Item 2019.150 - British Army Tier 3 Pelvic-Protection Trousers

2019.150

British Army Tier 3 Pelvic-Protection Trousers

Item

1

Pair of short trousers made of MTP (Multi Terrain Pattern) camouflage fabric. They have a wide draw cord waistband with four long belt loops and a green webbing tape. Across the front and back crotch is a khaki green elasticated insert. The inner crotch between the legs is made of beige mesh. Over the inner thigh area at back and front are pockets sewn onto the trousers with three khaki webbing tabs (designed for armour plates to be inserted). There are two large oval shaped khaki green patches at the knees and the trouser legs go to just below the knee. They have an elasticated band around the bottom hem and there are long zips down each outer leg. There are flapped pockets (for armour inserts) down each outer leg which layer across the zips and fasten down the back of each leg with three triangular tabs with press studs. These trousers are designed to be worn with seven armour plates (not included).

Developed as part of a combination of wearable protection (Pelvic Protection System) for soldiers in Afghanistan particularly from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by the Ministry of Defence and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory. The type of explosion directed much of the force of the blast upwards directly toward the groin and top of the legs.

Tier 3 (T3) was a pair of over-trousers covering the upper leg, a wider area of the abdomen and the femoral artery. In Afghanistan, T3 was only worn by Counter-IED (C-IED) operators and dismounted soldiers conducting C-IED drills. It began to be issued at the end of 2011.

Christopher Saunders & Debra Carr (2018) Towards developing a test method for military pelvic protection, The Journal of The Textile Institute, 109:10, 1374-1380, DOI: 10.1080/00405000.2018.1471966