PARIS - The Army is testing a new body armor that could offer more protection for combat soldiers.

Army Test and Evaluation Command, has been performing live fire tests on several commercial body armor designs since April as part of the service’s ongoing effort to improve soldier protection, Brig. Gen. Mark Brown, commander of Program Executive Office Soldier told Army Times on Wednesday at the 2008 Eurosatory trade show.

“It looks like we are going to be able to achieve a higher level of protection” than what is currently worn by soldiers, Brown said.

The Army began issuing the Improved Outer Tactical Vest, a redesigned version of Interceptor body armor, in late 2006. The soft body armor protects against 9mm ammunition and fragmentation. IOTV is also equipped with front, rear and side armor plates known as Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts. When worn together, the IOTV will stop 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds.

Brown is responsible for the development and fielding of body armor, but he said he is not involved in the testing process.

Brown mentioned the body armor test during a briefing on soldier equipment programs.

Specific details of the tests are unclear, but Brown said during an interview afterward that several vendors have demonstrated they can produce body armor that can outperform the protection offered by IOTV with ESAPI.

The test should be completed by mid-summer, Brown said. After that, PEO Soldier will likely do an assessment to see if the extra protection is worth the additional weight soldiers may have to carry.

“There tends to be a weight penalty when we increase protection,” he said.

Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan typically carry combat loads of 75 pounds or more.

“Is it a major improvement? Is it worth it?” are questions Brown said he considers when adding more weight to that load.

“One of the things soldiers tell me is ‘please don’t put one more pound of weight on my body,’” he said.

During the same briefing, Brown also said he that the Army may need “step up to a more powerful carbine.”

Currently soldiers carry the M4 carbine, chambered for 5.56mm ammunition. This has been the subject of debate between combat soldiers who say they want a more lethal round and Army officials who maintain that 5.56mm is effective as long as shots are placed center mass into the body of an enemy.

Brown said that there is “nothing wrong” with the 5.56mm for the threats soldiers are facing today.

Body armor is driving Brown’s concern over this issue, he said. More and more companies are making body armor and selling it to militaries all over world, to include forces that may be the future foes of the United States, he said.

Brown offered few details for a timeline for such an effort, but said the Army plans to hold a competition in the summer of 2009 after the service takes ownership of the M4’s “technical data package” from Colt Defense LLC.

It’s unlikely that that competition will contain a requirement for a more lethal caliber, but the issue needs to be addressed in the “near future,” Brown said.

“Adversarial protection is going to go up, and we need to deal with that,” Brown said.