6B2

The Ж-81, GRAU designation 6B2 (romanized from 6Б2) was a ballistic vest used by The Soviet Armed Forces.

History
On February 10th, 1979, an Army committee held a meeting on solutions for equipping a "limited contingent of Soviet troops in Afghanistan". At this meeting were the potential customers, the army, and developers and manufacturers of body armour Niistali. They who had previous experience with vests developed for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, such as the ZhZT-71 jacket.

One can only imagine the amazement of the senior officials when the question, what to do to rapidly develop a ballistic vest for troops in Afghanistan, was answered with for the time the best protective characteristics available in a vest.

Virtually without modifications the vest was accepted for service, and received the GRAU designation 6B2 (romanized from 6Б2). The manufacturer called the new vest Zhe-81 (romanized from Ж-81). At the end of march 1979 the first batches flew to Afghanistan.

One does not have to be a great expert on ballistic vests to understand what huge problems had to be solved in not even 2 months. Virtually from scratch production of vests and ballistic fabric "TVSM" (romanized from ТСВМ) started, while the factory operated in 3 shifts to get these vests ready. When asked how it was possible to produce such a vest on such a short timespan the simple answer was "There, in Afghanistan, are our children."

While the concept of a basic army ballistic vest to protect against fragments was sound, it was soon learned that Afghanistan was not a typical battle scene as imagined. The concept of ballistic vests was adopted very rapidly, yet soon there was a call from the army for even more protection, including that against automatic weapons.

The 6B2 consists of partially overlapping, 1.25 mm thick, square titanium plates and is padded with a ballistic resistant fabric. It provided effective protection against shrapnel and pistol rounds but proved ineffective against larger calibres. It was widely used in Afghanistan, but at the end of the conflict was effectively replaced by the 6B3 since this provided much better protection against automatic weapons.

Variants
6B2 - ballistic vest Zhe-81 (romanized from 6Б2 and Ж-81)

6B2-3T - ballistic vest (romanized from 6Б2-3Т)