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MTV, worn
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As the Marines themselves note, “body armor can be traced back to before the Roman Empire, when war was waged with sword and spear and the battlefield rang with the clash of steel on steel.” In time, its protection became so formidable that an armored, mounted warrior feared few enemies. A string of reverses from Crecy on into the age of gunpowder led to a growing offensive ascendancy, however, and led to hundreds of years of warriors who headed into battle without any armor. In recent decades, modern technology began to offer new materials with remarkable properties, as Kevlar and flak jackets appeared that could stop some shrapnel and low-end bullets. Special Forces experiments eventually led to designs that added plate inserts of metal, or of increasingly advanced ceramics.

Which brings us to the present day, where soldiers from advanced militaries are once again heading into battle with 30-50 pounds of body armor. Its protection is rather less total than that provided by the knight’s medieval plate, but a lot of soldiers are still alive because of the protection it does provide, even against high powered rifles. Even so, the modern soldiers shares one complaint with the medieval knight: their heavy armor, which can limit mobility, and heats up quickly.

The Interceptor Outer Tactical Vest became the US military’s standard equipment around the dawn of the 21st century, but the US Marines were less impressed. In the wake of negative After-Action Reviews, they turned to Protective Products International in Sunrise, FL to make a different design, the Modular Tactical Vest (MTV) designed by an ex-Marine.

In February, the Marines put a hold on further MTV orders, following complaints from the field. That hold appears to have been lifted, but a major redesign is apparently on the way…

• MTV: Features
• MTV: Contracts and Developments [update]
• Additional Readings

Stay on top of the news with the US Marine Corps' implementation of new MTV body armor, when you subscribe to DII. Our coverage includes:

• Coverage of key news, including a temporary halt to orders in February 2008
• Background on the development of the Protective Products International, Modular Tactical Vest (MTV) and design and features
• Coverage of tens of millions of dollars in contracts for the Protective Products International MTV, which beat out Paraclete Armor & Equipment Inc. and Crye Precision LLC for the order
• More related coverage from DII including: "Quality Issues with USMC Body Armor Force Recall," "$397.5M in Contracts for MOLLE Backpacks, Vests, et. al." and "Up to $160M for Enhanced Interceptor Vest Protection"
• 4 photos

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