'Perforated' Bulletproof Vests in Name Only... Defense Acquisition Program Administration Spent 10.7 Billion KRW on 50,000 Units

Board of Audit and Inspection Releases Audit Report on 'Efforts to Improve Service Conditions for Military Personnel'

The Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) reportedly spent 10.7 billion KRW to purchase over 50,000 bullet-permeable bulletproof vests. These so-called 'nominal bulletproof vests' were made by adding bulletproof material only to the performance test areas, essentially producing vests designed just to pass the tests.

According to the audit report on "Improvement of Service Conditions for Soldiers" released by the Board of Audit and Inspection on the 18th, DAPA signed a contract in December 2021 to purchase a total of 56,280 bulletproof vests from military supplier Company A, amounting to 10.778 billion KRW.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The problem lies in the fact that the company manipulated the bulletproof performance by adding bulletproof material only to specific areas where bullets would pass through during shooting tests. The Agency for Defense Development (ADD) was aware of this manipulation but still approved the production of these bulletproof vests in February last year.

Although the vests were made with a total of 50 layers of bulletproof material, the upper and lower left and right sides, which measure rear deformation, were stitched with 56 layers of bulletproof material. Since bulletproof performance was not evenly applied, it was also confirmed that Company A attached low-density bulletproof material to the central area, which measures flexibility.

Moreover, three months after approving the production, ADD received a complaint that Company A had manipulated the performance but re-evaluated and confirmed that the bulletproof performance was met. This was due to adjusting the shooting position along the boundaries of the reinforced areas, excluding the central part.

Accordingly, the Board of Audit and Inspection conducted separate tests on the non-reinforced parts during the audit period. As a result, it revealed that some bulletproof vests did not meet the performance required by the military. The Board notified the head of DAPA to "take appropriate measures such as replacement delivery for substandard bulletproof vests and restrict Company A's eligibility to participate in bids." It also demanded that ADD "discipline two related personnel who improperly handled related tasks, including guaranteeing the quality of bulletproof vests that failed to meet performance standards."