BodyArmorNews.com spoke to Michael Haynes, Director of Product and Brand Development at Point Blank Enterprises, at Milipol Paris 2025. Haynes discussed the largest obstacle currently facing the Body Armor Industry: the push to transition to new National Institute of Justice (NIJ) Standards.
Safety and Standardization: Understanding the NIJ
The NIJ is an American body dedicated to creating rigorous standards for ensuring safety in body armor testing. For 16 years, NIJ 0101.06 certification had been the industry standard, with many companies basing their production around adherence to it. In late 2024, the NIJ officially released the NIJ 0101.07 standard. Read more about the key updates introduced.
But from attending Milipol Paris, you wouldn’t know a new standard is in place. Most companies still use the NIJ 0101.06 standard to describe their products. There is an enduring difficulty to adapt to this new framework given its new standards for threat level characterization and extended testing requirements. Testing requirements in particular are a huge factor: many companies simply have not had the time to run tests to fit these new standards or to adapt their existing protocols around them.
Driving Innovation
The introduction of new industry standards has given Point Blank, and many others, the necessary momentum for innovation. The extensive gap in between standard updates allowed companies to fall into routines and habits that are just not sustainable under these new conditions. Haynes explains that Point Blank “really wanted to make sure” to bring “a lot of new innovation” when adapting to the new protocols.
Changing industry guidelines can thus be considered an effective means of boosting innovation. Forced out of existing practices, many businesses see this as an opportunity for investment into research and development. In addition, the added rigor of new testing standards often manifests itself in increased safety for end-users.
From the perspective of outside actors such as military or law enforcement, this is particularly appealing. “When the NIJ comes out with a new standard, agencies like to move to that standard, really as quickly as they can,” explains Haynes. He anticipates a similar outcome for this case, with the potential for lasting progress industry-wide: “I think what’s going to happen when we finally get through to 07, we’re going to see another generational leap happen much more quickly than it had happened in previous years with previous standards.”
Hindering Innovation
The monumental benefits of tightened standards are still subject to the harsh difficulties of translating them into real-world business practices. Point Blank Enterprises has struggled to push what Haynes dubs “the next big leap forward” in soft armor due to the shifting framework.
Even when innovations are able to traverse the uncertain territories of 07, there is still the matter of actual testing. Haynes describes the importance of being “first in line” for testing, speaking to a wider industry bottleneck. Testing is always challenging and time-consuming, but becomes especially so when hundreds of businesses have reason to test at the same time.
It seems apparent that the tradeoff for innovation in the long-run is often short-run success. While this might seem like a valid exchange, in an industry where even the most minor improvement has the potential to save lives, things are less clear.
Innovation, Nonetheless
The path to progress might not be an easy one, but it seems worth travelling. When the outcome is better, safer products, perhaps the struggle to adapt is just a necessary stepping stone.
