Congress Wants Army Body Armor Retested [View All]

Source: Associated Press

Congress Wants Army Body Armor Retested

June 6, 2007, 4:00 PM EDT

WASHINGTON -- Federal lawmakers on Wednesday requested independent
third-party testing of whether standard-issue body armor for U.S. soldiers
is more effective than an alternative.

At issue are conflicts between year-old test results released by the Army
last month and testing conducted by NBC News and broadcast in May.

"Let's get right down to the nuts and bolts here and see which one of these
tests are right," Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., ranking member of the House
Armed Services committee, said at a hearing on the issue.

On May 3 at a ballistics laboratory in Germany, NBC News testing showed
that Dragon Skin, made by privately held Pinnacle Armor Inc., outperformed
Interceptor, the Army's standard-issue armor. Before the results were aired,
a retired U.S. general reviewed the testing that had been done in simulated
combat conditions.

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Read more: http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-congress-body-armor,0,6174666.story