Bulletproof plates are hard plates often made of compressed polyethylene with a ceramic front or shaped steel sheets.

Bulletproof plates are primarily made in the size of 30×25 cm, in a flat, single or multicurved shape.

Bulletproof plates come in different “cuts”; Swimmers cut, SAPI cut and Square cut, where SAPI is the most used cut for a bulletproof plate as it offers a big protection area while still being ergonomic to wear.

Bulletproof plates are made to stop projectiles like 7.62×51 NATO, 7.62×39 MSC, 5.56×45 SS109, 7.62×63 AP etc. They come in NIJ levels 3, 3+ and 4, stand alone and in conjunction with soft armor.

In addition to NIJ standard 0101.04 and 0101.06, there are also HOSDB, VPAM 2006, German Schutz class, Russian GOST R 50744-95, European PrEN ISO14876-2, all of which have similar levels of protection against high-speed projectiles.

Hard armor plates are used to stop threats from high-speed projectiles from machine guns and rifles, including; AR-15, NATO, AK47 and the like. As a starting point, it is not necessary to use ballistic hard armor plates if you only need protection from small arms. However if you need protection from high-speed calibers from rifles and machine guns, bulletproof plates are a necessity

What is BFS/BFD? (Back face signature/Back face deformation)

Back face Signature/Deformation is the depth into the “body” when a bullet strikes the bullet proof vest. For bullet proof vests according to NIJ standard 0101.06, the depth of a bullet impact needs to be less than 44 mm. According to HOSDB and the German Schutzklasse Standard Edition 2008, the depth cannot exceed 25 mm for HOSDB.

Back face signature and Back face deformation are terms used to describe the depth of the bullet impact.

Bullet proof vests made according to NIJ standard are made to stop a .44 Magnum, which is one of the world’s most powerful small arms. This also means that body armor designed for the American NIJ standard may be heavier than vests designed for the German SK1 standard.

Why is a bullet proof vest not stab proof?

This is a question that we have been asked many times. A bullet proof vest is as default designed to stop bullets, and not stab or spike instruments. For a bullet proof vest to be stab proof as well, it needs to be able to stop the lowest stab resistant level, which for both HOSDB and NIJ is 24 (E1)/36(E2) joules from a engineered blade.

A normal bullet proof vest that is designed only to stop bullets will be able to stop 5-10 joules depending on what material it is made of. This is 1/3 of the required pressure a stab proof vest needs to stop.

A stab proof vest will first be stab proof when it can stop the minimum requirements for a stab proof vest according to NIJ 0115.00 and HOSDB where the lowest level of protection is level 1.

Everything below level 1 (below 36 joules) will be easy to penetrate as it is possible to penetrate a level 1 stab proof vest with a hard stab.

What is V50?

The 50 test is used to measure the resistance of a material against fragments. The standard was originally made for bullet proof helmets, but today it is used for all situations where fragments can occur. It is also used for bullet proof vests, riot equipment and bulletproof plates.

To measure the V50 value, different FSPs (fragments) are used where the most normal size is 1.1g. This fragment is fired at with different velocities, to measure the resistance of the material against fragments.

The most common standards for testing the fragmentation resistance of a ballistic product are:

US Standard – Mill STD 662 E

UK Standard – UK / SC / 5449

NATO Standard – STANAG 2920

At Protection Group Denmark our ballistic helmets are tested according to STANAG2920 and MILL STD 662 E.

If you are looking for bulletproof plate manufacturer, you could contact us by email mail@huastatactical.com. HUASTA is a global bulletproof products factory and supplier since 2001. Up to now, We have established successful business relationship between clients from more than sixty countries and regions. We believe that we could continue establishing good business relationship, as well as achieving mutual benefit through our sincere cooperation.