Indian Army set to get 1.86 lakh bulletproof jackets

The government has finalised a contract for purchasing almost two lakh bulletproof jackets for the Indian Army.

An Army statement read, "a major contract through capital procurement route, for procurement of 1,86,138 Bullet Proof Jackets (BPJs) has been signed. The impending requirement of the Indian Army for effective BPJs has been met after successful conduct of stringent field evaluation trials.

With the casualty rate rising, the Army had projected a requirement of 3.53 lakh bullet-proof jackets. In 2016, the Army had procured 50,000 jackets on an urgent basis.

"The contracted BPJs have contemporary and state-of-the-art specifications with added protection level and coverage area," the Army said.

Further, the Army also said that the jackets will have modular parts, which will provide "immense protection and flexibility to soldiers operating in different operational situations ranging from long distance patrolling to high-risk room intervention scenarios."

It also said that the new BPJs will provide 360-degree protection to the soldier in combat, including from latest hard steel core bullets.

"The provisioning of this operationally urgent and very critical equipment concerning personal ballistic protection, will boost the confidence of the soldier and provide moral ascendancy to security forces," the Army also said.