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Return to Article: Lawmakers say body armor firm made false claims

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  The only thing the military services are guilty of in this case is letting false accusations grab front page coverage for the media and worse, politicians, to cry foul without reviewing factual test data. Purchasing equipment for Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines without regards for cost would be great...if it were possible. There is a limit to the amount of funds available for equipping the force. Changes have been made over the last several years to make cost an independent variable in developing and fielding items, so buying items at the lowest bidder is a catchy, but in accurate phrase. As for the body armor case, the facts never made the front page because they supported the current Interceptor Body Armor as the best for the Warfighter so the media and politicians can't cry foul on the administration or military.

  John Posted July 10, 2007 4:31 PM
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  I'd be curious to know if any of the lawmakers involved have received any campaign donations from the company that received the contract.

  Jack Posted June 14, 2007 7:40 AM
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  I beleive Neal already wore the armor. Also the weight factor was a smoke and mirrors show. By showing a complete Dragon skin set up that covers all the critical areas and comparing that weight to an interceptor that only covers the chest and back, the army made it appear heavier. The reality is, the weight in any configuration is identical to Interceptor.

  Just to keep it simple, the army made a 55 minute multi-media presentation about how the armor failed. All the army had to do was to show fragments or holed armored plates where the bullets had penetrated. Instead they showed vests or the portion over the plates that was rubber and adhesive. That's why Neal was upset

  Fine. Show us the plates that were penetrated. You say 13 of them. It should be a problem to hold them up and sync them with the video and documentation for a simple audit.

  Yet they were able to show the Dollar size plates during the presentation to make a point that , in their belief, that if the plates didn't overlap, the strength was diminished.

  Don Burnstein Posted June 9, 2007 2:24 PM
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  I served six years as an enlisted man in the Marine Corps and we always knew that, "Your weapon [equipment] is produced by the lowest bidder." No suprise there. That having been said, according to the story there is an RFP for new body armor out on the street. If this body armor is so good, then let the manufacturer compete like everyone else. Also, what this story doesn't say are the other performance factors. I do not know the specifics of the Pinnacle Armor product but if for example the armor is twice as heavy and costs three times as much but only gives me 1% more protection, Where is the definitive advantage? If Pinnacle Armor's product does demonstrate to be a superior product, then by all means we should procure it for our Marines and Soldiers out on the pointy end of the stick.

  'Tetsu Uma' the 'Iron Horse' Posted June 8, 2007 8:56 AM
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  Companies are eager to get their products into the government contract machine as the need to replenish equipment becomes more and more a necessity. Anyone getting a lucrative contract, like one for armoring the military, stands to make huge gains for quite some time. One may argue that in order to be considered for impending military contracts, Pinnacle may have put false labels and made claims in anticipation of meeting standards so they could compete with other manufacturers when the time comes.

  Joe Polygrecko Posted June 8, 2007 4:05 AM
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  Perhaps the company's officers should be wearing their armor during the next test.

  Cliff Burk Posted June 7, 2007 11:38 PM
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  Dragon Skin is garbage. The Army is right. The Dragon Skin manufacturer lied at the hearing and is lying to people about his product. Just because he says it's better, people are believing him, even though the Dragon Skin had 13 bullets go right through it. How many failures does it take before everyone realizes what's going on?

  Stephen Posted June 7, 2007 8:34 PM
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  What????? Don't you see, the Military is trying to do that, by finding the truth.

  The truth is Murray Neal bought his patent and has done little to really improve it since (new glue??). He is a salesman, always has been. No technical or military background.

  He stole money from the taxpayers to develop this heavy, poor performing armor, and then tells the testers they are liars.

  Frank Quito Posted June 7, 2007 5:03 PM
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  Let the lawyers argue this one out in court while soldiers die in the field is the typical American way of doing things. How about just getting the best equipment into the field for our troops to use and protect themselves with. Not doing so is a slap in the face to all Americans. We are saying money is more important than our troops' lives. A position we have not proved false so far.

  John Ezell Posted June 7, 2007 1:16 PM