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WASHINGTON (Army News Service) — The Army awarded a contract Tuesday for
a helmet that weighs an average of 22 percent less than the one currently in use
but provides just as much protection, according to officials.
The Advanced Combat Helmet Generation II contract was awarded to Revision
Military in Vermont to produce up to $98 million in helmets over the next five
years. The contract was mentioned Wednesday at the Senate Armed Services
Committee, during a hearing about Army modernization.
Brig. Gen. Robert L. Marion, deputy of acquisition and systems management for
the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and
Technology, told senators the helmet and other lightweight body armor items
now being developed are among the Army’s most promising new technologies.
The new helmet is made from ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene, a lighter
material than Kevlar, but reportedly just as strong. It can stop 9 mm handgun
rounds, officials said, along with various shell fragments.
Collaboration with industry, academia and government research laboratories
enabled the weight reduction without compromising integrity, according to
Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.
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