 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) |
A gun shield is a flat piece or section of armor designed to be mounted on a crew-served weapon such as a machine gun or artillery piece, or, more rarely, to be used with an assault rifle or, in a law enforcement context, a semi-automatic pistol.
Military
Some mounted machine guns and artillery pieces are equipped with metal armor plates to protect the gunners from sniper fire and shrapnel from explosions. As well, gun shields are sometimes improvised in the field in using salvaged metal plates. The most common examples were seen in the Vietnam War when the crews of armored fighting vehicles and PT Boats would affix metal plates to the machine guns, though gun shields have been in use as early as World War I.
Gun shields fell out of widespread use after Vietnam, but they have seen a resurgence in popularity during the 1990s. Israeli military analysts began urging the use of gun shields when they noted that the automatic weapon fire-filled modern battleground presented a grave risk to soldiers who exposed themselves to fire upon the enemy. In particular, it was noted that many casualties were being hit in areas not protected by body armor or the helmet, such as the neck or face.
The U.S. began using gun shields during the 2000s-era conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The major drawback of gun shields is that they limit the visibility of the user to the front, though new designs such as the Transparent Armor Gun Shield (TAGS for short) will alleviate this without sacrificing user protection.
Law enforcement
When tactical police squads or hostage rescue teams are approaching a heavily-armed suspect or group of suspects, they are increasingly using ballistic glass or kevlar gun shields. These shields supplement the protection from the body armor that the officers are already wearing by protecting the exposed body areas such as the neck and face. Gun shields typically have a firing hole or port through which the officer can fire a weapon. Some police officers using gun shields use revolvers instead of semi-automatic pistols, because the slide from a semi-auto pistol tends to get caught in the firing port.
See also
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
