The Evolution of Body Armor.
Body armor spanning from Ancient to Modern times
Since the time of Ancient Greece, body armor has been a necessity in the battle for dominance as it has been used as a protective medium be it by the Romans in the war against the senate supported by legions of pompei the Great (49–45 BC), which lasted for four years until Caeser defeated Pompei or the bullet-proof vest worn by soldiers matching into battle.
Body armor differ in shape, sizes, physical attributes as well as material types. Body armor can be used to cover up the head, the torso, the limbs and other vulnerable parts of the human body. They have been recently subdivided into the non-metallic armor, as well as the hard-plate reinforced or metallic armor.
Metallic Versions of armor
Dendra panoply
As well documented, the oldest known western armor is the Dendra panoply, dating from Mycenaean era around 1400 BC. Used during the Greek wars in that period.
Chain Mail Armor
Mail also referred to as a chainmail, it is made by interlocking iron rings, which may be riveted or wielded out. It consisted of 15 separate pieces of bronze sheet, held together with leather thongs, that encased the wearer from neck to knee.
Although they also made use of lorica segmentata and lorica squamata. While no non-metallic armor is known to have survived, it was likely to have been commonplace due to its lower cost.
The use of iron plate armor was mimicked by the Koreans during the Gaya Confederacy of 42 CE — 562 CE
Other designs of armor were made based on the prototype of the chain mail armor, that is to say that the other armor that followed were an extension of the chain mail until
Modern Non-metallic armor versions
Science in the production of metallic body armor is not really talked about or discussed at large due to the un-evolved nature of technology back in ancient times, the metals used to create such armor were already available and did not require much scientific reactions. The metals were created by blacksmiths who only needed to heat metal into different shapes and sizes to form the required products unlike current sources of body armor that require scientific reactions like ceramics and fiber based bullet-proof.
In the present day, soldiers still use some versions of the metal or ceramic plates in their bullet resistant vests, providing additional protection from pistol and rifle bullets. Metallic components or tightly-joined to fiber layers in soft armor to add resistance to stab and slash attacks from knives and bayonets. Chain mail armoured gloves are still highly used by butchers and abattoir workers to prevent cuts and wounds while cutting up dead animals..
Ceramics
In ceramics, although, the chief material used is Boron carbide, other materials like Boron Suboxide, Alumina Oxide, and Silicon Carbide can also be used. Boron carbide (BC4) is capable of defeating rifle and armour piercing ammunition. It was used in such well known armour plates like the SAPI series, and today in most civilian accessible body armour
Fibers
Dupont Kevlar
Movies such as the Batman, depicts a heroesque vigilante who adopts a life of stopping criminals in an unjust society. What people are quick to forget, is that the man behind the mantra of ‘batman’ Bruce Wayne adorns a costume that is made up of Kevlar, a fibre of incredible strength. Kevlar which is a manufactured plastic is made of a chemical compound called poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide. The chemical is made from creating a chemical reaction between an acid and chemical solution that contains nitrogen and hydrogen, which results in chemical chains composed of hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and nitrogen.
What does Kevlar do, you may ask. This fibre material makes Bruce Wayne to be bullet proof, flexible, and most important; impenetrable to heat which gives him an edge over who he might face while he is batman. Kevlar is his body armor.
COMPARISONS
Research was carried out on the Metallic body armor (Dendra Penoply) during what was called a simulated Trojan war combat fighting where all the participants were members of the elite forces of the Greek army who volunteered for the research exercise. Although the armor was very noteworthy during that period, when compared to body armor of the present, the metallic armor did not seem to measure up. Comparing this body armor with one of greater history as well as importance say, Kevlar for example. Kevlar was revolutionised in the 1970s and has become synonymous with everything a body armor/bulletproof material should be.
The graph indicated that although metallic armor like the dendra panoply were useful during its time, it was less comfortable, less impenetrable, added more weight and had a lower combat ratio, when compared to fiber based armor.
Future Body armor
We may have seen a huge amount of movies that have shown us a glimpse of what future armor tech may look like, tech such as the Iron man suit of armor, and most likely robot-like body armor but perhaps it may not necessarily be science fiction, as we are witnessing the rapid rise of nanotechnology and nano chemistry, I do believe that in the not-so distant future, these body armor will be fully operational and used on important peace maintenance missions.
