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Body Armor Basics

What Are Ballistic Panels?

"Ballistic panel" means two things: the soft armor inside a vest, and bullet-resistant panels built into walls and doors. What NIJ, the Compliant Products List and UL 752 say about each, and what to check.

ArmorList Editorial·November 9, 2024·7 min read

Ballistic panels means two different things, and it helps to know which one a seller means. In body armor, a ballistic panel is the soft armor that sits inside a vest's carrier. In buildings, it is a bullet-resistant panel fitted into walls, doors or counters. Both resist bullets, but they are rated under different standards and checked in different places.

This article covers both: what each is, how it is rated, and what to check. Where we give our own view, we say so.

Understanding ballistic panels

Body armor panels. Soft body armor is made of panels of layered fiber, worn in a carrier. NIJ describes soft body armor as working by catching the bullet in a web of very strong fibers that absorb and disperse its energy. The carrier holds the panels; it is not armor itself. BJA, which runs the Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP), defines "uniquely fitted" armor as a combination of correctly sized panels and carrier, with straps and fasteners properly adjusted.

Structural panels. UL Solutions describes UL 752 as covering materials, devices, assemblies and fixtures used to create bullet-resistant barriers. NIJ Standard 0108.01, Ballistic Resistant Protective Materials, sets requirements and test methods for armor materials, and NIJ lists their uses as protecting the occupants of vehicles, portable ballistic shields and fixed structures. These panels go into walls, doors and partitions.

For the materials in hard armor, see Materials Used in Armor Plates Explained.

How ballistic panels work

In a soft armor panel, NIJ describes the fibers as absorbing and dispersing the bullet's energy, with each successive layer absorbing more, while the bullet deforms. We found no NIJ source that names this process "delamination" (checked 1 October 2026), so we do not.

For a structural barrier, UL's own definition of "bullet-resisting" is protection against complete penetration, against passage of projectile fragments, and against spalling (fragmentation) of the protective material, to the degree that a person standing directly behind the barrier would not be injured.

A panel resists the threats named in its rating and no others. In our view, that is the first thing to check: which standard, which level, and which rounds.

Different levels of protection

Body armor panels and building panels use different standards, and their levels do not convert.

Body armor. NIJ certifies body armor for law enforcement model by model and lists compliant models on its Compliant Products List (CPL). NIJ 0101.07 uses the levels defined in NIJ 0123.00; CJTTEC, which administers the NIJ Compliance Testing Program, says NIJ 0101.07 names its levels "HG" for handgun and "RF" for rifle, with "a reduction in soft-armor levels and an additional hard-armor protection level". Under NIJ 0101.06, soft armor was tested at Levels IIA, II and IIIA. NIJ stopped accepting new 0101.06 models for testing on 5 January 2024, and anticipates maintaining the 0101.06 CPL through at least the end of calendar year 2029. A panel's level belongs to the model that was tested, so check the exact model, the standard and its status, with the date you read it.

The CPL answers one question: whether a model met NIJ's program. It matters where a buyer, policy or funder requires it; the BVP does. A panel tested to another standard, such as VPAM or the UK Home Office standard, is judged on that standard and its lab report.

Buildings. UL 752 rates bullet-resisting equipment such as barriers, not body armor; UL states it does not address personal protective equipment such as body armor, helmets and shields. UL 752 names its own threats, and its current edition uses designations beginning UL-HG (handgun), UL-RF (rifle) and UL-SG (shotgun). NIJ 0108.01 carries its own threat levels for materials. In our view, the level you need follows from the threats you assess, not from the kind of building.

For body armor levels, see Breaking Down Hard Body Armor Levels.

Common materials used in ballistic panels

Soft armor panels are made from fiber families such as aramids, sold under trademarks such as Kevlar (a para-aramid fiber that Stephanie Kwolek invented at DuPont in 1965; the brand now belongs to Arclin) and Teijin's Twaron, and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE). A trademark names the fiber, not the quality of a given panel.

Structural panels are made from a wider range, including resin-bonded fiberglass, aramid and polyethylene composites, ceramics and steel.

We found no NIJ or UL source that ranks these materials on weight, cost or performance (checked 1 October 2026), so we do not. What a given panel resists is what its test recorded. For more on aramid, read How Effective Is Kevlar in Body Armor?.

Advantages of using ballistic panels

For body armor, the panel is the protection: without it, a carrier is fabric. In our view, a soft panel's advantage is that it can be worn all shift, under or over the uniform.

For buildings, UL Solutions names banks, courthouses, schools and infrastructure facilities among the places UL 752 is used. In our view, panels built into walls, doors and counters let a building add protection without visible barriers.

Applications of ballistic panels

Body armor panels are worn by law enforcement officers, corrections officers and others, in concealable or external carriers.

Structural panels are fitted into walls, doors, counters and partitions, in places such as those UL Solutions names above. NIJ lists protecting vehicle occupants among the uses of 0108.01 materials, so panels also go into vehicle doors.

For military use of armor, see The Role of Body Armor in Military Applications.

Choosing the right ballistic panel for your needs

Our advice:

  1. Start from the threats you assess, then find a level whose test names those rounds.
  2. For body armor, check the exact model, its standard and level, and, where NIJ compliance is required, its CPL status with the date you read it.
  3. For an in-conjunction plate, check which soft armor model it was tested with: CJTTEC says such a plate should be used only with that model.
  4. For building panels, ask which standard (UL 752, NIJ 0108.01 or another) and which level, and for the test report.
  5. Ask the maker about installation, care and replacement for the exact product.

Installation and maintenance tips

Body armor panels. NIJ's general procedure is to remove the panels from the carrier, wipe the outer cover with a damp cloth and cold water, and air-dry them flat. NIJ advises against machine washing, soaking or submerging panels, against opening the panel covers, and against attempting to repair them; it advises inspecting covers frequently for cuts, tears and frayed fabric. NIJ also says heat, moisture, ultraviolet light, detergents, friction and stretching may contribute to the degradation of fibers used in body armor.

Structural panels. Our advice: have them installed by people experienced with the product, inspect them after any damage, and follow the maker's guidance on conditions such as humidity and temperature.

For more, see How to Maintain and Care for Body Armor.

Conclusion

A ballistic panel is either the soft armor in a vest or a bullet-resistant panel in a building, and each is rated under its own standard. For body armor, the panel's level belongs to the tested model, and NIJ lists compliant models on the CPL. For buildings, UL 752 and NIJ 0108.01 rate the barrier or the material.

To check a body armor model, ArmorList's product records show the standards a model is recorded as tested to and, for NIJ, its CPL status with the date the list was read.

Sources

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