Combat armor

Combat armor is a general term for any suit of personal body armor employed before the Great War by the United States Armed Forces.

Background
A diverse family of personal body armor with varying degrees of sophistication, providing balanced protection against both energy and ballistic damage.

Pre-War
The United States Armed Forces were the principal operator of the entire family of combat armors before the Great War, although some were provided to law enforcement agencies. It was not available to civilians without a special permit provided by the BADTFL.
 * United States Army: The main operator of the entire family of combat armor: starting with the US Army combat armor and its specialized variants, the winterized combat armor and winterized medic armor, through the standard combat armor, to the most advanced suits such as the advanced combat armor, combat armor Mk II, riot gear, advanced riot gear, and elite riot gear.
 * US Marines: Honest Hearts Desert Ranger armor.
 * Canada: At least one Canadian used the advanced combat armor for personal protection, before his capture and execution on national television. The source of the suit is not known.
 * Charleston Police Department: Utilized various forms of riot gear during the automation riots, including advanced and elite armor variants.

Post-War

 * Brotherhood of Steel: The largest operator of combat armors, principally the Army, standard, and advanced combat armor. Basic combat armor was usually used with the standard woodland camouflage, while standard armor was deployed with a custom, copper-colored finish providing additional resistance to radiation. The most advanced armor of this family was the Brotherhood armor, an upgraded variant of the basic version. Manufactured by Brotherhood knights, it looks like normal combat Armor, but is made of substantially improved materials and is designed better.
 * Enclave used advanced combat armor as standard equipment for its light infantry stationed on the mainland.
 * Vault City provided suits of advanced combat armor to its patrols operating away from the City itself.
 * New California Republic Rangers used advanced combat armor in 2241, but by 2281, after being folded into the NCR military command, switched to hand-made combat armor pattern suits, with LAPD riot gears provided to its veteran members.
 * Rivet City's security guard all used Army combat armor painted black with riot helmets as its security uniform in 2277.
 * The wealthy merchant houses of the Hub provided full suits of advanced combat armor to the Hub police in 2161.
 * Some wealthy merchants would continue the practices of providing their security detail with combat armor, such as Duppo in 2242, with advanced combat armor, or Allistair Tenpenny in 2277, who provided his security with security uniforms in characteristic beige. Van Graffs also wore black combat armor for brand recognition.

Combat armor


Even with the widespread deployment of standard combat armor, work continued on more advanced suits of combat armor. The largest and most successful model was a high-tech armor using advanced defensive polymers to provide a high degree of protection. The advanced model represented a new approach to design, doing away with the modular construction of its predecessors, and was hailed as an advanced personal armor for the 22nd-century police officer or soldier. Highly effective against most types of damage and lightweight. Unlike older models, materials used in the advanced combat armor also provided limited protection from radiation by default. Some variants incorporated forms of camouflage.
 * New California

The basic component of this advanced armor is a long-sleeve jumpsuit, incorporating thermal dissipators and general-purpose dissipative membranes. It is worn underneath the actual combat armor, manufactured from polymer impact plates providing concussive protection and incorporating additional dissipation cells and membranes. The Brotherhood of Steel also fashioned its own variant, recognizable due to polished rivets incorporated into its pauldrons and blue trim on the edges.

Combat armor, reinforced


Advanced combat armor was manufactured alongside standard combat armor, providing additional variants. The combat armor mark II is a heavier set designed for use by shock troops and Special Forces, incorporating additional armor plating and increasing its protective qualities.

Gallery

 * Concept art