AP
- Armour Piercing ammunition with a very high density core;
mainly used to penetrate hardened armoured targets, and other
defenses, depending on the caliber of the firearms
ARAMID
- A manufactured strong heat and fire resistant fiber;
which exhibits high strength and modulus.
AREAL DENSITY
- Describes the energy absorption capacity of a
material. It is measured by dividing the weight of the armoured
panel by the protection area
BACK FACE DEFORMATION
- This is the term used to
describe the effect of a non- penetrating projectile on the rear face
of a strike plate. The extent of allowable deformation is set by the
National Institute of Justice Standards (NIJ) at 44mm
BALLISTIC PANEL
- A protective component consisting primarily
of ballistic resistant materials usually enclosed in a non removable
water proof cover
BLUNT TRAUMA
- A type of trauma caused to a body part by
back face deformation varying from a bruise to a destruction of a
major organ
BULLET PROOF
- Armour products are normally referred to as
"bullet resistant" since developing a completely bullet proof vest is
difficult, if not impossible to achieve
CALIBER
- Measurement of the length of a gun relative to its
diameter
CARRIER
- The fabric garment used to carry body armour and sometimes reffered to as the outer vest
CERAMIC PLATE
- Hard armour commonly used as inserts in soft
ballistic vests. Ceramics are used in place of steel as they give the
same superior protection but with less weight. Hard armour is often
made up of a composite of a ceramic plate with a ballistic fiber
backing covered with nylon
COMPOSITE
- Made from two or more constituent materials with
significantly different physical or chemical properties, to achieve
the lightest weight with the greatest capability
COVERT ARMOUR
- Armour worn under normal clothing, also referred to as "concealed vest" or VIP vest
DYNEEMA
- Ultra high molecular weight polyethylene
FMJ
- Full Metal Jacket (bullet)
GRAINS
- Bullet weight is measured in grains. A grain is equivalent
to approx. 63.8 mg
JHP
- Jacketed Hollow Point (bullet)
JSP
- Jacketed Soft Point (bullet)
KEVLAR
- Registered trademark brand fiber from DuPont, Kevlar is
an aramid.
LRHV
- Long Rifle High Velocity (bullet)
LRN
- Lead Round Nose (bullet)
MULTIPLE STRIKES
- A term used to describe number of
projectiles striking a piece of armour
NATO
- The North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NIJ
- US National Institute of Justice, whose ballistics testing standards
for armour are accepted worldwide making it the performance
benchmark for ballistic resistant body armour
OTV
- Outer Tactical Vest
OVERT ARMOUR
- Armour worn outside normal clothing
PARABELLUM 9mm
- The most widely used pistol ammunition in
the world; designed in 1898 by George Luger. The name Parabellum
is derived from the Latin, Si vis pacem, para bellum, "If you seek
peace, prepare for war". It was originally built as a 7.65mm caliber
then modified to 9mm pistol
RN
- Round Nose (bullet)
SAPI
- Small Arms Protective Insert
SOFT BODY ARMOUR
- is armour made from fabric only. It
can be a composite, containing more than one type of fiber
SPECTRA
- A highly modified polyethylene fiber developed
by Allied Signals Corporation, which has since been taken over by
Honeywell
STRIKE PLATE
- A term used to describe the hard armour
insert for body armour. It is also referred to as a ballistic tile or a
ballistic panel
SWC
- Semi-wadcutter, is a type of all purpose bullet commonly
used in revolvers
TACTICAL ARMOUR
- Overt body armour which is specifically
developed for combat use. The carrier can be designed to hold
special equipment in addition to the armour
TWARON
- A heat-resistant and strong synthetic aramid fiber made by TEIJAN ARAMID
UD
- This is the abbreviation for uni-directional. This describes the
orientation of fibers in a cross ply laminate; the fibers are aligned in
parallel
VEST
- An item of protective clothing that absorbs the impact from
firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel fragments from explosions, on
the wearer's torso. A vest comprises armour inserts and the carrier
