I guess the contract already went out to a chinese manufacturer who will make a more simplistic and more un reliable body armour.. Dragon skin has been touted for many years and yet the militarily are not using it... I assume because of cost. canadian usa uragway whatever, that shit is proven to work and yet its not in use.

"The basic Dragon Skin vest for torso protection costs about $2,000 and the entire getup, which includes a protective collar, optional lightweight SAPI plates, an optional weight bearing rig, backpack plates, and an armored, take-it-with-you anywhere protective blanket, can run an individual more than $5,000. The basic Interceptor body armor issued to American troops costs about $1,100, although the wearer receives far less protection, ballistics information provided by both the manufacturers and the U.S. Army showed. According to the statistics provided by Pinnacle, in Army-supervised ballistics tests Dragon Skin's protective qualities "far exceeded" anything available anywhere else, Chessum said."

I need to get one of those, not to pricey really. The army already uses them in certain situations. The hold up is more bureaucratic than anything else. You have to evaluate a new weapon system and find a way to properly begin switching from older platforms ect ect.

43.3 Billion eh? I guess the fiat banking system needed the money more so they can take those great vacations on their private jets. Seriously.. the military spends a huge amount on the technology to kill yet leaves their troops with minimal protection. The outcome is more deaths all the while someone is profiting BIG from the sale of arms and overpriced no-bid contracts.

Such a shame.

>> ^cheesemoo:
There's about 1.4 million people on active duty in the whole of the US military. Out of those, there are 433,000 enlisted people in the Army. Ignoring the other branches, and officers in the army, and at $100k a pop, it would cost $43.3 billion to equip all of the enlisted army soldiers. That's a bit under 1% of the military's annual budget of ~$550 billion. (from wikipedia)
On a per-soldier level, the army spends in the neighborhood of $50k to train a new recruit, from enlistment to their first assigned post. (source) Not 100% sure what exactly this figure entails, but I am guessing it does not include equipment. Could be wrong.
Anyway, regardless of its effectiveness in saving lives, it seems unlikely that the army would want to ~triple the cost of a new recruit. I believe it was mentioned in the discussion for the AK47 vs. M16 video that the main reason we are still using the M16, even though better weapons have been developed, is that we already have a lot of M16s, and it's cheaper to make small changes to the existing design instead of buying new guns for everybody.

43.3 Billion eh? I guess the fiat banking system needed the money more. Seriously.. the military spends a huge amount on the technology to kill yet leaves their troops with minimal protection. The outcome is more deaths all the while someone is profiting from the sale of arms and overpriced no-bid contracts. Such a shame.

In reply to this comment by cheesemoo:
There's about 1.4 million people on active duty in the whole of the US military. Out of those, there are 433,000 enlisted people in the Army. Ignoring the other branches, and officers in the army, and at $100k a pop, it would cost $43.3 billion to equip all of the enlisted army soldiers. That's a bit under 1% of the military's annual budget of ~$550 billion. (from wikipedia)

On a per-soldier level, the army spends in the neighborhood of $50k to train a new recruit, from enlistment to their first assigned post. (source) Not 100% sure what exactly this figure entails, but I am guessing it does not include equipment. Could be wrong.

Anyway, regardless of its effectiveness in saving lives, it seems unlikely that the army would want to ~triple the cost of a new recruit. I believe it was mentioned in the discussion for the AK47 vs. M16 video that the main reason we are still using the M16, even though better weapons have been developed, is that we already have a lot of M16s, and it's cheaper to make small changes to the existing design instead of buying new guns for everybody.

>> ^HaricotVert:
If it's been classified as secret, how come videos about it keep appearing on the sift?

Umm.. perhaps because the video is not called "How to make Dragonfire Level 5 Body Armor".

From the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Skin_body_armor

On August 3, 2007 the Department of Justice announced that the NIJ had reviewed evidence provided by the body armor manufacturer and has determined that the evidence is insufficient to demonstrate that the body armor model will maintain its ballistic performance over its six-year declared warranty period. Because of this, Dragon Skin has been found not in complaince with the NIJ's testing program and has been removed from the NIJ's list of bullet-resistant body armor models that satisfy its requirements.[2] Pinnacle CEO Murray Neal responded that this move was unprecedented, political, and not about the quality of the vests because they aren't saying they've failed any ballistics. He says it's about a dispute with the paperwork to deal with a warranty issue instead, in which the warranty period of Dragon Skin is longer than that of most other commercial vests.

On August 20, 2007 at the United States Test Laboratory in Wichita, Kansas, nine Dragon Skin SOV-2000 (Level III) body armor panels were retested, for the purpose of validating Pinnacle Armor's six year warranty. The panels tested were between 5.75 years old to 6.6 years old. All items met the NIJ Level III ballistic protection, confirming Pinnacle Armor's six-year warranty for full ballistic protection.[29]. Pinnacle resubmitted the SOV-2000 vest to the NIJ for certification based on this successful testing, but this application was rejected because the test had not been properly documented. As of November 2007, Pinnacle is suing to force the NIJ to recertify the SOV-2000 vest without testing it.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Dateline-Dragon-Skin-Body-Armor-Report

MGR your right. Go look at that one and you'll see.

Why is Dragon Skin not allowed yet? Simple. Point Blank Body Armor, the company that makes the issued Interceptor vests is lining to pockets of whoever keeps them in business.

(My theory at least)

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Dragon Skin, Armor, balistics' to 'Dragon Skin, Armor, balistics, military porn' - edited by sometimes

high pitched whine? i didnt notice it at all.
Dragon skin is made about 15 miles away from my home so i hear about this stuff all the time. It would be nice if the army would come clean and just say they lied about the armor. Protect our friends and children in Iraq with the best they can find.

after the grenade test, "Thats incredible, this soldiers face and limbs have been vaporized; but his core is still intact! Ill tell you one thing, with dragon skin on, I'd be the first to jump on the nade!"

Actually it is banned. This video will explain everything.

... sounds good. link it up and I'll change my comment.

updated wikipedia info; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Skin_body_armor

"According to Allan D. Bain, CEO and founder of Evolution Armor Inc., the Dragon Skin vests failed because they did not observe "the Article One testing environmental conditioning protocol, which calls for the armor to withstand 165 degrees F for 6 hours," thus the adhesive failed. Pinnacle Armor Inc. has since adopted a new adhesive which is capable of withstanding greater temperatures for extended periods of time. [16]

In response to claims made by several US Senators, Dragon Skin and special interest groups, on Monday, May 21, 2007, the Army held a press conference where they released the test results that the Army says shows that Dragon Skin failed the Army's testing standards and that the current Interceptor body armor is the best available."

This is now a topical post. I created a playlist for the two dateline videos about the dragon skin armor. This is a private playlist so is not visible on my youtube account. Neither of the two videos are on any accounts controlled by myself.