New body armour for Defence Forces for first time in 20 years

The Defence Forces is rolling out new body armour to troops for the first time in twenty years.

The new equipment, which cost around €25 million, has been designed to deal with the threats of modern warfare and for the first time with the needs of female soldiers in mind.

The rollout of the armour to the Defence Forces’ 8,000 troops is under way and the first deployment of the equipment in the field will be by the 69th Infantry group when they travel for the last ever UNIFIL mission to Lebanon next month.

Col George O’Connell says the body armour was inspired by looking at the equipment used by other international defence forces while considering the technology deployed in recent conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Ukraine.

“We’re looking at the threats that are we anticipate our soldiers will meet, and we’re trying to design a system that first first and foremost gives them the protection that they actually need against ballistic and fragmentation threats, whether that be from artillery, mortar, IEDs,” he said.

“Most importantly is the ergonomic fit of the body armour, in order that the soldier is comfortable while wearing it.”

Lt Col Cormac Brady of the 69th Infantry Group said the new armour has been welcomed by the troops that he will lead into Lebanon next month

“The upscaled armour is something that’s been really positive for our personnel because of its design, the time that’s been spent in making it fit for a purpose,” he said.

“The operators, logisticians, and so on are more comfortable in what they’re actually doing.”

For the first time, the armour was also designed with the needs of female troops in mind with extra padding provided for the breast plate.

Private Jessica Slevin says the adjustable design has made it much easier to wear for both men and women.

“Even though they’re the same weight, it feels a lot lighter because it’s compact to my body,” she said.

“With the old body armour you were a lot more restricted, especially for females. I always had to go up a size.

“It created gaps which caused problems like pressure points points, reaching for your weapon, getting into the car. So it is great for both men and females because now everyone can be more efficient with what they’re doing and we’re more protected now.”

New helmets at a cost of around €10m are expected to follow by the middle of next year.

One thousand of the 8,000 body armour sets have already been rolled out with the remainder expected to be distributed by the end of this year.

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