What happens when the Tactical Vest Antenna System gets shot

A question we hear quite often at trade shows is “what happens when the Tactical Vest Antenna System gets shot?”  This is a very logical question considering that the antenna is placed on the outside of the SAPI plates, and will be one of the first pieces of equipment to be damaged by an impacting shot.

Although virtually any object can be destroyed, provided enough time and ammunition, the question we proposed is whether the antenna would be able to outlast the SAPI plate.  According the the DoD Testing Requirements for Body Armor, protective body inserts are tested to withstand a minimum of three shots, which we used as our baseline.

We knew that in theory the likelihood of the TVAS being deadlined by thee shots to be very low.  To deadline the antenna the impacting round, or shrapnel, would have to damage the impedance matching circuit or the radio connector. Although penetrating the surface of the radiating elements could cause performance degradation, we anticipated it being very nominal, if any at all.

However, unwilling to rely purely on theory, and being unable to virtualize the effects of consecutive impacting shots, we decided to see what happens in practice.

Weapons and Props

In our experiment we utilized a mannequin torso filled with mud, to simulate the combined stopping power of a human body, and SAPI plates.  To gauge performance, the antenna was setup to transmit a steady signal that was under constant monitoring.

We utilized a variety of weapons.  Most shots came from a Soviet SKS (7.62x39mm), Colt M4 Carbine (5.56x45mm NATO), and a 9mm Glock.  The first antenna was shot 30 times with the SKS, never failing.  The shots were aimed at the center mass of the torso from 75 feet, and although the antenna was significantly riddled, it did not stop performing.  Given our first experiment it is a safe assumption that in most situations the SAPI plates would fail before the Tactical Vest Antenna System.

Damage and Performance

Initially the shots were all aimed center-mass, simulating a real-world situation.  After 20 shots, and no performance degradation, it was safe to conclude that center mass of the antenna was capable at outlasting the SAPI plates.  After the 20th shot, we began placing our shots at different elements of the antenna, in attempts to disable it.  This situation would most likely never occur in a real-world situation, since hitting the radio itself, or severely injuring the radio operator, would be more feasible.

Shooting the interconnecting wires was attempted, but proved very difficult even with well-aimed shots due to the thinness of the cables. A few of our shots were aimed directly at the circuit board, one got lodged in the circuit board after making its exit from the posterior radiating plate. Although the circuitry was impacted, it did not cease functioning on the first three attempts.

Deadlining Shot

The 26th 7.62 round was the deadlining shot.  Although a number of rounds hit the circuitry board, it wasn’t until the connector to the radio was blown off the antenna stopped transmitting.    As you can see in the photographs below, the SMA radio connector was completely disintegrated.

In conclusion, considering that the Tactical Vest Antenna System was able to take over two dozen rounds, and continue operating, in majority of situations it has a much higher failure point than a SAPI plate.  Furthermore, given the small surface area of the impedance matching circuit, it would be considerably more feasible to deadline the radio, or disable the actual operator by placing shots outside the center mass.