Editing Bulletproof vest (section)

===Postwar===
During the [[Korean War]] several new vests were produced for the United States military, including the M-1951, which made use of [[fibre-reinforced plastic]] or [[aluminium]] segments woven into a [[nylon]] vest.  These vests represented "a vast improvement on weight, but the armor failed to stop bullets and fragments very successfully," {{citation needed|date=March 2014}} although officially they were claimed to be able to stop [[7.62×25mm Tokarev]] pistol rounds at the muzzle. Such vests equipped with Doron Plate have, in informal testing, defeated .45 ACP handgun ammunition. Developed by Natick Laboratories (now the [[Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center]]) and introduced in 1967, T65-2 plate carriers were the first vests designed to hold hard [[ceramic plate]]s, making them capable of stopping [[7 mm caliber#7.8 mm (.308 in) rifle cartridges (commonly known as .308, 30 caliber, 7.62 mm)|7 mm rifle]] rounds.

These "Chicken Plates" were made of either [[boron carbide]], [[silicon carbide]], or [[aluminium oxide]]. They were issued to the crew of low-flying aircraft, such as the [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois|UH-1]] and [[Fairchild C-123 Provider|UC-123]], during the [[Vietnam War]].<ref name="Barron1969">{{cite web |publisher=[[United States Army Soldier Systems Center|U.S. Army Natick Laboratories]] |first1=Edward R. |last1=Barron |first2=Alice F |last2=Park |first3=Anthony L |last3=Alesi |title=Body Armor for Aircrewman |access-date=2008-11-12 |date=January 1969 |url=http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/AD688122 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523192911/http://handle.dtic.mil/100.2/AD688122 |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 23, 2012 |format=PDF }}</ref><ref name="Whoare2006">{{cite web |url=http://www.vietnamgear.com/Article.aspx?Art=91 |title=Who are you calling Chicken? |date=2006-07-03 |publisher=VietnamGear.com |access-date=2008-11-12}}</ref>

Conscious of US developments during the Korean War, the Soviet Union also began the development of body armour for its troops, resulting in the adoption of the [[6B1 ballistic vest|6b1 vest]] in 1957. This marked a shift away from previous systems like the SN-42, which relied on large, monolithic plates that were inflexible and substantially affected a soldier's balance. The 6b1, and all subsequent Soviet body armour, would rely upon ballistic-fabric wrapped plates, initially steel and later titanium and boron carbide. Between 1957 and 1958, anywhere between 1500 and 5000 6b1 vests were produced, but they were subsequently put in storage and not issued until the early years of the [[Soviet–Afghan War]], where they were used in limited quantities, and were able to resist shrapnel and Tokarev rounds.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Besedovskyy |first=Vlad |date=2023-02-19 |title=The coolest and the rarest- 6b1 body armor vest |url=https://www.safar-publishing.com/post/6b1-body-armor-vest |access-date=2023-12-03 |website=Safar Publishing |language=en}}</ref>

In 1969, American Body Armor was founded and began to produce a patented combination of quilted nylon faced with multiple steel plates. This armor configuration was marketed to American law enforcement agencies by [[Smith & Wesson]] under the [[trade name]] "Barrier Vest." The Barrier Vest was the first police vest to gain wide use during high-threat police operations.

In 1971, research chemist [[Stephanie Kwolek]] discovered a liquid crystalline polymer solution. Its exceptional strength and stiffness led to the invention of [[Kevlar]], a synthetic fibre, woven into a fabric and layered, that, by weight, has five times the tensile strength of steel.<ref name="Kwolek">{{cite web|title=Stephanie L. Kwolek|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/historical-profile/stephanie-l-kwolek|website=Science History Institute|access-date=20 March 2018|date=June 2016}}</ref> In the mid-1970s, [[DuPont]], the company which employed Kwolek, introduced Kevlar. Immediately Kevlar was incorporated into a [[National Institute of Justice]] (NIJ) evaluation program to provide lightweight, able body armour to a test pool of American law enforcement officers to ascertain if everyday able wearing was possible. [[Lester Shubin]], a program manager at the NIJ, managed this law enforcement feasibility study within a few selected large police agencies and quickly determined that Kevlar body armor could be comfortably worn by police daily, and would save lives.

In 1975 Richard A. Armellino, the founder of American Body Armor, marketed an all Kevlar vest called the K-15, consisting of 15 layers of Kevlar that also included a 5" × 8" ballistic steel "Shok Plate" positioned vertically over the heart and was issued US Patent #3,971,072 for this innovation.<ref name="Patent1976">{{cite web |url=http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/3971072.html |title=US Patent 3971072 – Lightweight armor and method of fabrication |date=1976-07-27 |publisher=PatentStorm LLC |access-date=2008-11-12 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110612221418/http://www.patentstorm.us/patents/3971072.html |archive-date=2011-06-12 }}</ref> Similarly sized and positioned "trauma plates" are still used today on most vests, reducing blunt trauma and increasing ballistic protection in the center-mass heart/sternum area.

In 1976, Richard Davis, founder of [[Second Chance (body armor)|Second Chance Body Armor]], designed the company's first all-Kevlar vest, the Model Y. The lightweight, able vest industry was launched and a new form of daily protection for the modern police officer was quickly adopted.  By the mid-to-late 1980s, an estimated 1/3 to 1/2 of police patrol officers{{Where|date=August 2011}} wore able vests daily.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}} By 2006, more than 2,000 documented police vest "saves" were recorded, validating the success and efficiency of lightweight able body armor as a standard piece of everyday police equipment.{{Citation needed|date=August 2011}}