United Shield International is a UK-based body armor manufacturer who aim to provide personal protective equipment to government and military personnel. The company is part of the Point Blank Enterprises corporation and manufactures bulletproof vests, hard armor plates, ballistic shields and helmets.
At Milipol Paris 2021, BodyArmorNews.com conducted an interview with Mr. Adrian Shapter, Sales Director of United Shield International, to learn more about the company and the new products it has to offer.
Ballistic materials and innovation
The company uses aramids, such as Kevlar, as well as a lot of polyethylene in their soft armor products. However, Mr. Shapter explained that these materials can be pressed and made hard as well. It then goes into the manufacture of helmets, ballistic plates and shields.
“We put ceramics, such as silicon carbide into some of the plates,” Mr. Shapter added, “Boron carbide is quite expensive, so we don’t make our products with it, but we are doing some development with that. We do the same for shields as well. For our high-level shields, such as level IV (NIJ Certified), we add some ceramic materials to the shield.”
Modular plate-carriers
Mr. Shapter then introduced one of United Shield International’s latest developments, a completely modular plate-carrier system. He then defined the aspects of this vest that add to its uniqueness.
“The vest encompasses a complete modular system. So, you can wear it and add sections to it according to what you want to armor up. If you want to armor up the shoulder, the biceps, the neck, the collar, the throat or the groin, all those sections can be added to it.
“Then, you also must consider the things that you need pockets for, such as carrying ammunition. All these sorts of things need areas on the vests that can accommodate them. So, we added features like MOLLE rigging, we added extra pockets, we put extra clips so the user can add all those things on.
“Then depending on the environment they’re in, they might want to adjust the plate carrier to be fully armored, or they might want to add extra things around their waist. Or in some cases, they also might want to do climbing. So, in this particular vest we have some features on the front which allows users to connect to the climbing rigs, which a lot of other vests don’t do.”
The Spec Ops Delta Helmet
One of United Shield International’s most popular products is their Spec Ops Delta helmet. “This helmet has Picatinny Rails on the side and night vision mounts in the front,” Mr. Shapter explained, “It has a BOA Dial system in the back, and it has a very comfortable pad system which also helps with protection if the user were ever to suffer impact to the head.
“Again, it’s about a modular system, so in that particular helmet itself, you can add things like the night vision goggles, we can put torches in the brackets. You can put anything you want in the sides like you can clip in your ear defenders or your communications tools. You can also add in a gas mask.
“The helmet can accommodate all these sorts of things, and at the same time, it is built with an aramid finish so that it can protect against up to .44 Magnum bullets, so it can take quite heavy bullets as well.
“The helmet is also very lightweight, of course. We can also modify it to have reflective paints, or if there is a need for any patterns like multi camouflage, or different colors, we can meet that need. So, it follows that we can essentially sell to any military market or police market in the world.”