UK Defence Forum

Thought this would be a good thread to have, detailing any new kit that gets issued to the UK Armed forces, the last decade has seen a transformational leap forward in the quality of kit issued to the British fighting man and woman, one of the only genuine plus sides to the last 15yrs of counter insurgency warfare.

The big expensive toys may grab all the headlines, but for your average fighting soldier, what they carry into battle is of far more importance.

Good news item, new body armour, helmet, goggles, webbing. From the Mar issue of Desider:
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/s ... ch2015.pdf

After an intensive assessment phase of almost two years, DE&S has committed to buy 9,000 Virtus
systems in a contract worth an initial £14.69 million. High readiness Air Assault and Commando Brigades will be the first units to be provided.

It seems that after years of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that the Army will finally get some decent gear.

i will laugh my arse off if anyone actually wears that mandible thingymajig.

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arfah wrote:

just-me-again wrote:i will laugh my arse off if anyone actually wears that mandible thingymajig.

If the C.O. Puts in on 'Orders' - it will be worn.

Especially as not wearing it on operations may affect any insurance payout in the unfortunate possibility of injury or wounding

Yep and a simple "Wah" on the unused object left behind will win you millions, as the Lord emperor God bless his sole told me.

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arfah wrote:

Tinman wrote:Yep and a simple "Wah" on the unused object left behind will win you millions, as the Lord emperor God bless his sole told me.

It will catch on once the benefits of extra protection are realised.

Just like groin protection, ear defence and eyepro.

Always seen the benefit of those, being married and all.

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March 2015: 'Royal Navy unveils 'modern' uniform' http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-31950420

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Any ideas on new clothing issues that have been issued out or due ?

The latest issue of Soldier magazine has a nice article on the new 'Virtus' kit being introduced from September:

http://www.army.mod.uk/soldier-magazine ... azine.aspx

Some higher res pics:

What is that thingy running along the spine... some sort of adjusting load-bearing frame? Starting with daypacks

That would be a bastard to jump with!!I am assuming the airborne troops have an alternate or if not I would be telling my crew to ditch it!!Still looks like finally we are getting decent, effective, user friendly kit.

ArmChairCivvy wrote:What is that thingy running along the spine... some sort of adjusting load-bearing frame? Starting with daypacks

Pretty much. Allows the wearer to tailor the weight distribution between the shoulder straps and the belt.

What is the requirement of the back face indicator test for this type of protection

seaspear wrote:What is the requirement of the back face indicator test for this type of protection

The what?

A back face indicator test is a requirement that the ballistic vest meets the standard as required, a vest under the American National institute of Justice which is the standard most commonly used would be able to during this test allow a bullet to impact the vest to a maximum of 44mm ,the U.K police on their vests allowed 25 m the German police 20mm because they believed the 44m still allowed the wearer to suffer potentially harmful injuries
There are two ways I know of doing a test one is where a ballistic vest is put on a mannequin of ballistic gel and a fire arm is discharged at the vest for measurement and the other where the vest is simply placed over the ballistic gel before discharging the firearm it is believed the prior test is more accurate in measuring as it conforms to the human bodies reaction
There is an ergonomic issue with ballistic vests as that they are required to be worn tight to be effective do not allow natural lifting techniques of back muscles , I have read of a high percentage of U.S army personnel developing back related issues, and was able a coupe of years ago to read such a report linking back injuries to such vests , a few years ago I also read a report where Nth Ireland police had higher back injuries for police wearing their ballistic vests than those not wearing the vest .

Doesn't say if there is any modular CBRN protection, I guess that will remain completely separate?

Virtus, from the latest issue of DESIDER:

Would love to hear more personal experiences with the new kit as and when people here get their hands on it. From my armchair it is kind of shame that we have lost the distinctive appearance we have always enjoyed from our lids - that unmistakably British individuality in the appearance of our kit. That said it is a stupid and petty aesthetic quibble if this stuff deliver the goods where performance is concerned.

More photos of the new helmet and body armour found on facebook:

So what do you do if you need to mount both the protective visor and NODs?