The 20 pound difference between the vests is a HUGE issue, as an infantryman is already carrying about 40 pounds of equipment BEFORE the vest is added to the combat load. (Want to see the difference? Put 60 pounds in a backpack, walk around with it all day, and then after giving your body a while to recover, then try the same with 80 lbs. That weight doesn't even take in the extra 20 pounds that an RTO or a machine gunner is carrying.)

While the DoD procurement system is a bureaucratic maze at best, they do occasionally get some things right. The maker of Dragon Skin has been deeply embroiled in a PR campaign for about 2 years now to get the vests accepted, and the media is just making a mess out of it.