OFFICE
OF
THE
SECRETARY
OF
DEFENSE
1700
DEFENSE
PENTAGON
WASHINGTON,
DC
20301-1700
APR
2 7
2010
OPERATIONAL
TEST
AND
EVALUATION
MEMORANDUM FOR: SEE DISTRlBUTION
SUBJECT: Standardization
of
Hard Body Armor Testing
All Department
of
Defense (DoD) hard body armor acquisition programs under
DOT&E oversight will execute, at a minimum, the attached protocol for testing that
results in a decision to qualify a design for full-rate production (i.e., First Article
Testing). Likewise, First Article Testing conducted for sustainment contracts such as
those executed for the Services by the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia will follow
this protocol.
In June 2007, by Congressional direction, DOT&E began oversight
of
DoD testing
of
hard body armor. In their January 2009 report titled, "DoD Testing Requirements for
Body Armor," the DoD Inspector General (IG) stated, "We recommend that the Director,
Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) develop a test operations procedure for body
armor ballistic inserts and involve the Services and USSOCOM [United States Special
Operations Command] to verify the procedure
is
implemented DoD-wide." The DoD
IG
also indicated with regard to the testing standard, " ... the test operating procedure should
include, at a minimum, requirements for sample size, shot pattern, types
of
testing, and
acceptance criteria to verify the rigor
of
testing." As rationale, the DoD IG stated,
"Standardization
of
body armor testing and acceptance will assure that Service members
receive body armor that has been rigorously tested ... "
Between late 2007 and present, the Army conducted extensive ballistic testing
against hard body armor and completed analyses
of
test results. Those data and analyses
enabled DOT&E and the Army to develop a statistically-based testing protocol providing
a high level
of
confidence in test results for resistance to penetration and back-face
deformation. I have decided to implement that protocol as the first iteration
of
a DoD-
wide standard for First Article Testing
of
hard body armor. The attachment describes this
protocol and addresses related issues associated with standardizing the overall hard body
armor test execution process. User input to this standard
is
essential, especially in
identifying the ballistic threats that the armor
is
expected to defeat. Subsequent to the
establishment
of
this First Article Test standard, DOT&E will work with the Services,
USSOCOM, and Defense Agencies to establish a standard Lot Acceptance Test protocol.
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