[i]from Ha'aretz, today edition[/i]

[b]Ben-Eliezer orders probe of 'penetrable' bullet-proof vests[/b]

Defense Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Wednesday he was shocked by reports that high-tech ceramic bullet-proof vests used by front-line IDF troops could erode over time and fail to stop small-arms fire from injuring soldiers, adding that he would order an immediate, far-ranging investigation into the effectiveness of the expensive vests.

IDF paratroop reservists who subjected ceramic bullet-proof vests to an improvised test in the Gaza Strip said Wednesday they had found that bullets could pass freely through the high-tech jackets.

Israel Radio quoted unnamed military officials as conceding that ceramic vests were liable to erode and lose their effectiveness over time and under conditions of hard use.

"The revelation is, in and of itself, shocking," Ben-Eliezer said. He said the vests were considered the best available. They were built to specific army requirements and were also the most expensive of vests, he continued.

"If this is true, it is a terrible thing. I am ordering the army to make an immediate, wide-ranging investigation, in order to ensure that soldiers can go in confidence when they wear the vest."

Reservists in the Strip recently placed a well-used vest on a target, firing a 5.56 mm bullet from a M-16 rifle at it from a distance of 30 meters.

"To our great surprise, the bullet passed through the front and then went through the back, cracking the flak jacket," one unidentified reservist told the radio.

He said that for years soldiers had endured the rigid jackets as something that "would safeguard us, our health and our flesh, and to our shock, this is not the case.

"After the ancient 'no good' flak jacket had given way to the new generation of ceramic jackets, which were supposed to keep us safe during this period, we were extremely disappointed to find that this new jacket is, in fact, penetrable."

I am not sure, but I think yes...

uh, key word here: BULLET-RESISTANT. Always be rounds that can go through [b]ANY[/b] vest....


Scott

An Italian company named Citterio, recently issued a vest that is bullet-proof to AK47 bullets...

I don't know the concepts of ceramic vests, I believe they shoudl be bullet-proof too...