STANAG 2920: Ballistic Protection Levels for Materials and Equipment
STANAG 2920 is the NATO standard for the ballistic testing and classification of personal armour. It establishes a uniform method for testing the resistance of personal armour materials and combat clothing against high-speed fragments and bullets.
This standard is critical in ensuring that helmets, body armour and other personal protection provide adequate protection against ballistic threats. Edition 2 (2003) did not specify absolute protection levels but focused on V50 ballistic testing, which determines the velocity at which a projectile has a 50% chance of perforating the material. Edition 3 (2015) adds a classification procedure, published as AEP-2920.
Why is STANAG 2920 Important?
Modern battlefield conditions expose military personnel to high-velocity threats, including shrapnel, bullets and explosive fragments. STANAG 2920 testing shows how well the protective materials used in helmets, body armour and combat clothing resist these threats, in figures that allied nations can compare.
- Enhanced Soldier Protection: shows how well helmets and body armour resist fragments and bullets.
- Vehicle and Equipment Safety: the V50 method is also used on other armour materials, but vehicle protection levels are set by STANAG 4569, not STANAG 2920.
- Standardised NATO Testing: one test method and one classification, so results can be compared across allied forces.
- Mission Reliability: reduces the risk of fatal injuries by allowing protective materials to be compared and improved.
For a buyer, the value is comparability. Two vests quoted with V50 figures against the same fragment simulating projectile can be compared directly; figures measured against different projectiles cannot.
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How is Ballistic Protection Tested Under STANAG 2920?
The V50 ballistic limit test is the key method used to evaluate materials under STANAG 2920. This test involves:
- Firing fragment simulating projectiles (FSPs) of a defined mass and shape at the material, across a range of impact velocities.
- Recording the impact velocity at which 50% of the projectiles perforate the armour and 50% are stopped.
- Assessing fragmentation resistance, crucial for combat helmets and body armour.
- Using the results to compare materials and to adjust their composition for lighter protection that keeps its durability.
The reference fragment is commonly the .22 calibre FSP, a steel cylinder of 1.1 g, listed in national implementations of AEP-2920 alongside other masses. The Czech implementation, ČOS 130027, requires at least six valid hits to determine a V50.
A STANAG 2920 V50 is therefore meaningful only together with the projectile it was measured against. When comparing offers, check that both reports name the same FSP mass before comparing velocities.
By following STANAG 2920 testing procedures, military organisations can show that their protective gear meets the class or V50 their requirement names.
Editions: From V50 Test Method to AEP-2920 Classes
The agreement has changed scope since its first issue, which is why older and newer documents describe it differently. The dates below are those of the catalogue records.
Edition 2, titled Ballistic Test Method for Personal Armour Materials and Combat Clothing, set guidelines for ballistic tests that measure the protection given by personal armour materials. It defined a method, not pass levels.
Edition 3, published in June 2015 as Classification of Personal Armour, covers AEP-2920 Edition A, Procedures for the Evaluation and Classification of Personal Armour, Bullet and Fragmentation Threats. Under it, each national authority classifies the personal armour in its inventory from ballistic test results, using the bullet classes in Annex B.
The AEP-2920 issue of 16 September 2016 is listed as the most current. A specification that still cites the 2003 edition, or asks for a bare V50 without a class, predates this change and is worth querying.
Personal Armour, Vehicle Protection and NIJ Levels
The agreement is often confused with STANAG 4569, Protection Levels for Occupants of Logistic and Light Armoured Vehicles. That agreement and its AEP-55 volumes cover vehicles; the latest AEP-55 edition in accredited test laboratory listings is Edition D Version 1 (February 2022).
The test logic differs as well. AEP-55 Volume 1 (Edition 1, 2005) judges a vehicle by the absence of perforation at a proof velocity, with an expected protection capability of 90%, and treats levels derived from V50 results as estimated.
Both agreements use fragment simulating projectiles, but at different scales: STANAG 4569 includes a 20 mm FSP representing a 155 mm shell fragment. A V50 for a vest material gives a vehicle no protection level, and a vehicle level says nothing about a helmet.
In the United States, body armour for police and other public safety users is tested to NIJ Standard 0101, now 0101.07 (published November 2023), with levels named HG1, HG2, RF1, RF2 and RF3. An NIJ level is not a NATO personal armour class, so a tender should name the one it means.
STANAG 2920 and Betalight Tactical Equipment
At Betalight Tactical, we develop rugged military lighting that is used alongside STANAG 2920 classified protective gear and on armoured vehicles. We do not make armour, and no lamp carries a STANAG 2920 class.
Lighting is qualified in its own way. Lamps on protected vehicles are tested for shock, vibration and climate to the methods of STANAG 4370 or MIL-STD-810, which our product pages list where they apply.
In the field, performance in blackout mode is set by STANAG 4381, the standard behind our military blackout lights for tactical vehicles.
On the soldier, an accessory fixed to a classified helmet, such as an IR helmet strobe, is not armour and is not part of the helmet’s class. Ask the helmet maker for the class, and us for the accessory’s mounting and environmental data.
Get Lighting for Protected Vehicles and Soldiers
Looking for lighting for an armoured vehicle or a protected soldier? Betalight Tactical provides durable lighting that works alongside STANAG 2920 classified armour and STANAG 4569 protected vehicles. Contact us at info@betalight-tactical.com with the environmental and blackout standards your specification names.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. Both determine a V50 ballistic limit, but MIL-STD-662F (1997) is the US V50 ballistic test for armour in general, while the NATO agreement covers personal armour, now with the AEP-2920 classification. Each defines its own projectiles, penetration criterion and shot rules, so a report to one is not automatically evidence for the other.
It does not give a velocity at which nothing perforates: at the V50 itself, half of the strikes go through. Nor does it measure the blunt impact behind armour that stops the fragment. Where zero perforation at a set threat matters, ask for the classification or a proof test at that threat, not only the V50.
The edition (Edition 3 with AEP-2920 Edition A, unless an older programme requires otherwise), the class or the required V50 with its projectile, and the national authority that accepts the classification. Ask for a test report that names the projectile, the number of valid shots and the laboratory, so offers can be compared on the same basis.