Baker Ballistics

Baker Ballistics, LLC began in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks in New York City, by Lt. Alfred J. Baker, a highly decorated officer now retired from the NYPD Emergency Service Unit.

During his 23-year career at the NYPD, Lt. Baker was called to take action in multiple shootouts, and experienced first hand the loss of heroic fellow officers who were murdered in the line of duty.  He felt compelled to use his background and ingenuity to create a new innovative, portable and highly protective armor product – a personal protective shield that would be used much more frequently than traditional “bunker” defensive ballistic shields.  Most importantly, the new shield needed to operate efficiently and accurately with the most ideal first armed responder weapon, the long-gun!  Al’s idea soon came to become a reality.

In 2003 Lt. Baker teamed up with Rick Armellino – calling on Armellino’s 30 years of experience in armor design and manufacturing, including his experience as former President of American Body Armor & Equipment, Inc., to assist in the development of the Baker Batshield®.

Time has proven Baker Ballistics shields are now considered by many to be among the best life-saving types of protective equipment ever designed, and are now in use protecting the safety of thousands of law enforcement, military, and security personnel worldwide.

Designed, tested and manufactured in the United States, all Baker Ballistics employees share the concern about the increase in armed violence and are proud to produce life-saving quality products.

Baker Ballistics is the sole manufacturer of the Baker Batshield®, MRAPS™ and MRAPS-IV™ products – available from Baker Ballistics or their authorized cadre of professional distributors, dealers, and factory representatives.

Baker Batshield®, MRAPS™ and MRAPS-IV™ patented composite ballistic shields are solely manufactured by Baker Ballistics, LLC under terms dictated by legal agreements granted by Al Baker and Rick Armellino, and registered to Baker Ballistics.

U.S. Patent Numbers: 6,595,101  6,886,446  7,520,206  8,584,571

A MESSAGE FROM AL BAKER – INVENTOR OF THE BAKER BATSHIELD

In Brooklyn, New York, when Bobby Louden, NYPD’s Hostage Team Commander, yelled to me while we were on the way to a place occupied by a crazed, barricaded gunman, he didn’t know he was saving my life.

Lt. Louden reminded me, “Hey Al, don’t forget your new blanket!” He was referring to a new kind of ballistic shield that I helped develop in the early 1980’s, called the Ballistic Blanket. I brought it along. The suspect would fire a .45 caliber bullet directly at me from less than 2 feet away – but the slug was caught in the Kevlar – otherwise me.

As the decade labored on in New York City’s drug-war years there’d be more shootings and even more combat applications for ballistic shields for my ESU Team and me. There was the hostage situation in lower Manhattan where the suspect murdered his two young hostages and then turned his shotgun at us and our shields. I took a ricochet to the face but a half dozen of us were saved by our barriers and bunkers.

Time came for me to take my shield experience across the U.S. and I was granted the honor to train with operators from some 500 Teams; I slowly received a new shield orientation – that of a shield messenger for the future. Collectively, and certainly more by proximity than purpose, the masses of shield users educated me on a new and even better way to serve the mission of the protection of life and property.

Over the next decade and a half, in a certain and determined fashion, the Baker Batshield began to emerge from the taped memory banks of my mind, having been unanimously recorded by the students of shields.

Al Baker

A MESSAGE FROM RICK ARMELLINO – DIRECTOR/CEO OF BAKER BALLISTICS

It’s been nearly a decade since Lt. Al Baker approached me with a vision to create the world’s first portable ballistic shield capable of protecting users while they accurately fire long guns.  A mission was formulated to develop a completely new protective class of ballistic shield – what Al envisioned as personal protective gear remaining with each officer, always available when needed.

Mission accomplished… after years of production and refinement, the Baker Batshield® has proven itself to be one of the greatest advances in law enforcement officer safety.

Under Al’s relentless vision of perfection, Baker Ballistics continues to design and manufacture cutting-edge protection that stands up to present and emerging threats that endanger all law enforcement professionals.  The dedicated people at Baker Ballistics will continue to place Al’s creative ideas into enhancements and new products that increase the safety of those who Al considers to be his extended family members – everyone who wears a badge.

Today’s law enforcement, military and security personnel are fighting and dying on the front lines of a multi-faceted war against the enemies of civilized society.  I am humbled and honored to assist modern warriors duty-bound to protect those unable to protect themselves.

Rick Armellino