CODEX: THE KOVENANT IMPERIAL ARMY.

Imperial Body Armor - 1

Authors note: This chapter is going to explain the most common form of Body armor that virtually all Kovenant Imperial Soldiers and Officers wear into battle and in their daily existence within the army.

Uniform Armor.

Development date: Year 578, Millenium 20.

Armor is still widely used within the Kovenant Imperial Army for the protection of soldiers and none comes in such great quantities as with the case of the so-called "Uniform Armor"
A cheap and effective solution to the problem with ballistic vests and conventional body armor had upon the battlefields of the 51st Millennium.

Now, one may at first be confused by this statement without any context...
Simply put ballistic vests and old-style body armor had become completely obsolete and inadequate for the protection of soldiers on the battlefield.

This is because the ballistic vests lack the type of protection that is required to stop a laser bolt or a Heavy exploding bullet that is fired from a 51st Millennium Assault Rifle.
In the case of the Laser bolt or any kind of similar energy-based weapon, the laser bolt would be hot enough that it is more than able to pierce conventional body armor almost to the point that it could be done with no effort at all, as the type of materials used is simply not sufficient enough or otherwise completely inadequate for protection. However, the Kovenant Imperial Army was still researching any way in which they could bring back the concept of body armor to the battlefield.

The requirements set for the new generation of body armor were set by both by Imperial Army and its own soldiers on the field.

Both parties requested a highly protective form of body armor that was also not a burden for the soldiers to wear, especially while on the march or in any given combat situation.
Also, the soldiers said that it could not interfere with their given equipment so that they may easily use them even in tough situations.
The soldiers also requested it not be awkward to wear and it can also be used in any situation.

Additionally, the High command added a new requirement for the new armor and that was the fact that the armor must be easy to create and easy to maintain by the soldiers out on the field.
Not only that but they wanted a type of armor that can be created using artificial means and can be created by even hastily trained workforces should there be an emergency.

So the requirements that were set were as follows:
1. Ease of production.
2. Ease of Maintenance.
3. Able to protect the soldier effectively.
4. Ability to use and is therefore useful in any and all environments.
5. Can be used comfortably.
6. Does not interfere with combat or marching.

And so the challenge was given to the famous Imperial German arms manufacturer, Krupp. In collaboration with the Technomansers and Technoseers of the Cult of Hephaestus.

In this case, Krupp alongside the Cult of Hephaestus designed a new type of body armor that was based upon a composite that the Cult of Hephaestus had created which they called "Type 22 Protective composite"

Type 22 Composite is a soft, flexible type of composite material primarily taking a very flexible almost gelatine-like white form.
It was created by combining an artificially created Silicate material, alongside two types of chemical compounds that were mixed into the new substance to create the type 22 Composite.

The properties of the said composite were very promising indeed. The chemicals that were mixed in to create the composite created a highly flexible and yet durable material, the chemicals gave it the ability to resist multiple laser bolts at once, as well as resist even a couple dozen of bullets and absorb their relatively small explosives thanks to the fact it was also able to soak up most of the blunt force trauma coming from the exploding bullets.

This shock-absorbent characteristic was further strengthened thanks to the fact that, when hit, the protective compound would immediately harden upon being hit avd would remain that way for hours, thus, giving it more shock resistance and the ability to resist laser bolts far easier avd effectively.
However, it should be noted that when facing Heavy exploding bullets, the armor was better used to dealing with laser bolts, as the compound could only resist 6 to 7 high velocity Exploding bullets before it finally gave in... However that provided adequate protection considering the sheer deadly nature of those rounds.

Another promising trait was that it was easy to mass produce, thanks to the fact the way in which to create large quantities of this composite was already very well known and they need only bring it over to mass production for it to truly become widespread for the Military.

Additionally the flexibility and comfort of using the Type 22 Protective Composite were similar, if not outright identical to the fibers used to create clothing for both civilians and the military. Thus it was not only very comfortable to wear, but the people over at Krupp realized that they could disguise the new armor as well.

Thus... "Uniforme armor" was created.

In this case, there is no body armor per se. But rather the engineers over at Krupp had integrated the new armor with Imperial Army uniforms themselves.

In this case, there is no body armor you put on the uniform, and this is because the uniform itself, Was the body armor most commonly used by the Kovenant Imperial Army.
The new armor met all of its requirements.

Because of the fact it was artificially created it was extremely easy to mass produce in the Trillions as the materials required were universal or can be attained via other means such as lab growing them from scratch. Additionally, because of its extreme flexibility, even a hastily created workforce could produce them at a reasonable rate, as they would simply have to create the uniform over the composite itself to complete the armor.
This effectively made it look like simple uniforms, yet in reality, the uniforms were also highly effective body armor.

This was finished when the workers added regular clothing material being used in an internal layer to provide comfort for the soldiers wearing it. As well as an external layer to complete the uniform which was then given to the soldiers.

Additionally, the composite itself had an unexpected benefit for the soldiers, in that it can even be used to regulate body temperature in some way shape, or form.
In particular, by heating or cooling the Composite within the uniform itself.

An example of this would be heating up the composite within when fighting in winter environments, or when in a hot desert environment, cooling up the composite to help compensate for the heat instead.
This unexpected feature came in handy for the troops, as the uniform can keep that temperate for hours, even days before it needs to be reheated or cooled again, this helped soldiers operate more effectively in cold or hot environments and it helped them not have to worry too much about the weather.

Additionally, since the armor was integrated into the uniforms of all Imperial Soldiers and officers, this meant that there is no instances in which soldiers would not be protected with their uniforms.
As well as this, the uniforms themselves did not interfere with combat situations or marching in any way, shape, or form, and the soldiers loved the fact that they were so light, they didn't even notice the weight at all.

As such, Uniformed armor was universally accepted and then massed produced for Kovenant armies.

Such armor was extremely heavily regulated, however, as the Kovenant did not wish to give such valuable equipment to anyone outside the Military with the only exception being the Volkssturm and more specifically their Volksgrenadier formations.

The Fate of old ballistic vests and body armor.

As for old armor such as ballistic vests, they were repurposed for use within security forces and Police forces.

Because of the fact gun control is heavily enforced in the Kovenant Empire with only Frontier Colonies being allowed to have less restricted gun control policies, ballistic vests were still very useful in enforcing law and order, as the vast majority of weapons a civilian can hope to ever own are underpowered auto guns, pistols, and underpowered shotguns... While powerful, they were not enough to pierce traditional ballistic vests, which were in wide usage by the police and all security forces alike.

Because of this, ballistic vests still have their uses... Just not on the battlefield and more on the home front as part of law enforcement and other agencies that deal with similar situations.