Safariland released its first In Conjunction With (ICW) hard armor rifle plate that satisfies the requirements of the National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ) new Voluntary Body Armor Compliance Testing Program under NIJ Standard-0101.06 (NIJ-06). ICW means that the hard armor plate was certified in conjunction with an NIJ-06 soft armor ballistic model: the PROTECHType IIIA BR01 (BA-3A00S-BR01). This is the first PROTECH hard armor plate to satisfy both the NIJ-06 Type III and Type IV rifle threat rounds and is the fifth hard armor plate certified under the new, robust NIJ-06 standard.
The HA-BR01 ICW BA-3A00S-BR01 is a seven pound, ceramic, single-curve rectangular design with clipped corners. This hard armor plate is part of the PROTECH Tactical line of hard armor plates and has been tested in conjunction with PROTECH Type IIIA BR01 (BA-3A00S-BR01) flexible body armor against both NIJ-0101.06 Type III and Type IV rounds. The type III testing must defeat six impacts from a 7.62 x 51 mm, 147gr., FMJ and the Type IV testing must defeat one impact from a .30 Caliber M2-AP (Armor Piercing) round.
The NIJ introduced the Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor NIJ Standard-0101.06 to establish minimum performance requirements and test methods for the ballistic resistance of personal body armor in order to improve performance so that officers receive adequate protection against those threats likely faced over the next decade. According to the new NIJ-06 standard, hard armor must now be tested with uniformed thermal exposure, thermal cycling and mechanical durability testing. In addition, each hard armor plate must be submerged in water and tested wet.
