The Virtus system includes protection for the extremities, including a set of knee pads. The knee pads are far more sophisticated than designs we have looked at on the blog before and include a hard shell outer and easily adjusted straps to secure them to the wearer’s knee:

The knee pads work to both protect the knee from rough ground and to provide a firmer connection with the ground when the soldier fires his rifle. The front of the pads have a plastic rigid shell with ground grippers built into them, mounted on a Poron XRD impact pad:

Wearers are warned to keep the ground grippers facing downward when they put the pad on to ensure they work correctly. Turning the knee pads over, we can see the black anti slip pad fitted to the rear:

This helped resolve an ongoing complaint about knee pads that over time they worked themselves down and off the knee so they ended up around the wearers ankles where they were a hindrance rather than a help. Note also the two ‘rear fastening elasticated straps’ (RFES) attached to the side of the pad. These pass around the back of the knee and attach to a pair of studs on the opposite side of the pad:

The manual explains how to put the pads on and secure them comfortably:

The knee pads have a label sewn to one of the straps on each pad, showing that they were manufactured in 2016:

To help protect the knee pads when not in use, a black carrying bag is provided:

The bag secures up the front with a zip and has a carry handle at the top with a fastex clip that allows it to be secured to something else if needed: