Military kit still failing women, troops say

Rhian Brown served seven years in the Army Reserve before leaving in 2024 after working as an infantry platoon commander

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."

Rhian Brown, second from left, says she had difficulty getting clothing or body armour that was small enough for her

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 curved plates allow for breast shape and the firm behind the design claims they will better protect women when compared with the flat plate

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

It is understood t