Did NBC test the Dragon Skin armor in conditions the Army said it failed?

I saw on NBC Dateline that they tested both Interceptor and Dragon Skin armor side by side. The Army said it failed in subzero and 120+ degree temps. I saw no mention of tests conducted by NBC or anyone else in the extreme conditions. It seems possible that adhesives could fail in those temp ranges.

Did NBC test the Dragon Skin armor in conditions the Army said it failed?
Dateline mentioned that they personally did not do those tests, but that the makers of Dragon Skin did. I'm not sure why they did an expose without following all the guidelines of the armies test.


It sounds like shoddy journalism to me. I would like to say that I am NOT negating their claims, it just would have been more convincing if they would have done more tests.
Reply:Put it this way, why would the special forces and contract soldiers all use dragon skin if it were bad like the army says. simple fact, they had a big contract with the other armor and corruption played a part yet again in not keeping our soldiers safe. I have a friend that is covert I will say it that way, and he says no doubt dragon skin is the best you can get. Calls the other stuff the fake armor. Talks about how happy he was when he went SF and he was going to get the real armor. money yet again... good ole greed.
Reply:Has anyone seen "Future Weapons" on the Discovery Channel. Now, while the armor might have failed the temperture tests the armor couldn't have failed the bullet tests. Unless the show was doctored, they showed that armor get pounded by tons of types of ammuntion. The final thing was shooting it with different rounds from different guns, from an automatic 9mm (not terribly impressive I know) all the way to some heavy duty armor piercing rounds. The final test was improvised by the show's host, who put the suit of armor on a dummy and had it lay on a grenade. They detonated the grenade and, sure enough, the armor did not breach through! Has someone else seen this episode, it makes me wonder whether the military is just too worried about spending the money on protecting its soldiers.





Keep in mind that the armor was destroyed, but it still protected the dummy...
Reply:im sry i didnt see that particular episode...but i saw an episode of 'mail call' where they tested dragon skin...





absolutely amazing...from 20 feet away they shot an automatic AK-47 and it withstood a full clip worth of bullets...
Reply:The Army is going to take it to the hill, the link below gives the Army's latest release.22/5/07
Reply:It has been proven in side by side tests that the Interceptor armor is superior to that of Dragon skin armor. It is more effective at stopping a wider array of ammunition more consistently. It provides superior "blast" protection from fragmentation. Though not as flexible, it is less bulky and weights 20 pounds less.


I find all this debate a little humorous in the fact that less than 10% of casualties have been caused by small arms and in most of those cases it wouldn't matter what body armor the soldier was wearing. If a blast can destroy a Bradley or Humvee any amount of body armor is not going to do much anyway and debating the minimal differences in these to armors is really more a political tool than anything else.


I have seen and worn both armors and prefer the Interceptor.
Reply:Neeno is right. Besides, Dragon Skin weighs 50 pounds.





How can you compare 2 things using different standards? I am not saying Dragon Skin is bad, but it is heavy and it does change its properties during extreme temperatures.





NBC did not do the test, by the way. Future Weapons and Mail Call did but the tests were simple and did not consider extreme conditions or angles.
Reply:No. First off, I'm not even convinced if they actually tested the correct vest. Dragon skin weighs in at 47 pounds, yet on the NBC test the lab guy slaps it up like its nothing. Also, they only fired on the vests from the front, where as army testing requires 2 shots to the front, back, and each side. Any failures results in a failed test. Dragon skin failed 13 times, Interceptor (current issue ) 0. NBC also has not released actual data, pictures yes, stunning videos yes, but no data that the NIJ and other governments would accept. No ammo data, testing procedures, where the fired on the vests (Dragon skin does not have its armor equally distributed it varies from 1-3 disks deep.), no nothing. Read my source for the army's testing.

lady slipper