New bullet proof jackets for better protection from AK rifle bullets

The new lot of 59,000 bullet proof jackets being procured for jawans and officers of para-military forces will ensure enhanced protection from bullets fired from AK series rifles and enable troops operate better in even humid conditions.

Central forces like the CRPF, ITBP, CISF, BSF, SSB, NSG and Assam Rifles have been sanctioned the new protective gear
by the home ministry after it floated tenders carrying enhanced specifications last year.

"The jackets will allow better mobility to the troops. These have been kept light weight and are better resistant to humidity as the para-military personnel undertake both static and patrolling duties," a top officer in the bureau of police research and development - an organisation entrusted with the task of modernisation of police forces - said. 

The extreme weather conditions in the country have been kept in mind while procuring the new jackets, which will be light in weight and provide better fitting to a 6 ft tall jawan, Anurag Tripathi, spokesperson for the Kanpur-based company, which has been awarded the contract for these jackets, claimed.

The jackets conform to a set of international guidelines for such vests, he said, adding the material used has better resistance to water and moisture thereby making it last longer. These jackets have been tested as per the most stringent norms of NIJ (National Institute of Justice) and have passed all the tests, Tripathi said.

The company will supply the jackets in eight months, he added.

The home ministry had informed the Lok Sabha last month
that there was a shortage of 8,71,21 bulletproof jackets in
central para-military forces.

The new orders were placed on April 27 by the home ministry.

The government had earlier cancelled the initial test results in November last year after the "integrity of the testing process had been vitiated by the activities of the chief scientist of the Terminal Ballistic Research Laboratory (TBRL)" in Chandigarh.

A re-trial of the life saving jackets was then ordered under the instructions of Home Minister P Chidambaram.