Ranger Body Armor
Ranger Body Armor is a US military-issue ballistic vest that was designed for, and used chiefly by, US Army 75th Ranger Regiment operators in the 1990s and 2000s. The RBA system has since been replaced by other specialized body armor systems adopted by the US Special Operations Command.
Ranger Body Armor was designed by the US Army Natick Research, Development and Engineering Center in Natick, Massachusetts to meet the operational needs of the 75th Ranger Regiment. RBA was first manufactured by Protective Materials, Inc., then HS Manufacturing, and later by Ceradyne.
Components
RBA consists of two main components: a flexible soft armor vest, plus 1-to-2 rigid ceramic plates, both of which provide ballistic protection to the upper torso.Soft armor vest
The base vest is a nylon Woodland camouflage-printed carrier that encases flexible soft armor panels, which consist of an aramid filler. A size medium RBA without plates weighs approximately. The base vest provides ballistic protection to Threat Level IIIA, according to the NIJ's ballistic resistance standards, which provides protection from 9 mm and 44 Magnum threats.The base RBA vest provides fragmentation protection almost 25% greater than that of the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops vest.
Ceramic plates
To be completed, an RBA vest will accept one-to-two ceramic plates, each weighing, which make up its rifle protection capability. The ceramic plates are made up of repeating aluminum oxide ceramic tiles.A size medium RBA vest loaded with one ceramic plate weighs. A size medium RBA vest fully loaded with both ceramic plates weighs. When plates are inserted into the pockets of the vest, it protects an area of about from 5.56×45mm NATO and 7.62×51mm NATO rounds.
Fielding
In November 1994, the RBA was set to type classification limited procurement-urgent. The RBA vest was available for purchase through the General Services Administration contract GS-07F-6041A, from Protective Materials, Inc. The flexible soft armor vest was available in three sizes: medium, large, and extra-large. The negotiated cost through the GSA contract for a size medium vest with a single plate in the mid-1990s was US$738.Operational history
Early versions of RBA first saw active frontline service in 1993, being used in combat in Operation Gothic Serpent, when Rangers of Task Force Ranger first arrived in Mogadishu, Somalia. There, it was used by the Rangers of B Company and Command and Control, 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. The early RBA used only a front ballistic plate for protection from small arms fire; this did not protect some of the Rangers in Somalia from serious injury or death, such as Sergeant James Joyce, who was killed by a gunshot wound to his back.During the 1990s, Rangers used RBA in the Balkans and in Haiti. In 1996, about 350 vests were sent to soldiers deployed in the former Yugoslavia.
Also in 1996, members of the USAF Security Forces assigned to the 91st Missile Wing at Minot AFB, North Dakota received RBA vests to replace their PASGT vests.
RBA was worn by some US Army soldiers who served in Kosovo, including soldiers from C Company, 1-187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division; 3-504th PIR, 82nd Airborne Division; A Company 1/36 INF, 1st Armored Division; and A Company, 1-26th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division.
Sometime in 1998, 1st Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 1st Armored Division's soldiers were equipped with RBA during SFOR's Operation Joint Guard and Operation Joint Forge in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to the heavy weight, however, RBA vests were always kept in the back compartment of vehicles and soldiers always used PASGT vests during their peacekeeping duty.
Some soldiers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade used RBA vests during Operation Northern Delay in Kurdistan. About 1,000 parachutists from the 173rd AB Bde jumped into the Kurdish-controlled area in northern Iraq to open a northern front for US forces after the refusal by Turkey.