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The US military is developing 鈥�Xena: Warrior Princess鈥�-style body armor for women that it hopes will give them greater protection on the battlefield, with more curves in the chest and hips.

It is a considerable engineering challenge to make body armor that better fits the bodies of female troops, US military officials acknowledge, and such armor may be years in the making.

In the meantime, Army engineers are forging ahead with improvements that they hope will provide much-needed changes after a decade of women serving on the front lines of an unpredictable battlefield.

Much of the impetus to change the body armor came in 2009, when the female soldiers of the storied 101st Airborne Division deployed to war and had some concerns about the gear they had to use on a daily basis.

鈥淚t rubbed on the hips, and the vests were too long in the front, so that when you had female soldiers climbing stairs or climbing up a hill or a tree, or sitting for a long time in a vehicle, that would create pressure points that in some instances could impact blood flow and cause some discomfort,鈥� says Lt. Col. Frank Lozano, who helps develop female body armor.

Ill-fitting body armor is 鈥渕ore than a matter of comfort,鈥� according to a subsequent US Army study. 鈥淚t affects combat effectiveness.鈥�

The study found that the poor fit of the body armor on female soldiers 鈥渕ade it difficult for [them] to properly aim their weapons and enter or exit vehicles.鈥�

And so the Army set about to see what it could do to improve the fit of body armor for women. 鈥淚t became clear to us that there was a difference in torso length,鈥� says Lozano, who is the product manager for the Army鈥檚 soldier protective-equipment program. 鈥淭he other point that we realized is that there is a significant difference in shoulder width. I read this data, and it seems so obvious.鈥�

The most important goal is to be able to 鈥渟pread out the energy鈥� when a bullet hits the body armor plates, says Douglas Graham, a spokesman for the Army鈥檚 Office of Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment.

鈥淪ome people would like to eventually make plates so it鈥檚 like 鈥榅ena: Warrior Princess鈥� and conforms to the shape鈥� of female soldiers, he adds.

Yet there are engineering challenges. The more curves the plates have, the heavier they get. It also creates potential weaknesses in the armor, like creasing a paper, Lozano explains.

鈥淭here are some complex curvatures that come into play with female hard-armor plates,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 could make female hard armor, but it would be twice as heavy.鈥� As a result, some of the Army鈥檚 developmental efforts involve 鈥渦nique chemical designs鈥� to create plates that are lighter and conform to different body shapes.

Currently, female soldiers have a choice of 11 male body-armor sizes.

Now, the Army is testing eight additional sizes made specifically for women, with, among other changes, more-narrow shoulders and 鈥渂ra-shaped darting鈥� in the chest.

Some 100 women of the 101st Airborne Division, who will soon be headed to Afghanistan, are testing them and have given positive early feedback. 鈥淭hey say, 鈥業 could wear this all day,鈥� 鈥業 could run a marathon in this,鈥� and 鈥業t feels much lighter,鈥� even though it really isn鈥檛 any lighter,鈥� Lozano says.

Now, he adds, the challenge will be finding the money, in the midst of robust calls for cuts in defense spending, to mass-produce them.