The performance of B4C and SiC materials was also improved through the ManTech effort, increasing the IBA’s ability to protect soldiers’ lives. ‘Multi-hit protection has been the real Achilles heel of ceramic because of its fracture behavior. We can’t eliminate this behavior, because it’s actually a key energy-absorbing process. But we do need to limit crack propagation, because the presence of a large amount of cracking reduces the performance of the ceramic for subsequent hits,’ explained Dave Puckett, director of armor programs for Ceradyne, Inc.

In the past, manufacturers tried to overcome this problem by creating a tile mosaic. However, even this solution had drawbacks. ‘Although the tile mosaic design works, it is expensive because the interfaces between the tiles need to be precisely made. Additionally, it is extremely difficult to design a tile mosaic system with uniform performance. Instead, you have to design for the weakest link, so your armor system winds up being heavier than it needs to be,’ Puckett said. ‘By modifying the microstructure of the ceramic material to better dissipate the energy of the projectile, as well as by using different composite backings, we have been able to design better armor with very good multiple hit performance using a monolithic approach.’

Companies such as M Cubed Technologies also brought valuable materials expertise to these advances. ‘Reaction-bonded SiC has been made for years, but we had altered the microstructure to make it very fine grained for the manufacture of precision machined components for the semiconductor market, and we were able to demonstrate that the same fine-grained microstructure also resulted in very good ballistic performance in armor applications. By combining that expertise with our ability to make very large, complex shapes and our ability to scale that to large volumes in a manufacturing environment, we’ve been able to help meet the demand for lightweight, high-performing, cost-effective armor,’ said Tom Holmes, director of Armor Sales and Marketing for M Cubed Technologies.

“Body armor is saving lives,” Moran emphasized. “There have been dozens and dozens of instances where body armor has saved lives of individual soldiers. We’re producing that as quickly as we possibly can.”

Army Col. John Norwood, PEO Soldier’s project manager for soldier equipment, said all soldiers in Iraq will have body armor by December.

“The feedback we’ve received from individual soldiers is that body armor is very effective, and it’s a very highly valued item over there,” he said. “The senior leadership of the Army has made a decision that for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, all soldiers, civilians and contractors will have body armor available to them. The specific mission requirements are tailored by the unit commander.”

Accounting for two armor plates for each Marine in the ground combat element, the Marines plan to field 94,056 plates for active forces and 39,284 for reserve forces, a Marine Corps spokesman said. Interceptor body armor is made up of two modular components: the outer tactical vest and small-arms protective inserts, or plates.

The new body armor, which is unisex, is equipped with removable throat and groin protectors, as well as front and back removable plates, which can stop 7.62 mm rounds. It weighs 16.4 pounds; each of the two inserts weighs 4 pounds, and the outer tactical vest weighs 8.4 pounds. The previous body armor, the flak jacket, weighed 25.1 pounds. “The (Interceptor body armor’s) lighter weight provides more mobility to the soldier in the upper body,” Norwood said.

Only the most technically advanced material is used to make body armor for the military, Norwood noted. “We’re always looking at what are the latest advances in technology to get the latest materials integrated,” he said. “The outer tactical vest consists of a Kevlar weave that’s very fine and will stop 9 mm ammunition. Webbing on the front and back of the vest permits attaching such equipment as grenades, walkie-talkies and pistols.

Body-armor manufacturers are increasing output to 25,000 vests a month from 3,300. An Ohio-based subsidiary of Armor Holdings Inc. — the military’s only maker of armored Humvees — is ramping up to 24-hour production in an effort to turn out 220 vehicles a month within six months. It currently produces 80 a month.

The Army initially provided body armor only to infantry and combat troops. Now it wants to outfit everyone on the ground in Iraq.

In the past few months, Ceradyne Inc. of Costa Mesa, Calif., has spent $2 million to increase production of the ceramic plates used in vests to 14,000 a month from 9,000. Each vest contains at least two plates. The company has hired 120 workers and bought 16 new furnaces to fire the plates, said David P. Reed, vice president and general manager. The price of Ceradyne’s common stock has soared 145 percent since June 2. “We’re investing for the long run,” Reed said. “Body armor is here to stay for the military.”

The Army has shifted hundreds of armored Humvees into Iraq and Afghanistan from other areas and has about 1,500 in those two countries. It aims to have 3,500 of the $150,000 armored vehicles there, though the time frame is uncertain, according to Army spokesmen.

“The evidence to date suggests that U.S. forces are not properly trained or equipped for guerrilla warfare on a long-term basis,” said Loren B. Thompson, a defense industry analyst with the Lexington Institute. “That’s illustrated not only by an absence of body armor and hardened vehicles but a shortage of people who can speak the local language.”

Armor Holdings, which also provides armor for nonmilitary vehicles, has moved its commercial operations out of its main plant so all 140,000 square feet can be dedicated to armored Humvees. The company is bringing on 150 workers, a hiring drive that will expand its staff by nearly 50 percent. Armor hasn’t operated at this pace since the military significantly accelerated orders during the war in the Balkans, said Robert F. Mecredy, president of the company’s aerospace and defense group.

The company will probably produce 850 armored Humvees this year, an increase of 227 from last year, said Peter J. Barry, an analyst with investment bank Bear, Stearns & Co. Production is expected to grow to 2,265 in 2004. “It doesn’t hurt that the pricing competition is negligible,” Barry said. Armor’s common stock price is up about 82 percent since the beginning of June.