New Delhi: The Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) has alreadyreceived requests for around two lakh `Bhabha Kavach`, country's lightestbullet-proof jackets from the armed forces. As the government promotes"Make in India", the demand for an Indian product can go a long wayin ending dependence on imports.

Talking , Additional General Manager of Ordnance EquipmentFactory, Kanpur, V.K. Chaudhary, said: "The Bhabha Kavach has received anoverwhelming response from the armed forces and so far we have got requests foraround two lakh jackets.

"The jacket gives 360 degree protection against bulletsand has achieved the protection level of National Institute of Justice (NIJ)Level III+ ".

Stating that the Bhabha Kavach has good export potential,Chaudhary said, "We are also planning to export these jackets to countrieslike Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and African countries and we will soon getexport orders from these countries".

With regards to Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs),Chaudhary said: "Request for around 50,000 jackets each have been receivedfrom the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Border Security Force (BSF)while 25,000 pieces from Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), around 20,000jackets for Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Central Industrial Security Force(CISF) has placed an order for 25,000 jackets."He said demand from statepolice has also poured in for the jackets. Orders for around 500 jackets havecome in from Punjab and Himachal Pradesh Police while Chhattisgarh and OdishaPolice have requested for 1,000 jackets.

"We have also got orders from Gujarat and RajasthanPolice while talks are on with Karnataka, Jharkhand, and West Bengal Police,"Chaudhary added. The cost of one jacket was Rs 75,000 and it took one and ahalf year of hard work to come up with this jacket, Chaudhary said.Thecountry`s lightest bullet-proof jacket developed by the Ordnance Factory Board(OFB) was launched at the International Police Expo 2019 here last month. Thejacket has been named Bhabha Kavach as the nano-based technology was taken fromthe Bhabha Atomic Research Centre.

The bullet-proof jacket provides 360 degree protectionagainst 7.62mm hard steel core or bullets fired from an AK-47 rifle, 5.56mmINSAS bullet and even the recently decommissioned 7.65mm bullet of self-loadingrifle (SLR).Ballistic trials were conducted by the BSF, CRPF, and SSB. Aftertrials, the report was sent to a committee, which then recommended it forinduction.The weight of the bullet-proof jacket was 9.2 kg and this was a majorbreakthrough for the Indian armed forces. It was half-kilo less than theprescribed weight of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

Defence and security experts said that the jacket willdefinitely boost the morale of the armed forces while ensuring greater securityespecially for those dealing in counter-insurgency and militancy operations.Comingup with a safety gear with a protection level of NIJ III+ is a majorbreakthrough in the technology.