to investigate the development of a lightweight body armor on duty officers could wear full time. The investigation readily identified new materials that could be woven into a lightweight fabric with excellent ballistic resistant properties, and performance standards were set that defined ballistic resistant requirements for police body armor.

One of the fabrics that came from this research was Dyneema, a fiber that offers maximum strength combined with minimum weight, and has been called the world's strongest fiber. Not only is it stronger than quality steel, it is up to 40 percent stronger than aramid fibers, both on a weight-for-weight basis. Along with its strength characteristics, Dyneema floats on water and is resistant to moisture, UV light and chemicals.

The applications are therefore more or less unlimited. In law enforcement and military settings, Dyneema has begun to be used in bullet-resistant armor and clothing for police and military personnel. Dyneema has its importance in other arenas as well. It is a significant component in ropes, cables and nets in the fishing, shipping and offshore industries. Dyneema also is used in safety gloves for the metalworking industry and in fine yarns for applications in sporting goods and the medical sector.

Despite all the other uses, the protective capabilities Dyneema can offer are easily realized in the law enforcement field. Every year, about 60 sworn police officers are shot to death in the line of duty. At the same time, another 20 are saved by wearing body armor. Had all the officers shot in recent years been wearing body armor when shot, another 15 per year would likely have been saved from fatal gunshot wounds, roughly doubling the present number saved. In addition, more than 15 others would likely have been saved from death by other causes.

Sew business
The new suit of armor was developed by Donna Branson, head of the Department of Design, Housing and Merchandising in Oklahoma State University's College of Human Environmental Sciences.

Each arm guard in the armor weighs 1.6 pounds and attaches to the standard Interceptor armor vest. The pants weigh 6 1/2 pounds, including suspenders.

The researchers estimate the cost at about $1,000 per set once the design achieves full scale production. Current efforts are focused on scaling up production, and more extensive evaluation by interested units and warfighters in operational and training environments. Options for higher levels of protection also are available.

One improvement has already found its way into the design. Branson has added a cooling system on the latest model; the only downside is the weight it adds.

"However, depending on the situation, the ability to cool could be much more important than the extra 2 1/2 pounds the cooling system adds to the suit," Branson says.

A stitch in time
Branson says one goal of the project was rapid development. "We completed what could be a final design in less than eight months with the potential for quick production and distribution," she says.

The most important goal for the first prototype was to provide protection against ballistic damage to the arms and legs, while minimizing heat stress and weight. She says the same goal applies to the second prototype, which simply covers a larger area of the body to provide a higher level of protection.

"We wanted to strategically position the armor on both prototypes to provide the greatest protection to soldiers while ensuring their freedom of movement and comfort from the heat," Branson says. The first prototypes already have been put to the test at various naval and army research laboratory sites around the United States.

Because military hospital personnel often deal directly with battlefield limb injuries, they were among those who provided feedback to researchers. Branson and her fellow researchers, Cheryl Farr and Semra Peksoz, also enlisted U.S. Army ROTC Sgt. Ryan Wallace to give them an up close look at how the suit functions as he replicated the movements of a soldier in a combat zone.

After several hours in the armored suit, Wallace says he was personally impressed. "The suit didn't restrict my movement at all, whether I was running, rolling or signaling. Unlike our backpacks, you forget you even have the body armor on."

According to Branson, the early feedback from field studies has already allowed her to make some important adjustments to the suit. "It gives us a clearer picture of the different tasks that soldiers might perform and helps us envision variations based on those tasks and the specific level of protection necessary."

Storm Troopers
Police agencies had mixed reactions to the new armor. "I can certainly see special operations units buying into something like this, but I don't know if America is ready to have police officers walking around on patrol looking [like Star Wars Storm Troopers,]" says Dick Hammon, accreditation program coordinator for the Pennsylvania Association of Chiefs of Police.

Hammon says his principal concern is that normally a bomb vest isn't bullet resistant. "They're talking about stopping shrapnel and improvised explosives, but usually there are different kinds of materials used for either explosives or a bullet," he says. "Explosive protection gear doesn't stop bullets."

Joseph Polisar, chief of police in Garden Grove, California, agrees. "The only use I could envision for law enforcement would be for SWAT or emergency response teams," he says. "You could never use this type of armor for everyday patrol."

Fashion statement
While the Oklahoma State gear may not be the exact fashion statement U.S. police agencies want to make, now may be a good time to revisit the subject of police body armor.

"There hasn't been a major change in the technology in decades," Polisar says.

U.S. law enforcement personnel have historically worn their body armor underneath their uniform shirts. However, a majority of European law enforcement wears their body armor over their uniforms.

Polisar believes the time is ripe for a comparison study of the long-term effects of wearing body armor over or under uniform shirts.

"I'm not sure anyone has done such a study, but I can tell you that when I compare my day to day body armor with the flak jacket I carry in the trunk of my car for use when I'm not in uniform, the comfort level between the two isn't even close - the flak jacket wins hands down," he says.

Polisar says lightweight web gear was added to police wardrobes for use in place of the standard Sam Brown leather gear as a result of documented lower back problems, so it's not out of the question to spend some effort on body armor studies.

"I believe we owe it to the men and women of law enforcement to take a long hard look at how we deploy body armor as well," he says.

In the military and law enforcement fields, there is a continual search for a lighter, stronger form of protection. The Dyneema fabric seems to be a next step in the quest for officer safety.