British soldiers are raising concerns about their new Israeli-made, army-issue body armour – with one troop suggesting parts of the latest load-carrying system may as well be ‘used as fire fuel.’ The criticism focuses on parts of an integrated new armour system called Virtus, which is being brought into service to replace the heavier Afghanistan-era Osprey armour. Soldiers say some of the pouches and straps used to store and attach equipment are ‘snapping.’ So far the military has issued 9,000 units of Virtus to key combat units including the Parachute Regiment and Royal Marines. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said it is working with the supplier to fix the issues. However, the father of one soldier told the BBC he is appalled, the new kit appeared to be substandard. His son and fellow-soldiers still found it hard to get back up again if they were forced to go to ground in the face of the enemy, he said.