militariawithmono - Tumblr blog

militariawithmono · 27 days

Text

CBA, ECBA and their variants

the ECBA (enhanced combat body armour) was an updated version of the conveniently named CBA (combat body armour) of the early 1980s, arriving in 1991, just in time for the first gulf war; though it's worth noting that few ECBA sets had arrived, so much of the early high-intensity fighting was done wearing CBA sets.

the CBA had suffered a few major design failiures, most notably its lacking ballistic protection and its lack of modularity for future upgrades. the ECBA still suffered the latter, but solved the former with the addition of a large pocket on the front and back, for holding of two identical ceramic plates.

here you can see the two ECBA covers in my collection, the left being a 1999 production DPM cover, and the right being a 2013 production MTP cover. though there were also desert DPM and UN patterened ECBA covers. both with button flaps for rank slides affixed to the front pocket, something the CBA was missing.

it might surprise some that the ECBA was still in production in 2013, especially considering the osprey armour system had been issued as replacement since 2006, but ECBA was still issued to rear echelon forces and those not expecting to see high-intensity conflict, such as those deployed during the manchester riots in 2011.

(apologies for the low definition photo)

both the CBA and ECBA have the same vest opening and closure system, with two layers of velcro and a metal press stud at the top to ensure the armour is worn flat around the body. here you can also see that the armour is separated into three distinct pieces, all connected at the top of the back: the left wing, the right wing and the back pannel. the zip running along the top is used to insert/remove the soft armour filling.

within these three (3) pieces fold a single olive-green backer, this is a thick multi-layered kevlar insert fitted into a plastic envelope. these came in a variety of sizes, relating to the size of cover worn, and were interchangeable between the CBA, ECBA and the later AFV Crewmember's vest, that I have little to no info on. this kevlar backer is rated to stop 9x19 FMJ and most if not all fragmentation from explosives, but is not rated to stop higher calibre or energy balistic threats.

this filler is likely from the mid 1980s/early 1990s production CBA's, as the labelling has significantly degraded from frequent wear, and looks to be the early L/W Mk.1 filler. it was important to ensure that the label faced the inside of the cover, as the kevlar layered composite would not interact properly with projectiles if turned the wrong way around.

the other side is marked with a warning, and a scrawled on name, likely someone who was issued this armour in the past.

while i don't actually own any of the hard ceramic insert plates, they can rarely be found online and i have some photos of their usage to show.

these plates were repurposed by the MOD as the cumberbund plates for the osprey system, so they don't often get surplused and rarely end up on the "grey" market. this plate is a later model, and can be distinguished by the rounded off corners for ease of insertion and removal. the plate is composed of a sintered alumina body with a thin but tight cloth and resin covering to ensure that side blowout does not occur, and reduce the effectiveness of the plate.

a final note of difference relates to the difference between pre and post herrick ECBA covers; pre-herrick covers had buckle attachment points for affixing to the issued PLCE webbing kit, though it was unlikely it was frequently used, as it is rather clunky and uncomfortable. it also reduced the speed at which armour could be taken off, as well as reducing the rotation of the torso relative to the hips, so this was then removed on post herrick MTP covers.

that's really all I have for today, but i hope you enjoyed the read, feel free to say if i got something wrong, or if i missed something you think is important!

thank you :)

#cba #ecba #body armour #kevlar #british army #militaria #dpm #mtp

2 notes · View notes