I was pondering one night and an idea occured to me, why aren't full suits of armor used today? If balistic fiberglass and resin were custom molded into each individual plate from a museum piece. It's really not so far fetched when you think about it, the only difficulty would be the expence of haveing a suit built for each soldier.

It is simple really: modern jacketed bullets have hugely higher energy transfer and penetration compared to the ball that original armours might have had to withstand, so modern bullets will just punch neat holes through any material you can make thin enough to retain the movement required of full harness. This is also why modern armours are multilayered and thick, hence only the head and torso are usually protected; the other alternative is somethng like the bomb disposal people wear, but they can barely move in it all.

Even if there was a material that could withstand modern ballistics the fit would also be an issue. If you want to wear a rigid material for any length of time it has to be fitted to your body very carefully.

Then there is also the old problem of the armpit area that the modern combatant tends to expose every time he aims a firearm. Although I've often wondered why they don't add some sort of besague to modern body armor.

Cheers,
Matt

Modern body armor has a plate insert then under it panels of kevlar it is a two part system to stop projectiles ranging from shrapnel to bullets of certain calibers. You could possibly put kevlar under the armor but I'd be hesitant to wear a suit of 90-110 lbs as kevlar is quite heavy, plus another 80 lbs of gear in 120 degree heat! Its a neat concept but it would ony be viable in my opinion if it were powered. For instance something along the lines of BattleTech's elemental suits or starship troopers armor but that's not going to happen anytime soon unfortunately.

Modern body armor is, ironically, more or less a brigandine. We've come full circle, it seems, from the basic vest of plates, to mail-and-plate, to full plate which peaked in the mid-1500s with fully-articulated suits enclosing every joint of the body, to 3/4 plate, and then the cuirass alone, and now back to the vest of plates.

What has been said above is true about the limitations of full body armor, however, for protection of the head alone, I think that experiments with reviving older designs might be useful. Specifically I think (and have said before) that the early 17th century close burgonet is fundamentally a good helmet design and might be adapted to a modern day combat helmet with very little alteration to the basic form. As I see it, the greatest danger to modern day soldiers is not bullets but explosives, and specifically shrapnel produced by IEDs which has been injuring so many troops in the Middle East. The close burgonet design, with a peak and pivoting visor, could help protect the eyes. Like the Savoyard helmet and other forms of close burgonets, the visor could slide upwards when not in use, and be flipped down easily when needed to protect the entire face. If the vision slits were wide and close to the face, it would not restrict peripheral vision any more than the fully-enclosing goggles that many troops already wear. The chin and neck would be better protected than this close-burgonet-based helmet than they are with the current combat helmet which is based more on a sallet. Even the comb on top could potentially have practical applications as providing a glancing surface to deflect falling debris.

The modern dirt-racing helmet, actually, already incorporates some of these features, deliberately or not.
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The US military spent millions of dollars back in the 1980s redesigning the old steel pot helmet for it's new
kevlar replacement. They started with a full helmet and cut, shaped, and tested it until they found the best
design for modern warfare. The design they ended up with was basically the old German helmet from WWI and
WWII which is quite a lot like an old German sallet.

Most period helmets were concerned with deflecting things like arrows and stones from above you and not from below you. In modern warfare you have much more concern with projectiles coming up from below your head which is the case with mortars, artillary, mines, and IEDs. Hence the English abandoned their old "war hat" style of helmet in the middle of WWII because the brims deflected the up coming shrapel into your braincase.

Modern combat is no longer rank and file fighting and it requires the combatant to be able to hear, speak, and see. I can't see burgonets being of any use. The brims are shrapnel funnels, combs just make a larger target, and even if there was an effective material against modern ballistics cheak guards and visors would impede hearing, communication, and vision and would be rejected by the modern soldier even if issued to them.

Cheers,
Matt

So true about the power source. Although, I have faith in DARPA/DOE:) Just give our brainiacs three or four more years. As far as ballistic transfer, how about a layer of linked gel-filled tubes to absorb and spread impact force? With a decent power source and some creative chemistry, the gel could also act as a heat sink. Also, I am surprised that no one has brought up Dragonskin armor(the new high-tech stuff, not the fantasy/rpg sauce lol). I would love me a dragonskin vest if 7.62 rounds were wingin' at me. Also, an enclosed helmet wired for ir and camera input would be very nice, especially if equipped with sound dampeners/limiters to prevent IED/artillery-associated deafness and/or shockwave trauma. Wow, I'm starting to realize what a scifi geek I am. I'll shut up before I start babbling about jump jets and gauss rifles...

There is some really interesting research on surf zone mollusks that may have future applications for body armor

Of all materials studied thus far, abalone is remarkable for being both tough and hard. Most hard materials are brittle - they tend to break on impact. Most tough materials are not hard enough to prevent penetration. Abalone uses interlocking layers of hard calcium carbonate plates bound together with tough, flexible proteins, allowing them to withstand oceanic surf.

Mussel beards - the fibers they use to tie themselves to rocks so they don't get washed away by the tides, also have intriguing material properties - simultaneously hard, elastic, strong and flexible.

So, maybe in the future, material scientists will be able to develop materials that will provide meaningful levels of protection with flexibility and lightness needed for the light infantry soldier.

http://www.azom.com/News.asp?NewsID=4209
http://cordis.europa.eu/fetch?CALLER=EN_NEWS&...;RCN=31846

a jack is the great great granddad to the Kevlar vest. :)

In that case

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hkCcoenLW4&feature=related

As a military man myself i can attest to the fact that one of the biggest problems with any closed helm or helm that covers the cheeks and or chin is not being able to get a good cheek weld on your firearm! This greatly reduces accuracy and speed of shooting. I'm sure more training could help but i think no matter what you do this will be a handicap. If issued helms like this i think most soldiers would remove the side plates. I would rather be able to shoot quickly and accurately then have a little bit of extra protection. Also if your facing the enemy with your rifle shouldered there is little of your face open! This is a neat idea and i don't think the concept should be abandoned but it does highlight a good point. How many times have you looked at something historical and thought "Why in the world would they do that? That's stupid!" But everything was done for a reason back in the day and if we can figure out how they used it all the sudden all those strange/weird things become brilliant! I'm sure I don't have to explain this to anybody on this forum but it is good to keep in mind for those less "Scholarly" :lol: Folks.

A close helmet might be good for tank and Humvee gunners though. These guys are extremely vulnerable to shrapnel from IEDs.

Mr. Thibodeau you hit the nail on the head. Warfare is evolving. Drones supported by men in powered armor. Satellite intel, drone cameras, and human eyes on the ground. This will be the new format for warfare. This is how the civilized world will engage in conflict. We will, of course, continue to field hueys and mre's (blech) for the next thousand years :)