pelvis/lower extremity body armor
 

From Centcom website:
Pvt. helps Lance Cpl. put on a pair of lower body armor shorts. Both Marines are gunners with Battery L, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment. The battalion received 10 pairs of the experimental shorts, which are made from Kevlar, from the Marine Corps Warfighting Laboratory.
:munchin

It makes sense that this was coming. The increased effectiveness of body armor for the torso and head, as well as movements towards quick one handed tourniquetts for extremity bleeding leaves the pelvic reagion as a significant vulnerability with potential for bleeding that can't be easily controlled.

The major problems I can see just from that pic are:

-fatigue for the soldier moving on foot (if the shorts are intended for foot mobile troops)

-exacerbating the heat challenge

-possible increase in dermal/fungal problems in the soft, damp, nether regions

I wonder if these are being driven by shifts in injury statistics as a result of better body armor for the torso and head.