NIJ Standard 0101.07 is the current NIJ standard for ballistic-resistant body armor. Since October 2024, the NIJ Compliance Testing Program has evaluated ballistic armor against it, and NIJ has published the initial list of models found compliant. The older 0101.06 list is still maintained. For a while, then, two lists run side by side, and a claim is only as good as the list the model is actually on.
What changed with 0101.07
NIJ published 0101.07 in November 2023, together with a companion document, NIJ Standard 0123.00. The two have separate jobs. 0101.07 sets the performance requirements and test methods for body armor, and builds its test procedures on ASTM test methods and practices. 0123.00 defines the protection levels and their test threats: HG1 and HG2 for handguns, and RF1, RF2 and RF3 for rifles.
NIJ's stated reason for putting the threats in a separate document is interoperability: a new threat can be addressed once, instead of by revising several equipment standards.
The levels moved with the change. Level II became HG1 and Level IIIA became HG2. Levels III and IV were revised into three rifle levels, and Level IIA was retired with no successor. The names follow a lineage (NIJ 0123.00 says, for example, that RF1 replaces Level III and RF3 replaces Level IV), but a model's listing does not carry over: a model is listed under 0101.07 only once it has been tested to it.
Two lists, two dates
- NIJ stopped accepting new 0101.06 models for testing on 5 January 2024. Models already listed stay listed, subject to follow-up inspection and testing (FIT).
- NIJ anticipates maintaining the 0101.06 list through at least the end of 2029. A 0101.06 listing is not expired; it is closed to new models.
- New models are evaluated to 0101.07 and, once compliant, appear on the 0101.07 list.
A model that is still in testing does not appear on either list. "In testing" and "pending" are not CPL statuses.
How to read a claim
- Find the exact model on the list for the standard it claims, not on the manufacturer's own page.
- Check which standard the listing is under. A 0101.06 Level IIIA listing is not an HG2 listing, whatever the model is called.
- Read the status (Active, Suspended or Inactive) and note the date you read it.
- If a claim says 0101.07 and the model is only on the 0101.06 list, ask the seller which Notice of Compliance supports the claim.
For agencies writing a solicitation
Our position, stated as ours: name the standard, edition and level you require, and decide in writing whether 0101.06 listings are acceptable for this purchase. If your older requirements use 0101.06 levels, write down how you will treat each one rather than assuming an equivalent. Re-check each offered model's status on the list before award, because status can change.
For manufacturers
Our position, stated as ours: describe status in the list's own terms. A model is listed under a named standard, with a status, or it is not listed. A 0101.07 claim needs a 0101.07 Notice of Compliance for that model.
Sources
- NIJ, Compliant Products List: Ballistic Resistant Body ArmorRead September 25, 2026
- CJTTEC, NIJ Standard 0101.07 InformationRead September 25, 2026
- NIJ, Ballistic Resistance of Body Armor, NIJ Standard 0101.07Read September 26, 2026
- NIJ, Specification for NIJ Ballistic Protection Levels and Associated Test Threats, NIJ Standard 0123.00Read September 25, 2026
- CJTTEC, New Ballistic-Resistant Body Armor Standard PublishedRead September 25, 2026
- CJTTEC, Compliant Product ListsRead September 25, 2026