The VIRTUS contract for the supply and support of a Personal Protective Equipment & Load Carriage System has been awarded to SOURCE Vagabond Systems Ltd.

On 4th July 2014 the UK Defence Equipment & Support organisation (DE&S) issued a voluntary ex ante transparency notice in respect of a contract for the Supply and Support of VIRTUS Personal Protective Equipment and Load Carriage System. This contained a short description of the VIRTUS requirements:-

Protective gear. Garments for anti-ballistic protection. Project VIRTUS (Formerly Personal Equipment and Common Operational Clothing or PECOC) will deliver an integrated head, torso and load carriage system with the ability for quick release that will form the foundation of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). It will be the core component of the Dismounted Close Combat Soldier. VIRTUS will support the activities of all service personnel engaged in a Dismounted Close Combat role; this encompasses Soldiers, Marines and Airmen involved on Land, Littoral Manoeuvre and Ground Support to Air Operations.

Earlier today, having determined that the VIRTUS contract had been awarded, COMBAT & SURVIVAL Magazine asked the MoD for confirmation. In response an MoD spokesperson said:

“The VIRTUS contract for the supply and support of personal protective equipment and load carriage has now been awarded to SOURCE Vagabond Systems Ltd. This is a multi-year contract to supply an initial 9,000 systems to the British Army.”

When approached for comment, SOURCE gave the following statement to C&S:-

SOURCE Vagabond announces that it has been awarded a multi-year contract to supply an initial quantity of 9000 personal protection and load carriage systems to the British Army, based on, amongst other key attributes, its class leading VIRTUS Dynamic Weight Distribution system, to enhance the operation effectiveness of the dismounted combatant. The awarded contract is for a firm term of three years, and can be extended, by the UK MOD, until 2026. The first systems are scheduled to be delivered to the Army in September, 2015.

...

The VIRTUS Dynamic Weight Distribution component represents state-of-the-art performance in relieving the burden experienced by the Infantryman from his personal protection and load carriage equipment. Building on SOURCE’s 30 years of experience of human factors integration in both the outdoor leisure and military markets, VIRTUS is the result of a three year R&D programme by SOURCE, working in conjunction with several leading research institutes in Israel. The VIRTUS system has been demonstrated to reduce the biomechanical, physiological and cognitive stress experienced by the infantryman, enhancing his endurance and operational effectiveness.

In securing the VIRTUS contract, SOURCE has been supported throughout by its UK partners, including SEA Ltd, the Cooneen Group Ltd, and its military agent Falco-P Ltd, managed by Charles Clee and by its global partners, Revision Military BV, Barrday Inc., Ahidtex Ltd. and Wise-Pearl Ltd.

Footnote: C&S believes that the new ballistic helmet for UK combat troops will be similar to the Revision Cobra model pictured above and that it will have a (removable) mandible guard to protect the jaw.

Our Editor, by personal choice, frequently uses a SOURCE daysack to carry his cameras, laptop and ancillaries when on assignment and indeed this is what he used on his short notice assignment to JMRC in Hohenfels last week to coverthe multinational Exercise ALLIED SPIRIT.

¤ UPDATE: The original VIRTUS Pulse 1 brief was to "deliver scalable and fully integrated Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for the torso, head, neck, shoulders, upper arms, groin and upper leg limbs and load carriage components, integrating the sub-systems to optimise the whole system capability." The The Land Fleet Requirement (LFR) for VIRTUS, as published in 2009, was 84,000 systems.

First look at new @BritishArmy combat body armour and webbing to be issued to @3rdUKDivision troops from 2016
First batch of 9000 VIRTUS kits (helmet, vest, rucksacks, pouches, eye protection, pelvic, collar, mask...) on order
Real innovation will however come with VIRTUS Pulse 2 & 3. If plans aren't shredded by cuts. P 2 is armor plates, 3 is data and power wiring

Got to see some trials kit for the mk5 osprey and mk8 helmet. These two are so far the preferred gear which is going to be issued in the next couple of years.

Infantry troops are set to benefit from a new body armour system which will increase agility and make it easier to carry heavy kit.

The new personal armour, known as Virtus, uses the latest materials and offers the same protection as the Osprey system but it is significantly lighter, moves with the body more easily and produces a slimmer profile.

The Virtus system has been tested by soldiers from The Royal Engineers, Royal Artillery, The Yorkshire Regiment, The Rifles, The Parachute Regiment, The Mercian Regiment as well as the Royal Marines, with troops providing feedback on all design elements. The experiences of troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have also helped to design the new armour.

Ballistic plates

The level of protection employed can be scaled up or down to match the type of threat by adding or removing soft armour pads and hard ballistic plates.

Lt Col Rob O’Connor (Yorks), commanding officer of the Infantry Trials and Development Unit, explained: “Commanders can select a level of armour using a combination that they think is sufficient for the situation. This allows them to scale back the amount of protection in favour of agility if they want.”

As well as protection, the new body armour is designed to aid load-carriage, with even distribution of weight and reduced bulkiness. Troops operating in Afghanistan were carrying average loads that reached around 56 kilograms.

Virtus is 4.7 kilograms lighter than Osprey and will become lighter still once new armour plates, which are in development, are introduced.

Quick-release mechanism

The new system also has a quick-release mechanism – a pin positioned on the chest that when pulled releases the entire body kit – to aid safe extraction from hazardous situations such as burning vehicles or water. This replaces the Velcro straps that soldiers currently have to rip open to release their body armour.

A new, lighter helmet will provide increased blunt impact protection, face and mandible guards for certain roles and a shape that is designed to work with the armour and daysack so weapons can be comfortably used even in a prone position.

The headgear features a permanent universal mount for the night vision scope and a scalable counterweight that is attached to the helmet’s rear when the system is in place to ease strain on the wearer’s neck.

Dynamic weight distribution

One of the most radical innovations is an integral spine, the so-called dynamic weight distribution (DWD) system. The device is linked to the user’s waist belt and helps spread the load of the body armour, a Bergen or daysack across the back, shoulders and hips.

The wearer is able to adjust the weight bias to his or her preference with one hand via a small controller in the small of the back. So on long marches, for instance, troops can opt for the most efficient set-up where most of the burden is towards the hips and away from the shoulders, increasing comfort and stamina.

What's it like to wear?

Pte David Thomas (1 MERCIAN), who trialled the gear, said: “The new kit felt much lighter and gave me a lot more movement. The DWD system is definitely effective, it supported my natural spine alignment and you can really notice the transfer of weight from the shoulders to your hips when carrying a heavy load on long tabs.

“The helmet is also easy to adjust and it feels a lot more secure on the head.”

Pte Ratu Lum (1 MERCIAN) added: “All the kit felt comfortable to carry. This was mainly due to the DWD but also the vest was smaller than the old version and that made me more manoeuvrable.”

Still to be developed

Virtus will be developed and updated over the next few years with lighter components to increase the mobility and agility of the wearer to an even greater degree. Also in the pipeline is the incorporation of a central power supply and data system that will reduce the battery burden and allow the introduction of new digital situational awareness tools.

All these features are the result of extensive consultations with personnel from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, the Infantry Battle School, Support Weapons School, Armoured Combat Service Support, Joint Air Despatch Trials and Evaluation Unit and Institute of Naval Medicine as well as the Defence Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear Centre.

Virtus Scalable Tactical Vest (STV)
•The Scalable Tactical Vest (STV) can be used for load carriage without any armour; as a fragmentation vest with soft armour padding consisting of a composite granular material but no hard plates; as a plate carrier with no soft armour; or as a full body armour system with soft and hard armour. It is compatible with both Osprey and Enhanced Combat Body Armour. Any combination of front, rear or side plates can be employed.
•The STV comes in seven different sizes for a tailored fit. Chest size and torso length instead of height are now used for measuring. Modified lower profile soft armour further reduces the bulk when compared with Osprey, allowing for more agility.
•The quick-release pin allows the STV to be removed in a couple of seconds with one pull. This applies when it is used in any of its configurations.
A lightweight webbing system is designed to be worn under and integrated with the body armour.
•Both the daysack and Bergen are fully integrated with the rest of the torso sub-system. This ensures that they are carried close to the body preventing excessive movement of the load but without pushing the rear ballistic plate into the body. Both can be used in conjunction with the dynamic weight distribution system.
•Pouches are made from one piece of fabric and fold flat when empty, minimising profile and the possibility of snagging.
•The dynamic weight distribution system contains a hard spine that takes the load and is linked to a hip belt. This allows the soldier to transfer the weight of his load from the shoulders to the hips or the other way via an adjuster positioned in the small of the back.
•Troops and equipment need to be sized correctly for the DWD to be effective. It is estimated that personnel will need a day’s worth of training and familiarisation with the kit.

The Virtus helmet
•The Virtus helmet has a fixed shroud for the mounting of night vision goggles and a counterweight for neck comfort.
•Its fit can be easily adjusted in the same way as modern cycling and climbing helmets.
•The sculpted rear (see above) prevents interference with body armour or daysack when adopting a prone fire position.
•It provides more protection to the side of the head and is 350g lighter than the Mk7 it succeeds.
•The helmet can be fitted with both mandible guard and visor, or either, which provide face protection for crews in open vehicles such as Jackal or WMIK.

Интересно. Мне одному БЖ напомнил старые модели ТГ Фауст, только с МОЛЛЕ?

И вопрос: каково носить это ведро в условиях CQB?
Эта штука на треть увеличивает размеры головы. Из-за угла будет торчать не только глаз, скула и кусок лба, но и объёмистая часть шлема.

У нашего комплекта, ЕМНИП, не предусмотрена система распределения нагрузки (такое есть только у US и GB)?

Мне интересно - как хорошо эта система распределения веса работает в неудобных положениях?
Например, при переползаниях? Наклонах торса по диагонали? Прыжках, когда вы сначала распрямляетесь, а потом резко сжимаетесь, при приземлении...

У Страны бога и моей

ИМХО любая значительная загрузка варбелта начинает грузить ноги. Если много двигаться особенно по пересечёнке с препятствиями, лишний расход сил.
поддержка веса бронежилета должна закрепляться выше варбелта, в самой узкой части тушки на талии - опять же ИМХО.

ИМХО любая значительная загрузка варбелта начинает грузить ноги. Если много двигаться особенно по пересечёнке с препятствиями, лишний расход сил.
поддержка веса бронежилета должна закрепляться выше варбелта, в самой узкой части тушки на талии - опять же ИМХО.

Честно говоря, скептически отношусь к куску пластика, на который цепляется рюкзак, попахивает британскими учеными, не иначе.

А это какие такие страны? оО

Бобби, ну! God's Country and Mine. Устойчивое выражение. Вы же ее спецов реконите

шлем то не из этого комплекта? фото датировано ранее 2013-го