J-K Police to purchase 50 bullet resistant bunker vehicles with 'NIJ level-3 protection'

Amid a spike in terror attacks on security forces in Kashmir, the police are set to purchase 50 bullet-resistant bunker (BRB) vehicles with a higher level of protection from gunfire.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police has recently floated tenders for the purchase of the 50 BRB 4X4 vehicles with NIJ-III level protection that would shield them against fire from SLR and AK-47 rifles.

The NIJ-III level is a standard set by the US-based National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for body armour.

Hundred militants and 43 security personnel were killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the first six months of this year, the government informed the Rajya Sabha recently.

Sixteen civilians were also killed during this period, which saw 256 incidents of violence.

The Jammu and Kashmir Police will get 50 bullet-proof bunker vehicles for protection of security personnel against terror attacks in insurgency-hit areas of Kashmir, a senior police official said today.

The BRB vehicles should have specifications to give protection (NIJ level-III) against fire from SLR and AK-47 rifles on four sides at 90 degree angle of attack from 10 metres (NATO ball ammunition) and roof at 45 degree of the attack from 10 metres, the official said.

NIJ standard "Ballistic Resistance of Body Armour" is a minimum performance standard developed in collaboration with the Office of Law Enforcement Standards (OLES) of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The NIJ level-III protection is tested to stop 7.62mm Full Metal Jacket (FMJ) lead core rifle ammunition.

The bullet resistant glasses should have the required thickness with finest optical quality minimum distortion to be used as transparent armours, which must be capable of withstanding NIJ level-III protection, he said.

The official said the vehicle must give protection against 8 kg of TNT and equivalent and its underbelly shall be protected against blasts of two hand grenades.

The vehicle must be able to accommodate 10 people in a bullet-proof single cabin, the official said.

As per the specifications, the fuel tanks of the vehicles should also be bullet-proof.

When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Jammu and Kashmir last year, he had announced a package of Rs 500 crores for the modernisation of the Jammu and Kashmir Police under the prime minister development programme and that is under procurement.

Union Minister Hansraj Gangaram Ahir recently said in Rajya Sabha that in 2017, 342 incidents of "violence" were reported in Jammu and Kashmir, in which 213 militants were killed. A total of 80 security personnel and 40 civilians were killed last year, Ahir said.