KDH Defense Systems is producing its new, lightweight ballistic pack, called “Convergence,” for the Army’s Improved Outer Tactical Vest (IOTV). Tested to ensure that the new package meets or exceeds all Army ballistic testing standards, according to KDH Convergence has reduced the weight of the IOTV’s armor package by more than 10%.

“KDH Defense Systems continues to make significant advances in reducing the weight of Soldier borne protective technologies,” stated Jeff Payne, Special Projects Manager, Research and Development, for KDH. “This milestone marks the first actual weight reduction under the current soft ballistic requirement and the first considerable reduction since the 1.1 psf requirement was implemented in the late 1990s. With the Convergence IOTV lightweight ballistic pack nearly 10% lighter than specification, the Soldier can now much more easily accomplish his combat missions regardless of the enemy, the terrain, and the weather encountered. Reducing the weight of the armor system also provides for the opportunity to add other potential life-saving equipment such as additional ammunition to the load. This innovative, new technology has the potential to reduce the weight of every armor system under the current requirement regardless of style,” Mr. Payne concluded.

“Lighten the load has been the resounding command from the military for more than a decade,” stated SGM (Ret) William T. (Butch) Hancock, Jr., Military Program Development for KDH. He continued, “The Afghan surge, which requires more foot patrols than were carried out in Iraq, has fueled the need to make our Soldiers more agile in their protective gear by reducing the weight of their armor systems. KDH’s new IOTV lightweight ballistic pack, Convergence, is one of the lightest and most flexible packages ever selected by the United States Army.”

“The emphasis to increase the ballistic protection of the Soldier has increased his survivability while hindering his mobility and endurance,” stated David Herbener, President and Chief Executive Officer of KDH Defense Systems, Inc. “We know what we have today works, but the challenge is reducing the weight while maintaining or exceeding the identical amount of protection. We are pleased that the United States Army has chosen KDH’s new, lightweight Convergence ballistic package and we continue to look beyond the current Soldier protection systems in an effort to protect against threats that Soldiers haven’t yet encountered. KDH remains steadfast in its commitment to developing solutions that will make Soldiers more agile in their protective gear by reducing the weight and bulk of the systems while making the design of such armor much more flexible and comfortable to wear.”

KDH currently manufactures the Amy’s IOTV and Soldier Plate Carrier System as well as the USMC IMTV and Plate Carrier. They moved completely to their current ISO 9001 facility in Eden, North Carolina from Johnstown, Pennsylvania in early 2010.

Bravo to the Army as well as KDH for making this happen as reducing the weight of armor is one of our biggest challenges. KDH did receive Congressional earmarks in 2008 and 2010 to improve ballistic protection the tune of $3.36 Mil so it’s good to see a return on the investment. But, this isn’t exactly a technological breakthrough. KDH did what it could based on the materials it was allowed to work with. There are myriad armor packages available commercially that blow the previous IOTV weight per square foot standard away if you move in a different direction.

Industry insiders estimate there are currently between eight and ten certified armor packages for the IOTV with the point Blank developed Pathfinder-S being the most popular and serving as a de facto baseline that everyone else varies from. There are several methods to reduce cost for these packages but reducing weight proves very tricky considering the Army has stood by woven aramids such as Twaron or Kevlar KM2 rather than introducing unidirectional technologies which can be made from polyethylene such as Dyneema or aramids such as Goldflex. While weights drop when using the unidirectional fabrics due to their higher performance, conversely costs rise. Naturally, the lower the weight, the higher the cost.

As we have said before, if there is a true desire to reduce the load, particularly on the armor side, true quantifiable measures can be made, but someone has to foot the bill.