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April 18, 2004
   
The success of the current American Interceptor Protective Vest ("flak jacket") is being expanded to include a DAP (deltoid axillary protection) system that will protect the shoulders and upper arms from 9 mm bullets and shell fragments. The DAP will hang from existing attachment points on the vest and add about four pounds to the weight of the 17 pound protective vest. Soldiers and marines have been improvising DAP like attachments using material from older protective vests. The new DAPs will cost about $400 each. The idea came from troops serving in Iraq, where many troops manning weapons in open turrets, or riding in hummers, are exposed to enemy fire. The production models of the DAPs should reach troops this Summer.