Pentagon: Body armor improperly tested

WASHINGTON -- The Army improperly tested new bullet-blocking plates for body armor and cannot be certain that 5 million pieces of the critical battlefield equipment meet the standards to protect U.S. troops, the Defense Department's inspector general found.

The Pentagon report focused on seven Army contracts for the plates, known as ballistic inserts, awarded between 2004 and 2006 and totaling $2.5 billion. The inspector general's audit, carried out over a two-year period ending in March, found the tests were incomplete, conducted with the wrong size plates or relied on inconsistent ballistic test rounds. Because of the demands of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, tests under certain temperatures and altitudes were scrapped altogether.

"Consequently, the Army cannot be sure that ballistic inserts meet . . . requirements," the report said. "As a result, the Army lacks assurance that 5.1 million ballistic inserts acquired through the seven contracts provide appropriate protection."

The inspector general said it did not conduct its own tests so it couldn't say whether the plates were defective.

In response, the Army said Tuesday it had initiated improvements to the testing system before and during the inspector general's audit.

The Aug. 1 report was the fourth in a series by the inspector general in response to a request from Rep. Louise Slaughter. Since January 2006, the New York Democrat has pressed the military about the effectiveness of body armor after The New York Times reported that 80 percent of Marines serving in Iraq who had been shot in the upper body had died because of inadequate body armor.

The body armor used by most U.S. troops comprises a ballistic vest with two hard ceramic plates that protect. The equipment has been crucial for American forces in Iraq and Afghanistan for nearly a decade.