U.S. military blow up pigs to test body armor

U.S. military researchers used live pigs to test body armor to assess the connection between roadside bombs blasts and brain injuries.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or DARPA, funded by the government, conducted this study. In testing done over an 11-month period, researchers strapped pigs and rats in Humvee simulators and subjected them to about 200 blasts to simulate the roadside bomb scenarios, according to USA Today. The military conducted this study to see whether body armor deflected the force of blasts toward the head, thus increasing the risk of brain injury. Animal activists are not happy with the use of pigs in these tests, but the military says it is a necessity and saves lives in a war. DARPA spokeswoman Jan Walker told USA Today:

"If use of animal subjects in testing results in our ability to save lives or prevent injury to our troops, we're confident this is the right thing to do...Pigs that were not dressed in body armor died from blasts within 24 to 48 hours, while those with armor survived "significantly higher blasts."

After 200 blasts, the test study concluded body armor does not increase the risk of brain injury. Body armor protected the soldiers’ lungs, which was critical to surviving the blasts. Martin Stephens, vice president for animal research issues at the Humane Society of the United States, told USA Today:

"This is a worthy goal, trying to prevent soldiers from being injured by roadside bombs...I think the relevance of this is highly questionable. People are not pigs."

Military researchers like Col. Geoffrey Ling said pigs are ideal subjects for such type of tests because their brains are similar to human brains. Also pig’s heart and lungs are similar to those in humans. The Pentagon and DARPA didn’t say how many animals were used, but they did say a minimum number of animals were used and they were all treated humanely.