http://www.bulletproofme.com/Ballistic_Protection_Levels.shtml10 and 16.7 pounds for Level III and Level IV protection in a minimal sized protection (i.e. chest only, 10 x 12 inches). The rest of the suit will NOT be up to Level III or Level IV, but weighs more do to the greater amount of coverage (i.e. greater amount of armor).
While 16 pounds does NOT sound like much, once you realized this is addition to the basic weight of the rest of the Armour Protection, you see the problem is NOT the 16 pounds but that it is 16 pounds IN ADDITION to the rest of the armour and gear being carried.
Even in the Middle Ages, the weight of armor was its biggest draw back. In fact when gunpowder was introduced, armor fell by the wayside NOT because bullets could penetrate the armor, but that the distance one had to travel while in combat increased by a factor of 10 i.e. effective arrow range was about 100 yards, some could be further but tend to be ineffective beyond 100 yards. Cannon changed the battlefield, cannon ranges, even if only a three to four pounder, had a range over 1000 yards by 1500). Thus the area of combat changed from about 100 yards away from each other to over 1000 yards away from each other. Horse mounted units were the most affected by this, for prior to Cannon, they only had to change 100-200 yards and face arrows, but once Cannon was introduced charges from a safe location had to cover over 1000 yards, and the horses could NOT carry a fully armored knight that distance. The Pike came into widespread combat use, for a Pike is a weapon of attack, not the charge and retreat that was common in pre-gunpowder Infantry battles. Again in pre-gunpowder days, troops would face each other at about 100 yards (just outside effective Arrow Range) and left their light troops shoot arrows at each other trying to get fire superiority, then the infantry would attack or make a fake attack to see how the other side was shaping up, this could go on for hours as the two sides wore each other down. Once gunpowder came into use, Cannon forces both sides to stand 1000 yards from each other and any retreat would lead to massive attack by cannon fire on the retreating force, thus once one side made a commitment to an attack it was an all out attack without a withdraw, thus the pike came into widespread use.
I go into the above for it shows that weight of Armor affected its use. The longer one had to wear it AND MOVE AROUND, the more it wore you down. Thus once you are NO longer talking about 100 yards dashes, armor fell out of favor. Armor only came back into favor as artillery made the battlefield even less clear so both sides started to dig in field protection from artillery which in turn permitted troops to move in closer to each other (Armor also reduced distances Infantry had to travel, but again a WWII and post WWII development that lead to today's widespread use of Armor).
Now, with most of our troops traveling in some sort of Armored vehicle (Even if it is an up-armored Humvee) the distance most of them traveling on foot with full armor is limited, but once in combat the armor will slowly take its toll. Now, air power can be anywhere in Iraq and Afghanistan in 20 minutes so this is a minimal problem for our troops, but it is a factor when deciding to have them wear armor or not.
Secondary, remember the number 1, reason troops are "Casualties" in Combat is NOT that they are killed, but that they are wounded. Level III and Level IV armor give little or no protection to legs and arms, which if hit takes the soldier out. Thus the AK-47 is still an effective weapon against our troops, not as a killing weapon but as a wounding weapon. The combat results are the same, the soldier is out of the combat situation. The only way to avoid this is to increase Level III and Level IV to the whole body, but the weight would just be to much for an individual soldier to carry.
My point is Armor for Troops is NOT always a good thing, the extra weight is the huge downside. Presently the upside of additional protection overcomes the downside, but if our troops have to travel more on foot in combat the extra weight will slowly become a downside. This is true more of Level III and Level IV armor them lighter armor, but it is the biggest factor is the adoption and use of armor.
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