Ballistic assault vest

There is more information available on this subject at Ballistic assault vest on the English Wikipedia.

A UNSC Marine wearing a ballistic vest.

Fred: "You should've worn your armor."

Veta: "I am wearing armor. Battle dress uniform."

Fred: "Light battle dress uniform. And that's not armor. It's more like a security blanket."

— Frederic-104 and Veta Lopis discussing Veta's ballistic vest during Operation: RETRIBUTION.^[1]

A ballistic assault vest is a body armor system used by human military forces. They are made of nylon and worn over a given infantryman's camouflage utility uniform.^[2]

Overview[edit]

An ONI Security trooper wearing a black ballistic vest under his armour.

Ballistic vests are modular in nature, boasting hook-and-loop fasteners that allow for various equipment to be mounted to the vest. This may include pouches to store equipment like magazines and water canteens, sidearm holsters,^[3], rucksacks, or hard body armour that can be worn over the vest to provide further protection.^[4] Worn alone, ballistic vests provide little protection from plasma weaponry, instead designed to protect against projectile impacts.^[3]

The rear of the ballistic vest may contain a hydration pack.^[4]

Usage[edit]

In early 2525, Staff Sergeants Avery Johnson and Nolan Byrne used ballistic assault vests as part of their training program for the Harvest Colonial Militia. On February 9, the sergeants donned black-coloured ballistic vests to conduct a mock exercise against the militia recruits assigned to defend the planet's reactor complex.^[2] They later used them during the Covenant attack on the planet while escorting evacuees to the Tiara space elevator.^[3]

Throughout the Human-Covenant War, ballistic vests seem to have been largely retired from use in the UNSC Marine Corps, with forces instead preferencing the use of hard armour plating directly atop their fatigues, forgoing the ballistic element entirely - though retaining small ballistic padding integrated into specific armour elements such as helmets or shoulder pauldrons.^[5]

By the time of the post-war years, ballistic vests reentered widespread military use, seeing heavy usage in the UNSC Marine Corps and ONI Security forces assigned to UNSC Infinity and Ivanoff Station. Some infantry chose to wear their ballistic vests without any additional equipment, though other gear such as SECOPS armor was employed overlaid atop the vests.^[4] During Operation: RETRIBUTION, ONI special agent Veta Lopis chose to forgo her usual Semi-Powered Infiltration armor in favour of a simple ballistic vest, as to avoid drawing undue attention. This choice was criticised by Frederic-104, who noted that the ballistic vest would offer very little protection if Veta became the target of an assassination.^[1]

Gallery[edit]

Concept art[edit]

Concept art of the Corbulo Academy cadet BDU, including a ballistic vest.
Concept art of the UNSC Navy Service Uniform, which includes a ballistic vest.
Halo Infinite concept art depicting Marines wearing ballistic vests.

Screenshots[edit]

New Mombasa Police Department officers utilising ballistic vests during the Battle of New Mombasa.
The members of Hastati Squad wearing their BDUs, including ballistic vests.
A Marine using a ballistic vest during the Requiem Campaign.
Two Marines wearing ballistic vests, the leftmost sporting additional SECOPS armour over the basic vest.
Two Marine Corps medics wearing specialised armour over their ballistic vests.
A UNSC Marine sporting a ballistic vest: note the hydration pack's cap at the top of the vest.
Captain Andrew Del Rio wearing a ballistic vest as part of his UNSC Navy Service Uniform.
Captain Lasky wearing a ballistic vest.