Unfortunately I started drafting this post months ago then it got lost in the system, so I can’t recall exactly what exhibition this was, but a stand put on by the British Army was showing off various bits of new equipment, to include a modernised version of the Osprey armour carrying vest.
The basic shape remains the same to fit the same soft armour and plate, which is perhaps the biggest thing holding back UK issued body armour at the moment, but the nylon carrier is getting some laser cut PALS elements, though sadly still with 7 columns across the front, but with the option for zip-attached panels at the rear. More hopefully, there might potentially an improvement to the side closure/cummerbund area, which would be a good step forward if implemented.
The product page on Source’s own website was below, but sadly deleted now (August 2026).
One of the videos on the product page discusses various detailed features of the vest and the one I personally paid a lot of attention to is the potential selection of cummerbund closure buckles that can be utilised:
TeeQueue
Seems like a small, but not insignificant improvement to the Source Virtus, but dear god the dumb proprietary Cummerbund and quick release need to be shown the exit.
Can I ask what problem you have with the soft armour?
Liam
Dear God just let it die. They’re examining moving over to SAPI plates again but whether it happens is yet to be seen. It’s baffling why its still 7 wide and why it doesn’t have a placard attachment system which is basically industry-standard at this point. The whole battery thing seems like a gimmick too, it will make carrying daysacks and bergens very uncomfortable and increase risk of injuries by pushing CoG further out. Wonder if a cummerbund mounted solution could be made to work
KP
Still no shooters cut, now a bulkier back panel so the straps to my daysack will be tighter than a fat birds dress, the Ukrainian companies that have popped up since the invasion have by far created kit and equipment far superior to the virtus system, do the people at virtus not study conflict or the competitive market at all? Helmet looks ok but will probably have the same issues as the current one with the internals always breaking. The belt kit sucks, so much so people would rather use tailored DPM PLCE. The marginal improvements are just that, marginal. With the constant rhetoric of an impending conflict they sure do push out some shoddy kit. Also with 2025 now passed and this stuff barely coming into service it makes you think whether or not the MoD could organise a piss up in brewery.