2025 land market review: British Army woes, European heavy armour and US MBT progress
The last year has seen several major procurements in the land market. Shephard’s Dr Peter Magill reviews the main trends and themes in land procurement of 2025.
Avon failure leaves US Army undeterred on next-gen body armour
VTP is intended to be a lighter weight ballistic plate solution. (Photo: US Army)
According to the US Army, failures encountered in tests of body armour plates from one supplier will not impact deliveries in the Vital Torso Protection programme.
The US Army has confirmed that deliveries of Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert (ESAPI) Vital Torso Protection (VTP) systems are unaffected by the failure of Avon Protection body armour plates in First Article Tests (FAT).
A spokesperson for the US Army’s Program Executive Office Soldier explained to Shephard that, apart from Avon, Leading Technology Composites and Tencate had also been awarded production contracts for VTP.
Both companies passed the FAT stage and are now delivering hard armour plates under delivery orders from the army. ‘FAT failures are not uncommon and vendors typically successfully work through the issues,’ the official noted.
FAT is a battery of tests
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