VIRGINIA BEACH -- A popular but controversial protective gear designed to save soldiers’ and police officers’ lives were on display Thursday.

Pinnacle Armor, manufacturers of Dragon Skin Body Armor, held a demonstration despite a storm of bad publicity.

Dragon Skin backers dispute findings by the Army and the National Institute of Justice which claim the vests could not maintain ballistic performance over their six-year warranty period.

Company president Murray Neal claims the tests were flawed, and says his product has never failed.

During the demonstration a volley of four .308 caliber hollow point sniper rounds pumped into the Dragon Skin Body Armor, with its overlapping silver dollar sized ceramic and titanium discs.

They were all direct hits, and they did no damage.

“It would’ve been one round,” said Kent Mote, C2 Shooting Center owner. “He would’ve lost all motor skills. If he would’ve had a hostage, he would’ve dropped.”

The dummy beneath the flexible, SOV-2000 level III ballistic vest did not suffer a scratch, even when shot from far closer.

Again, and again, the armor got pounded, took a licking and kept on ticking.

The same could not be said for the standard Army-issue Interceptor S.A.P.I. plated vest, which 13News wore in 2004 day in and day out in Iraq, which the vast majority of U.S. troops still wear today. When the Interceptor underwent the same test as the Dragon Skin, it was obliterated.

The demonstration at C2 Shooting Center came as the Dragon Skin’s Fresno, California Manufacturer, Pinnacle Armor, finds itself in the midst of a firefight of its own after the National Institute of Justice removed Dragon Skin from its list of bullet resistant body armor models.

That took place following 2006 Army testing which CEO Neal says was flawed.

“It’s slowed us down,” he said. “It’s what their goal is to do, is we’ve been told we’ve been given a professional timeout. Again, I’m not here to go away. They’re not going to run me out of business. I’m not a tucker. I’m going to stay in there because soldiers deserve it.”

Pinnacle claims to have lost millions of dollars as a result of the government's ruling against its product, and is now suing to get the Dragon Skin vests recertified.