Vietnamese military scientists have successfully produced bullet proof vests that are both cheap and lightweight but still meet safety requirements including the US’ NIJ0101.04 standard (able to protect against 7.62x54mm bullets).
Made-in-Vietnam bullet proof vest
The information was provided by Quan Doi Nhan Dan newswire, a news organ belonging to Vietnam's military forces.
The armors are made from Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) reinforced by Nano-Zr¬O2 and dyneema composites that can achieve protection level 3.
This is a state-level project titled “Researching on bullet proof vests on the basis of Al2O3 reinforced by Nano-ZrO2” headed by Doctor Ta Van Khoa from the Institute of Technology under the Vietnamese Ministry of Defense’s General Department of Military Industry.
Accordingly, Doctor Khoa has successfully done research into technology that produces reinforced Al2O3 - a kind of refractory ceramic oxide - with evenly-spread ZrO2 nanoparticles, which enhances durability and toughness.
The scientist also succeeded in making durable dyneema plates that can withstand many bullets.
In all, the project enables Vietnam to manufacture by itself four types of bullet resistant vests including the aforementioned two made from Al2O3 reinforced by Nano-Zr¬O2 and dyneema composites (bullet protection level 3) under US’ NIJ0101.04 standard (able to protect against 7.62x54mm bullets).
The other two types are 100% made from dyneema composites that can withstand 7.62x39mm AK47 rifles at a distance of 15m under US’ standard NIJ0101.04. The vests weigh just around 3.4kg each so are suitable for mobile forces.
All the products have been tested and yielded positive results.
Currently, Vietnam has to import a large amount of bullet proof vests at high prices but their size and weight are not suitable with the Vietnamese.
This success could open up the possibility of Vietnam producing by itself high-quality vests at affordable prices for those in need