China goes ballistic for soldier protection
According to the weapons and equipment procurement website of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), China is seeking almost 1.4 million sets of body armour for its troops.
The weain.mil.cn site listed a requirement for 930,000 sets of universal ballistic vests (front and rear plates) and 467,000 plates for enhanced bulletproof vests. This quantity means that every member of the PLA ground forces will be allocated body armour.
A maximum budget of CNY13 billion ($1.85 billion) has been allocated for these two massive purchases, which will be conducted via a competitive tender that was published on 21 February.
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