Military people - body armor?

Question

Do standard issue body armor makes any difference when getting shot with a 5.56 or 7.62?

Answer 1

There are different levels of protection.



What the US military uses, is the IOTV which when paired with the new E-SAPI plates brings them up to level IV protection (I believe the highest level) from Level III.



Level IV supposedly stops .30-06 armor piercing, while Level III can stop 7.62x51mm NATO.



Every vest will take at least one shot from the round it's designed to protect before failing, or one round from a lower rated weapon (9mm, .45 ACP, .22 LR, etc).

Answer 2

the flak jacket alone anything bigger than a 9mm will penetrate

the flak and plates have different ratings based on how much power they can take

i believe the plates have a few different 7.62 ratings but i don't remember them all



also on a side note a flak+plate will only stop 2-3 rounds MAX before they start to penetrate

in my and many of my friends opinions we should drop flaks and kevlars and return to belts and suspenders

Answer 3

As far as I know most of body armors are designed to protect against shrapnel and 9mm. 5.56 will probably penetrate them, 7.62 even easier, I guess.