Military Body Armor Market Size, Share & Industry Analysis, By Offerings (Material, Printer, Software, Service), By Application (Tooling, Functional Part Manufacturing, Prototyping), By Platform (Land, Naval, Airborne, Space), By Process (Powder Bed Fusion, Vat Photopolymerisation, Material Extrusion), By Technology (Fuse Deposition Modeling, Stereolithography, Direct Metal Laser Sintering) And Regional Forecast, 2024-2032

The military body armor market is witnessing an optimistic market growth during the forecast period attributed to the rise in terrorist attacks, cross-border & territorial disputes, and high demand for defense personnel protection. These factors influence the defense authorities worldwide, emphasizing the investment in the manufacturing or purchase of military body armor for their armed forces. As soldier has the necessity of complete protection on the battlefield, the military body armor facilitates them with improvised warfare capabilities, life-saving protective gears, and for other military operations. For instance, in March 2021, MKU Ltd. has completed the delivery of 14,500 next-generation high-performance body armor to the elite Military Police Sao Paulo based on the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 0101.06 standard with its features such as light-weight, comfort, & flexibility.

The year-on-year growth defense expenditure, the rise in terrorism & hostile activities, and various territorial conflicts have increased the number of worldwide military operations across all the military platforms such as army, navy, air force & special forces. These factors have influenced the market growth of military body armor and also necessitated the utilization for additional safety of the defense personnel deployed worldwide.

For instance, in March 2019, U.S. Army has announced a contract worth USD 29.9 million with KDH Defense Systems Inc. to facilitate Modular Scalable Vest (MSV) Gen-II system. The two follow-on contract has been placed worth USD 40 million of MSV Gen-II & blast pelvic protectors by U.S. Army with anticipated delivery in mid-2020.

Market Segmentation:

Based on protection level, the military body armor market is segmented into type 1, type 2, type 2A, type 3, type 3A, and type 4. The type 4 segment has witnessed the highest adoption rate worldwide owing to the highest protection level, high resistance to armor piercing bullets, single-hit protection against type 3 & 1 threats, and high impact resistance. The market is classified into composite ceramics, steel, aramid, UHMWPE, and others based on material. The composite ceramics segment has witnessed the higher market growth. As composite ceramics with kelvar backing is widely used due to their cost-effectivity, light-weight, and better ballistic resistance. Whereas in modern protective body armor, UHMWPE is mostly utilized, with extremely long polyethylene chains (P.E.). The market is categorized into ballistic, edged blade protection, spike, and others by the protection type. Based on geography, the market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, and Latin America.

Key Players Covered:

The major companies included in the global military body armor market report are BAE Sytems (the U.K.), The 3M Company (the U.S.), MKU Limited (India), Coorstek Inc. (the U.S.), DuPont de Nemours, Inc. (the U.S.), Point Blank Enterprises, Inc. (the U.S.), Honeywell International Inc. (the U.S.), ELMON S.A. (Greece), Safariland LLC (the U.S.), Survitec Group Limited (the U.K.), U.S. Armor Corporation (the U.S.), ArmorSource LLC (the U.S.), Australian Defence Apparel Pty Ltd. (Australia), Sarkar Tactical Inc. (the U.S.), KDH Defense Systems, Inc. (the U.S.), and among others.

Key Insights

• Number of military body armors delivered during 2016-2019


• Adoption of Military body armor by protection level & material


• Impact of COVID-19 on the defense industry


• Government defense spending by country

Regional Analysis:

The airborne SATCOM market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, the Middle East & Africa, and South America. North America accounted for the largest market share in the base year attributed to Canada & U.S.' huge governmental investments in military body armor and large military body armor industry along with key market players. North America is anticipated to remain the largest market share due to extensive technological innovations in the military body armor and the Soldier Protection System (Torso & Extremity Protection Program), a  government military program.

The European market is accounted for the second-largest market share attributed to high military-grade armor demand, military operations worldwide through NATO or International Military Alliance, and rise in the political & terror incidents. The increased adoption rate  & rise in demand for military body armor in countries such as Germany, France, the U.K., and Russia are anticipated to drive the region's market growth.

The Asia Pacific is anticipated to the fastest-growing region with higher CAGR growth attributed to an increase in cross-border disputes, terrorism, sovereignty tensions & violations in countries such as South Korea, Japan, China & India. The incremental need for defense personnel's protection and year-on-year increment governmental defense acquisitions of competitive armaments & body armors are anticipated to drive the region's market growth during the forecast period.

The growing focus on adopting military-grade body armor worldwide is anticipated to expand the market size in Latin America and the Middle East & Africa, respectively, during an estimated period due to the major market players' market expansion strategy.

Segmentation

Military Body Armor Market Industry Developments

• In February 2021, DuPont de Nemours Inc. has made an acquisition of Core Matrix Technology(a monolith fabric structure) of Tex Tech Industries Inc. which has  features such as an improvised bullet fragmentation & ballistic performance for military personnel and also helps in the back trauma reduction. This acquisition is anticipated to enlarge the life protection’s robust & wide portfolio.


• In January 2021, the development of a ballistic vest in compliance with NATO standards has been done by Ukranian Defense Ministry. The standard issue and a lighter version is developed for the land forces & special forces respectively.