ARLINGTON, Va. — Despite a recall of more than 18,000 Outer Tactical Vests, military officials said they are confident in body armor produced by Point Blank Body Armor Inc.
The Navy recently announced a $9.2 million contract with the company for OTVs with Small Arms Protective Inserts, or SAPI plates; side plates; and throat and groin protection, said Landon Hutchens, a spokesman for Navy Sea Systems Command.
“The Interceptor body armor with SAPI plates is one of the best production-model body armor systems available in quantity on the market today,” Hutchens said in a Monday e-mail to Stars and Stripes. “The system has saved lives on the battlefield and demonstrated its capability to stop 7.62 x 39-mm caliber rounds fired from the AK-47 assault rifle.”
In November, the Marines and Army announced they were recalling 18,425 Outer Tactical Vests manufactured by Point Blank because they did not meet certain ballistic criteria. The recall only affected the vests, not SAPI plates.
The Army sent the recalled vests back to Point Blank to be replaced, while the Marines used the recalled vests for training courses with the Basic School, the School of the Infantry and the Weapons Training Battalion, officials said.
The Army and Marine Corps have continued to purchase body armor from the company.
An Army spokesman explained that the November recall was due to a potential flaw in less than 1 percent of about 900,000 vests purchased by the Army; no flaws have been found in the rest of the vests.
The Army’s and Marine Corps’ decisions to continue purchasing body armor from Point Blank supports the Navy’s decision to buy body armor from the company, Hutchens said.
“The desirability to have common equipment with the Marine Corps and Army for logistical purposes made the purchase of this particular Interceptor body armor a logical choice,” he said.
Point Blank Body Armor has made more than 1 million Outer Tactical Vests for U.S. troops since 1999, according to a DHB Industries Inc., the parent company of Point Blank.
In an e-mailed response to Stars and Stripes questions on Monday, DHB Industries included a quote from Larry Ellis, president of the company’s board of directors, on the quality of the Point Blank Products.
“To our knowledge, none of the hundreds of thousands of outer tactical vests that Point Blank has manufactured have failed in the field — an extraordinary achievement,” Ellis said. “All testing procedures for these vests were approved by, and conducted under the close supervision of the U.S. government … We categorically stand behind the quality and effectiveness of Interceptor OTVs manufactured by Point Blank.”
