RF-2 Panzerplatte

The plate is half the system

Most rifle plates arrive as a plate. You put it in a carrier, find out the carrier has no padding, add a layer yourself, and end up with about an inch of extra bulk between you and your rifle. That layer is why plate weight on its own tells you very little about what you will actually wear.

An ArmorIQ plate has the padding built into it. One assembly, dry fit against the body, nothing added after the fact.

Three things follow from that:

• The stack is thinner. The RF2 is 0.7 in thick, and there is no aftermarket pad on top of it.
• The fit is predictable. What you order is what the wearer carries, with no pad added in the field to change the weight or the stack.
• It scales. The same plate fits a whole team, in the sizes you order, without anyone buying, fitting or replacing pads separately.

Compare complete setups, not bare plates. Ask any manufacturer what a wearer carries once the carrier and padding are included, and what it measures front to back.

Tell us what your people wear today and what they carry. We will work out the plate and carrier combination that fits it.

Which plate do you need

The RF2 is a rifle plate, tested against 5.56x45 mm M193 and 7.62x51 mm M80 rounds. Here it is beside the HG2 Special, the handgun and special threat plate for daily wear, and the 3++, the rifle plate for entry teams and vehicle work.

Figures describe the reference size. Weight changes with the size you order, so ask for the weight of the size you are actually quoting. The deformation figures come from the reports in the testing section below, which also names the sample each report covers.

Compare weight only alongside size. A lighter plate that covers less of you is just a smaller plate, so the fair number is areal density, the weight per square foot of coverage. Ours is measured on the full plate. The protection row shows rounds each plate was tested against, not a rating. Send us your ammunition specification and we will tell you which reports cover it.

What the testing actually covers

When someone asks an AI or a colleague how to buy armor, the advice is almost always the same: get the lab documentation. Fair advice, and it is worth knowing what a useful report looks like, because a certificate on its own tells you very little.

A useful report names four things:

• The plate that was shot, and its size
• The round, and its speed
• How many shots, and where they hit
• What happened on each shot: did it go through, and how deep was the dent (the backface deformation)

Here is ours.

RF2. Energetic Test Labs, Phoenix, Arizona, an NVLAP accredited laboratory, Lab Code 600369-0. Report ETL-TR-AIQ-25-124-0105, May 2025. Sample tested: 9.5 x 11.5 in, 0.73 in thick, 6.016 lb. Six shots on one plate under the conditions of NIJ 0101.07 Ballistic Resistance V0: three of 5.56x45 mm M193 at about 3,250 ft/s and three of 7.62x51 mm M80 at about 2,800 ft/s. None went through. Backface deformation measured 4.4 to 5.0 mm on the five shots recorded.

RF2 is ArmorIQ's product name. It is not the NIJ 0101.07 RF2 protection class, and the plate is not NIJ certified.

HG2 Special. Energetic Test Labs, Phoenix, Arizona, an NVLAP accredited laboratory, Lab Code 600369-0. Report ETL-TR-AIQ-25-124-0103, May 2025. Sample tested: 9.5 x 11.5 in, 0.728 in thick, 4.744 lb. Three shots of 7.62x39 mm MSC at 2,400 ft/s, under the conditions of NIJ 0101.07 Ballistic Resistance V0 against a Roma Plastilina No. 1 backing. No penetration. Backface deformation measured 7.9 to 11.2 mm.

3++. Beretta Test Center, Gardone Val Trompia, Italy. Report 488/2026, May 2026, run to ArmorIQ's own protocol. Sample tested: 240 x 290 x 18 mm, 2.608 kg. Six shots on one plate: three of 7.62x51 mm NATO FMJ and three of 5.56x45 mm SS109. No penetration on any of the six. Backface deformation measured at 2, 2, 1, 0, 0 and 0 mm.

The number to hold on to is that last one. Backface deformation is the dent the plate drives toward your body, and it is what puts a wearer in hospital after the round has been stopped. The NIJ standard allows up to 44 mm of it. Ours measured 11.2 mm at worst on the HG2 Special, 5.0 mm on the RF2 and 2 mm at worst on the 3++.

If you are evaluating for a department or a unit, tell us the rounds and conditions your specification requires and we will take you through the reports that apply.

What the 12 year warranty means for you

ArmorIQ ballistic plates carry a 12 year warranty. Most of the category warrants a plate for five years, some for two.

That gap is a materials story, not a marketing one. Armor built around aramid fiber loses to humidity and ultraviolet light. Ceramic strike faces take micro cracks from ordinary handling, a dropped plate carrier, a hard edge in a locker. Manufacturers warrant what they can predict. An ArmorIQ plate is built around a sealed core that does not micro crack in a duty bag and does not mind an unconditioned armory or a wet vehicle.

What that means for a budget. A 12 year warranty lets a department or unit buy in bulk and keep plates in storage instead of planning to buy again every few years, with one fitting program instead of several. How long a plate lasts in service depends on how it is used.

Recommended care is simple: wipe the plate down once a year, store it dry, and keep it out of prolonged direct heat. These are recommendations for getting the full service life, not conditions attached to the warranty.

Replace any plate that has been shot, dropped onto a hard edge, or is visibly deformed, whatever its age. A warranty period is not a service life and no manufacturer's warranty date tells you a plate is still sound after an impact.

Carriers and textile products carry a limited lifetime warranty on stitching and workmanship. The 12 years is the plate. Ask us for the terms on the specific carrier model you are considering, so your team has the whole picture in one place.

Equipping a team

Buying for yourself? Add the plate to the cart and ask us anything about sizing or carrier fit.

Buying for a department, a unit or a contract, the next step is a conversation rather than a checkout. Tell us three things:

• What you need the plate to stop, and any ammunition your specification names
• Roughly how many people you are equipping
• Your timeframe, and whether this is a grant, a budget cycle or a live solicitation

We will come back with the plate and carrier options that fit, the test documentation that applies to them, the warranty terms, and a written quote you can take to a board.

Where the plates are made. ArmorIQ manufactures in the United States and in Italy. Which facility supplies a given order depends on the order, so if your contract carries Berry Amendment or TAA language, say so at the start and we will confirm the country of origin in writing before you commit to anything.

If what your unit needs is not in the catalog, ArmorIQ builds custom gear to your specification, alongside the off the shelf range. ArmorIQ is veteran founded.

We also run range days. Bring your own weapons and ammunition, we bring the plates, and your people shoot them before you commit to anything.

Include the three points above and we will reply with the documentation. See how a department or unit evaluation works.