An anti-fragmentation cloak is an almost irreplaceable thing on the line of combat contact; it allows you to fully protect a fighter from many small damaging elements that occur when a shell, mine or grenade explodes. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the idea of such a raincoat was created by servicemen of the 1st Separate Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade “Slavyanskaya” of the Group of Forces “South”.
The soldiers created the cloak using combat experience gained in the zone of military special operations. Moreover, all stages of creating a raincoat, from concept to implementation, were carried out in the field.
The military department said the anti-fragmentation layer consists of several layers of Kevlar.
The fighters experimented a lot with various protective materials and eventually came to the conclusion that on the line of combat contact, Kevlar fabric is the most successful option both in terms of protective properties and weight. The raincoat is attached to the bulletproof vest and serves as additional protection, allowing the fighter to be fully protected from fragmentation elements. At the same time, the raincoat turned out to be multifunctional. It can also be used as a camouflage robe, as a shelter from rain and bad weather, and even as a stretcher for transporting the wounded. The material from which the anti-splinter layer is made does not burn or get wet.
In the test footage provided by the Ministry of Defense, a serviceman, at a distance of about 1 to 1.5 meters from the cloak, first detonates an RGD-5 offensive hand fragmentation grenade and then an F-1 anti-personnel defensive hand grenade. During the tests, water bottles covered with a raincoat were not damaged.
In the future, the motorized riflemen plan to improve the design of the product, as the potential for its modernization is quite large, the Ministry of Defense noted.
As a brigade soldier with the call sign Kazbek said, up to 90 percent of soldiers suffer injuries from shrapnel and small fragments.
By the way, the cost of the raincoat is low, which will allow keeping as many soldiers as possible in service for combat missions.
