Technical notes
GA141-2010, the standard behind Chinese police vest tenders
If your programme supplies Chinese police forces, or competes against suppliers who do, GA141-2010 is the standard the paperwork will be written against. It is built around the rounds those forces actually issue, which is what makes it different from an American standard.
What the standard covers
GA141-2010 is the Chinese public security industry standard for police ballistic vests. Like other body armor standards it sets protection levels, defines the rounds and conditions each level is tested against, and limits back face signature, the deformation the panel is allowed to push into the backing material behind it. Where it differs is in the threat list: the levels are built around the rounds Chinese police issue, including the 7.62x25mm pistol cartridge, rather than the .44 Magnum and 9mm pairing that anchors NIJ Level IIIA.
Do not assume a level number transfers
Standards borrow level numbering from each other and it causes a great deal of confusion. A level under one standard is not the same object as a level with a similar name under another, because the round, the velocity and the deformation limit are all defined separately. Treat a GA141-2010 level as a GA141-2010 level. If a tender asks for compliance with both this standard and an NIJ standard, that is two test programmes and two reports, not one report described two ways.
Our report against this standard
SB160 was tested to level 2 of GA141-2010 at the China Ordnance Equipment Test Center in November 2022, in two configurations: 25 layers at room temperature and 27 layers at 60 degrees C. Shots were fired at 5 m, at 0, plus and minus 30 and plus and minus 45 degrees, at velocities between 442 and 454 m/s.
Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.
- • All shots passed with no penetration. Back face signature ran between 18 and 25 mm against a 25 mm limit.
- • The 60 degrees C configuration needed two more layers than the room temperature one to hold the same level. That gap is the practical answer to what temperature does to a soft armor panel, and it is the reason a hot climate deployment is worth naming in your enquiry.
Why we publish the temperature condition
Plenty of specifications quote a single layer count for a protection level and leave the test conditions out. Our own data shows why that is not enough: the same fabric at the same level needed 25 layers at room temperature and 27 at 60 degrees C. If you are pressing panels for a service that operates in heat, the room temperature number will understate what you need. Ask any supplier, including us, which temperature their layer count was established at.
The full list of test reports, laboratories and configurations is on the About page, alongside the standards library. Layer count tables for SB160 and the rest of the soft armor line are on the product page.