What Do The NIJ Protection Levels Mean ?

2022/06/11 17:03

Body armour is a essential piece of protection gadget that has stored heaps of people’s lives. Threat stage, warmness accumulation, comfort, mobility concealability, and affordability are the important thing variables to recall whilst figuring out which answer will exceptional match ones needs. When it involves frame armour, the risk stage or safety stage is typically the maximum critical issue to recall, in addition to the maximum tough to comprehend.


The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) withinside the U.S. has set up and up to date minimal overall performance requirements for frame armour to assure that customers apprehend what their frame armour will defend them from. There are five risk degrees for which frame armours are classified beneathneath NIJ: Level IIA, Level II, Level IIIA, Level III and Level IV.


NIJ LEVEL IIA

NIJ Level IIA armour is generally soft body armour made up of layers of high-strength woven fibres.

Aramid fibres like Kevlar, Twaron, and Goldflex are common examples, as are polyethylene fibers like Spectra and Dyneema.

New and unworn Type IIA armour must be designed and tested to stop:

  • 9 mm Full FMJ RN bullets with a specified mass of 8.0 g and a velocity of 373 m/s ± 9.1 m/s

  • .40 S&W FMJ bullet with a weight of 11.7 g and a velocity of 352 m/s ± 9.1 m/s

A Conditioned Type IIA armour must be tested using:

  • 9 mm FMJ RN bullets with a specified load of 8.0 g and a velocity of 355 m/s ± 9.1 m/s.

  • .40 S&W FMJ bullets with a weight of 11.7 g and a velocity of 325 m/s ± 9.1 m/s

Level IIA is most commonly seen in soft body armour vests and is generally the lightest, most flexible, highly comfortable, and easiest to conceal.