Wear it – Don’t Just Own it!
In modern combat, a soldier already carries up to 50lbs of equipment and supplies: Body armour can add a further 25lbs in burden, contributing to rapid fatigue and degraded effectiveness. Indian company MKU has specialised in advanced technologies to reduce the overall weight of body armour and will be highlighting the technologies and advantages during IDEX 2017 in Abu Dhabi next week.
A central issue is one of psychology. Despite the proven advantages of body armour, current systems are often regarded as burdensome and troublesome by users, leading to a lack of will to actually wear it in situations in which the threat is perceived at a lower level. In military and law enforcement scenarios, there is a large body of evidence to suggest users put their own safety aside and remove their armour in order to gain greater flexibility and ease of movement, judging this to be a greater tactical advantage than ballistic protection.
MKU has addressed concerns around weight, comfort and enhanced manoeuvrability by pioneering sixth generation ultra lightweight armouring technologies that can reduce the weight of body armour by up to 40% compared with traditional solutions. Innovative ergonomic design has also been applied to address issues of better weight distribution, thus countering the potential for back- and spin-related discomfort and potential injury.
In short, MKU is leading the path to reassuring military and other users that body armour is not necessarily bulky and cumbersome. “Wear it….don’t just own it!”
