What project VS4 buys
Funding directly supports the research and development of critical Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), with the primary objective of improving Soldier survivability, mobility, and lethality. The project supports efforts to evaluate integrated technologies and prototype systems and supports continual research of test methodologies that expedite PPE technology transitions from the laboratory to operational use. The project supports transitioning capabilities from our Science and Technology (S&T) partners to increase the performance and safety of PPE. The project facilitates testing efforts to evaluate transitioning materials and capabilities that will integrate in the next generation of protective equipment. Funding will continue to support cross-services initiatives to increase commonality.
- Management Services
- Product Development
- Test and Evaluation
Project VS4 funding, FY2025–FY2031
Prior years are actuals, the budget year is the request, and the outyears are the FYDP plan. Estimate types are colored and never summed into one figure. Projects carry the full five-year plan; the activities inside them stop at the budget year.
| Fiscal Year | Estimate Type | Amount ($M) |
|---|---|---|
| FY2025 | Actual | 5.6 |
| FY2026 | Enacted | 15.0 |
| FY2027 | Request | 10.6 |
| FY2028 | Outyear | 7.7 |
| FY2029 | Outyear | 7.7 |
| FY2030 | Outyear | 7.7 |
| FY2031 | Outyear | 7.8 |
2 accomplishments / planned programs
The R-2A exhibit — the only level of the budget that describes work that has not happened yet. Activities carry the prior, current and budget year only, no five-year plan. Coverage is partial across the corpus, so count activities, never total them.
FY2027 planned work Project will advance previously developed technologies and improved materials for Torso & Extremity Protection (TEP), Vital Torso Protection (VTP), and the Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) to reduce mass, increase protection, and align injury criteria with validated test methods. Efforts will address defect limits and optimize lower performance thresholds for operational application. The project will integrate soldier signature management capabilities to reduce multispectral detectability, enhance soldier system integration and fitment to ensure compatibility and comfort across combat gear, and develop blast overpressure mitigation features within torso and head protection systems…
FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase supports efforts to refine soldier signature management technology and improve total system integration and fitment.
FY2026 plans — current year The VS4 project will continue to build on previously developed technologies and improved materials for Vital Torso Protection (VTP) and Integrated Head Protection (IHPS) to reduce mass and increase protections with test methods and injury criteria links to these methods. The project will complete the testing procedures for Adaptable Testing and Load Assessment System (ATLAS) Torso and Head. This project will address identified defect limits with the goal of conforming lower performance levels. This lower performance data will be used to analyze optimization for Torso and Head protection. This project will facilitate the development of consistent and repeatable test methods to measure…
FY2025 accomplishments The VS4 project continued building upon previously developed technologies and risk reduction efforts for all Torso & Extremity Protection (TEP), Vital Torso Protection (VTP), and Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) components. The project progressed ongoing assessments of the ballistic performance of PPE to optimize protection levels. The project explored modeling and simulation tools to evaluate helmet pads at a reduced cost and eliminate variations in helmet testing. Funding supported the initial evaluations of surrogate projectiles on hard armor solutions to accelerate efforts towards an advanced hard armor design. The project continued its partnership with the science and…
FY2027 planned work The Blast Overpressure Sensor System (BOSS) project will address tactical integration, product development, data management, medical record integration, and operational testing and evaluation. The project will collaborate with the Science and Technology (S&T) community to assess existing medical technologies and advance product development. The project will conduct research and development tests to evaluate the technology's blast monitoring performance across various operational environments. The project scope includes in-depth tactical network integration to transfer data from the sensor to the data repository and the medical record. The ultimate objective is to advance the development of…
FY2026 to FY2027 change FY 2027 funding increase supports advanced tactical integration and data repository support for future integration with the electronic health record.