Military kit still failing women, troops say

ByRebecca Ricks

BBC South West Investigations

Women in the armed forces say they are still being issued kit that does not fit properly, five years after a landmark report warned they were at "greater risk of harm" from ill-fitting uniform and equipment.

The 2021 Atherton report said the Ministry of Defence should urgently roll out safer, more appropriate kit for female service personnel by the end of 2022.

Despite improvements, women have been telling the BBC some kit is still poorly fitting, with body armour failing to account for breasts, and shortages of smaller sizes resulting in "competition" among troops.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) says it ensures everyone has access to the "best equipment they need to protect themselves in combat".

"I never felt that I was neat, tidy, presentable, or in the uniform that I was meant to be in," explains veteran Rhian Brown, who left the service in 2024.

"I never really felt that it protected me or entirely fulfilled the purpose that it was meant to."

Following the report by Dame Sarah Atherton, external, the Ministry of Defence brought out a new version of its latest body armour adapted for female troops in 2022.

It said it offered improved "fit, comfort and mobility while maintaining consistent ballistic protection standards".

Called the Virtus Scalable Tactical Vest, the body armour system has adjustable straps and smaller flat plates.

Brown, 26, who left the Army Reserve after seven years as an infantry platoon commander, wore it in training and on deployments.

She says the newer version was an improvement, feeling "tight and secure" and looking smarter, "but ultimately it still wasn't designed to fit me".

"Women are not flat, we have breasts and curves," Brown continues.

"The plates are flat, it doesn't fit, it is not flexible - fit isn't about vanity, it's about safety."

Brown, from Plymouth, says on one occasion the person issuing body armour told her, "you're probably a small... but we don't have any smalls so here, take this medium".

It comes as the MoD paid for the supply of 2,000 sets of new curved body armour plates for women in the Ukrainian armed forces.

The UK government says it spent £4.5bn on military support to Ukraine last year.

It is understood the contract with NP Aerospace, based in Coventry, is in response to a specific operational need and sits outside the UK's wider equipment programmes, which go through their own testing and approval processes.

Seren White, who worked on the design of the new curved armour, says the plates have "been tested with the highest level of rigor".

For industry certification, she explains the plates need to be tested 36 times - but the new curved plates have been shot almost 300 times.

Engineers say they are able to debunk some "myths", including that bullets can ricochet off the curve in the ballistic plate.

"Women today are wearing flat plates that have been designed for male torsos," explains Erin Grieve, from NP Aerospace.

"We are trying to address that women are not small men - they're shaped differently."

Grieve says the firm's own research has concluded the curved plates provide women with more protection when compared with flat plates.

As it stands, this kit is not available for UK servicewomen.

The BBC spoke to a number of service women who asked to remain anonymous.

One described her body armour as "definitely not female and definitely not good".

Another said there was "none or barely any" female specific kit available to her and that the body armour did not account for "busty women".

Issues around kit and clothing have persisted.

Ofsted, which inspects MoD training establishment as well as schools, said in October 2025 that for the "fourth consecutive year" women and smaller recruits were being issued with ill-fitting kit and clothing, external.

Its report said: "This renders them at a disadvantage because they often do not appear as well turned out as their peers, or because ill-fitting equipment, such as webbing or rucksacks, prevents them from participating fully in training."

It added "ill-fitting kit poses a very serious risk" in combat situations.

Dr Mary Keeling, from the Centre for Evidence for the Armed Forces, says she is aware a rollout of new female kit and equipment, as well as availability, has been "inconsistent" since Atherton's report.

She says there have been "good steps in the right direction" but progress has been slow, adding faster changes are needed as the MoD aims to increase the number of women joining the forces.

Keeling says it will likely improve challenges in recruitment "if women feel welcome by making sure that appropriate kit and equipment are available".

After the Atherton Inquiry, RAF veteran Stacey Denyer, who left the service in 2023, was one of a number of servicewomen who joined a ministerial roundtable to discuss putting its recommendations into practice.

"In the latter part of my career, they started doing women's fitting boots. It was amazing," she explains.

"We're not whinging for the sake of whinging - we're making noise because it is a massive safety issue."

Denyer, who is from Taunton in Somerset, adds: "It absolutely needs to happen quickly and there is an aspiration for the armed forces to be 30% female by 2030.

"And if they want to attract women, they need to start looking after them properly, and that starts with kit."

Fred Thomas, MP for Plymouth Moor View and a former Royal Marines officer, says it should be "an absolute priority" for the MoD to get body armour that fits women at a time of heightened global instability.

Thomas was part of a Defence Select Committee hearing that reviewed the Atherton report in April, almost five years on from its publication.

He says he is aware of slow progress around improved kit but the services are "doing their best".

He adds it is "unacceptable for some people to be better protected than others".

The MoD says new ballistic plates will be delivered in 2028 and "will be available in multiple sizes offering a better fit for all service personnel."

The BBC understands these plates will be flat and not curved.

The MoD adds: "We are also developing the next generation of body armour through our Complex Geometry Body Armour Programme, which will enable the procurement of curved body armour plates."

It is understood these could begin to be delivered from 2029.

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