PMCI September 2015 | Page 30

RED EAGLE PROTECTIVE VESTS forces use ceramic plates which have the down-side of them being extremely heavy which leads to a lack of flexibility. This in turn makes it more difficult to move in the field and sometimes negates the purpose of the user being more protected. To stop handgun bullets Red Eagle use protective plates and elastic components made of special fabrics, such as R ed Eagle is a relatively new player in the tactical business with their main focus on professional high end tactical textile products. The founders of Red Eagle come with the right background from the Israeli Defense Forces with years of hands on experience, sweat and blood. Red Eagle offers tailor-made solutions for varying threat levels whilst maintaining the highest manufacturing levels in strict adherence to ISO 9001 international standards. Their goal is to harness the cutting edge of technology to create quality ergonomic products, products that can save lives, and bring them to the market at the right price. Red Eagle is active globally, and their products are sold in the defence/LE markets and as of now they are starting to go more and more actively into the civilian market by collaborating with dealers and a brand new web-shop. Red Eagle offers a line of protective vests, the result of a long and expensive development process in collaboration with another Israeli company that managed to develop unique armoured plates made from Aramid fibres and Polyethylene. Up until now and in relation to the U.S. standard of the Ministry of Justice (NIJ Standard – 0101.06) protection shields have been divided into two main groups; one group falls under the category of ‘Soft Armour’ while the other falls under the category of ‘Hard Armour’ whilst each category has several sub categories and levels of protection in relation to various weapons. PROTECTION LEVELS For example, in the ‘Soft Armour’ category you will find protection levels II- IIIA which represents protection against bullets projected from firearms like the .375” Magnum, 9mm and .44” Magnum with muzzle velocity of 352 m/s to 448 m/s; the top of this category will protect against most pistols and SMG’s. In the ‘Hard Armour’ category you will find protection levels III- IV which represents protection against bullets projected from 7.62mm and 5.56mm calibre firearms with muzzle velocity of 710m/s to 955m/s; this kind of fire will come from an assault rifle or a light machine gun. Now, to stop 7.62mm assault rifle projectiles, defence 30 pmcimagazine.com