The Army and an entrepreneur squared off on Capitol Hill Wednesday over one of the most emotional issues facing soldiers and their families – life-saving body armor for the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Pinnacle Armor Inc. chief Murray Neal contends that his unique Dragon Skin body vest beats the Army’s Interceptor model, giving soldiers better protection. Neal suggests the laboratory that gave Dragon Skin, a flexible body-wrap armor, a failing grade last year is biased.
The Army has fired back that the rigid-plated Interceptor armor it selected performs better, especially under extreme conditions. The top brass accused NBC news of biased reporting when it tested Neal’s armor at a lab in Germany and then told the world last month Dragon Skin provides more bullet-protection than Interceptor.
Statements from Pinnacle Armor’s press shop likening the Army’s rejection of Dragon Skin to a major Army scandal and cover-up add to the debate. Such tactics have prompted worried parents to buy the armor, now banned by the Army, and ship it to sons and daughters in the war zone.
A showdown of sorts occurred yesterday in a House Armed Services Committing hearing room where skeptical lawmakers grilled Neal and questioned his tactics. Still, they suggested, more testing might be needed to settle the question of which armor is best.
“I’ve got the Army test in front of me that they gave the committee, (it) has Dragon Skin with a bunch of holes in it,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., whose Marine son did two tours in Iraq and is now in Afghanistan.
Neal did not contest the validity of those year-old Army-sponsored tests, which he witnessed at W.H. White Laboratories. But he said, “Please note that the only testing facility where the Dragon Skin has allegedly failed happens to be the only place where the current Interceptor has always passed.” He urged the committee to order tests outside the Army’s supervision.
“Interceptor body armor saves lives,” countered Army Lt. Gen. Ross Thompson III, acquisition corps director, during testimony. “It is the most effective body armor available anywhere on earth.”
NBC used Philip Coyle III, former Pentagon chief weapons tester, as an adviser on the German tests. He acknowledged he had not viewed the 2006 Army live-fire tests that subjected the Dragon Skin vests to real-life battlefield conditions such as extreme weather and splashes of motor oil.
Asked by Hunter if those tests shook his confidence in Neal’s product, Coyle responded, “If that was a valid shot (test), it certainly would raise questions in my mind.”
Do U.S. troops have the right body armor? Watch the video.
