SPECOPS is right, the groin guard is not for some kicking but
for bullets hitting the ground some 2m to 5m in front of you.
These, then coming at you will be at an angle that the body armor
does not protect. It may have enough energy to get into your body
and hit your liver and turn it into frie gras......
For urban ops, sure. For jungle warfare, I'm more
skeptical.
The "thorough" body amor you're describing is something I envision,
say, what today's SWAT teams would wear. If the SAF wants to outfit
it for its infantry, let's first see what kind of formal battle
strategy it adopts for. For example, there's a fundamental
difference between siege warfare (i.e. attritional street fighting,
which was what the DSTA usually alludes to when introducing all the
new technology) & "shock & awe" conflict (i.e.
shock/assault troops, which is what our RDF units -- & given
the limited manpower, perhaps the whole combat side -- shall be
deployed for).
That said, as with a lot of the Robocop equipment at 3 SIR now, IMO
things like groin & shoulder armor have limited practical use
in the "bush." The latter environment has its own indigenous
conditions & requires a completely different way of engagement
fire -- which, if you've ever trained alongside US or Australian
troops before, we South-east Asian armies are actually the lao
chiao peng. You'll more likely to get a sucking chest wound or a
bullet hole in the head instead, cuz any enemy round that hits the
soil or a nearby tree will likely be bored there instead of
ricocheting.
But if our boys (possibly myself in the near future) were to be
sent to operate, I won't have that luxury to further protect/equip
myself even if my family can afford such stuff. Thats the sad
thing.
Unless you're saying you've been deployed to Timor Leste or
Afghanistan, aren't you fantasizing a tad too much here? For
argument's sake, I'll call your bluff so show me your proof.
