The Marine Corps is asking industry to come forward with ideas for a lightweight hard armor plate. In a Nov. 29 request for proposal, the service asked for at least 60,000 and as many as nearly 681,000 lightweight plates.
“The lighter plates will give commanders more options to tailor Marines’ ballistic protection to the environment, mission and threat,” the service said in a press release.
The new plate would supplement the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert (ESAPI) plates now in use. The Marine Corps Systems Command had met with 12 potential suppliers in August, to assess industry’s ability to make the plates the service wants.
“We expect the plates to be at least 38 percent lighter than the ESAPI, which will significantly increase the mobility of Marines on the battlefield,” said Nick Pierce, Individual Armor Team lead in Program Manager Infantry Combat Equipment, the division responsible for procuring the new equipment.
The effort is “part of a holistic effort to modernize the personal protective equipment set to give Marines better, lighter, more effective gear,” Pierce said.