Program Manager for Infantry Combat Equipment (PM ICE), Portfolio Manager Ground Combat Element Systems (PfM GCES), MCSC, has announced they will host an Industry Day for the upcoming LITE Plate solicitation 17-18 October 2018 at Get It Done (GID) Solutions LLC in Triangle, Virginia. It will include classified one-on-one sessions with the PM shop.
The Low Intensity Threat Environment (LITE) Plate must be Berry Amendment compliant. It is a small arms protective hard armor insert that will improve the survivability and mobility of Marines by maximizing ballistic protection while minimizing the burdens of weight, bulk, and heat stress.
Interestingly, the NAICS code is 339113 (Surgical Appliance and Supplies Manufacturing) for this requirement.
Interested parties should visit www.fbo.gov for details.
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Yesterday, the US Marine Corps awarded Vertical Protective Apparel, LLC, of Shrewsbury, New Jersey, a $62,612,464 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to produce and deliver the PC Gen IIIs. A maximum quantity of 225,886 will be delivered, and the work will be completed by September 2023.
“The legacy carrier fit the span of the Marine Corps, but this new system is more tailorable to fit Marines of various sizes with three new smaller-stature options,” said Flora “Mackie” Jordan, body armor engineer for the Infantry Combat Equipment Team at MCSC. “We wanted to give as much mobility back to Marines as possible by reducing the weight and bulk of the vest without decreasing ballistic protection. We were able to reduce the weight of the vest by 25 percent.”
The goal was to lighten the load Marines carry to reduce fatigue and improve their operational capability in the field. A few new features of the PC Gen III contributed to the weight reduction.
Excess material was removed from the shoulders and about an inch-and-a-half was taken from the bottom, which provides better integration with the USMC Pack. The team also chose a laminated laser cut material that only absorbs seven percent of water compared to 70 percent with the legacy system.
“We made sure to get the best system for our Marines, which included choosing the best lightweight soft armor and the best quality when it comes to the cut and sew of the carrier,” said Mackie.
While conducting research, MCSC discovered Marines are eight percent faster when the PC Gen III systems were combined with prototype lightweight plates, compared to the Enhanced Small Arms Protective Inserts. They also found Marines could remove and reassemble the vest in less than three seconds.
“With the old system, it took about seven seconds to take it off, and 10 minutes to reassemble,” said project officer Capt. Frank Coppola, Infantry Weapons at MCSC who helped test the vests. “The new quick release works a hundred times better. It has a vastly improved quick detach system for Marines to act fast while on missions.”
The PC Gen III is less bulky and easier for Marines to move in, especially when working in tight spaces. An inner vest was also added to increase modularity of the system. Marines can adjust it to meet the requirements and environment of their particular mission.
“Our vests have come a long way over the past 15 years, and the reduced weight and increased mobility is huge,” Coppola said. “The fact that we can decrease the size of the vest and still be protected is the key.”
Infantry, school house, and Reconnaissance Marines, along with vehicle crewmen and combat engineers will receive the vests when fielding begins in the third quarter of fiscal year 2019.
Information provided by the MARCORSYSCOM PAO contributed significantly to this report, particularly the quotes from PM-ICE.
Back in January of last year, the Unites States Special Operations Command released a requirement for soft body armor in support of the Special Operations Forces Personal Equipment Advanced Requirements (SPEAR) program.
For those of you who are fixated on price being the government’s number one factor for selection of a solution, this isn’t always the case. For this solicitation, they were intent on the best value with appropriate consideration given to the major factors listed in descending order of importance: Technical/Management, Past Performance, and Price. Technical/Management is significantly more important than Past Performance, which is significantly more important than Price.
Specifically, the Technical/Management Factor (Factor 1) is significantly more important than the Past Performance Factor (Factor 2), which is significantly more important than the Price Factor (Factor 3). With regard to Factor 1, Subfactor 1 is significantly more important than Subfactor 2 which is significantly more important than Subfactor 3 which is significantly more important than Subfactor 4:
Factor 1 –TECHNICAL / MANAGEMENT
Subfactor 1: Weight?Subfactor 2: Soft Armor Limited User Evaluation?Subfactor 3: Technical Approach and Independent Ballistic Test Data
Subfactor 4: Delivery Schedule and Production Capacity/Capability
Factor 2 – PAST PERFORMANCE
Factor 3 – PRICE
They cancelled this initial solicitation at the end of April of this year because none of the offerors could meet the spec, which remains classified.
The solicitation was re-released in July of this year and an award was announced on September 20th to Hardwire, LLC of Pocomoke City MD. The award is a five-year, IDIQ, Firm Fixed Price contract for a minimum of $100,000.00 and a ceiling of $8,000,000.00.
Fenton, MO – FirstSpear Technology Group and Protactic have announced a joint development combining Protactic’s advanced materials and signature management solutions with the latest FirstSpear Technologies to create a system built from the ground up to support the demanding and unique requirements of the Mexican Marines.
The design incorporates a 6/12™ laser cut platform for less breakup of camouflage pattern and tighter pocket attachment with less movement than traditional MOLLE. Rapid-Release Tubes™ Technology on the shoulders and cummerbund provide the most secure and quickest way to don or doff a plate carrier. Tubes also ensure more consistent placement of ballistic components and does not wear out like traditional hook/loop vests.
By using these two technologies together there is a significant reduction in weight and bulk helping to reduce fatigue and minimize the silhouette of the end user. The hydration carrier leverages Tubes to quickly secure to the vest for improved range of motion and rapid individual access to the pack itself.
Texas Company Is Poised for Body Armor Sales Growth in 2018
Fort Worth, Texas – Sept. 17, 2018
In partnership with HESCO Armor, Inc., Texas-based ballistic armor retailer AT Armor, LLC has taken a strategic step toward providing the most flexible and affordable body armor solutions for North American law enforcement and military communities as well as all responsible citizens. Now a full-line HESCO reseller, AT Armor is in the position to build customized, in-depth body armor packages for every department’s needs, large or small.
Greg Rose, OEM Account Manager, Hesco Armor, Inc., understands the importance of forming partnerships: “As a market leader in ballistic inserts, we at Hesco Armor pride ourselves on working with US Army veteran-owned businesses and forming partnerships with trusted resellers that will streamline the purchasing process for our customers.”
The following HESCO Ballistic Inserts are now listed on the AT Armor website, with more to come:
Hesco BI L210 Special Rifle Threat Stand Alone Plates (Shooters Cut)
Hesco BI U210 Special Rifle Threat Stand Alone (Shooters Cut or SAPI)
Hesco BI 3800 Level III Stand Alone Plates (Shooters Cut or SAPI)
Hesco BI 3810 Level III+ Stand Alone Plates (Shooters Cut or SAPI)
Hesco BI 4400 Level IV Stand Alone Plates (Shooters Cut or SAPI)
These popular options from HESCO cover the action spectrum from fast-moving, highly volatile environments to low-profile concealment situations and active shooter/rapid response scenarios. In addition, access to a full array of plate carriers and carrier accessories manufactured in house gives AT Armor the unique ability to offer all-inclusive armor packages in support of both individual and department sales.
AT Armor’s founder Mike Martin states “HESCO has set the bar for American-made ballistic body armor. We’re proud to offer some of the lightest and most concealable plates manufactured today to our loyal first responders, tactical teams, and responsible citizens. They deserve the best.”
For more information about the full line of Hesco Ballistic Armor products, or to request quotes for department bids or contracts, please contact the AT Armor team at info@atarmor.com or visit the website, www.atarmor.com.
Eden, NC, September 13, 2018 – KDH Defense Systems, Inc. (“KDH”), a leading manufacturer of American-made, high-performance protective solutions, today announced it has been awarded a competitive, multiple-year Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) Contract for Ballistic Body Armor from the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”). Under the terms of this award (15DDHQ18D00000014), KDH will manufacture and deliver both concealable and tactical vests, as well as hard armor plates to the DEA. The contract covers one base year with four one-year options, with a maximum value that shall not exceed $2.9 million.
“For the past several years, KDH Defense has supported the DEA’s body armor requirements and we are honored again, to have been selected as their protective solutions company,” stated Dave Herbener, President of KDH.
Jim Henderson, Chief Executive Officer of the holding company that owns both Armor Express and KDH Defense Systems stated, “Between Armor Express and KDH, we now service most of the pre-eminent Federal agencies. Our goal is to continue to expand our reach, enhance our solutions and deliver the best service that our customers mandate. We stand ready to support the DEA’s mission-critical requirements and look forward to building on our partnership in the years to come.”
Manufacturing will be performed at the Company’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Eden, North Carolina. All body armor will be delivered, inspected and accepted at the DEA Headquarters and regional division offices located throughout the 50 United States and overseas.
A brand new stab resistant anti-riot suit has been launched in order to effectively help protect those professionals who have to deal with prison riots, public disorder, mass searches or other serious disturbances.
The types of weapons being used in these conflicts include knives or improvised man-made edged weapon, snooker queues, shanks made out of broken mirrors, glass or ceramic tiles, razor blades, sharpened bed or table frame legs, timber, socks filled with snooker balls, broken bottles, hypodermic needles and spikes, fire extinguishers and rocks or bricks and so on.
Robert Kaiser, CEO of PPSS Group, strongly believes their new stab resistant anti-riot suit, which offers truly incredible levels of protection from blunt force trauma as well as a high level of protection from edged weapons, will dramatically reduce the risk of physical injury in such incident.
He said: “For me to say my firm’s new Stab Resistant Anti-Riot Suit is definitely the appropriate type of safety equipment I felt like I needed to have unquestionable physical evidence in place to back up my claim.”
“We decided to produce a product demo video, which assures our clients and customers around the world that our equipment will reliably protect you from the most realistic threats and risks you will face.”
“Our rather powerful video has been produced to offer the wearer real peace of mind. You can trust its performance on focus entirely on the task on hand.”
PPSS Group’s new stab resistant anti-riot suit offers unlimited shelf life. There is no biological, chemical or physical evidence even suggesting that the protective raw materials being used will degrade over a 20 years period. This is of clear financial benefits to Governments Agencies, as commonly used safety equipment made out of Kevlar® would require replacing frequently.
Should you have any questions in reference to stab resistant anti-riot suits, then please contact PPSS Group directly.
We mixed the fronts and backs of 3 different carrier/vest shapes: the Assault Plate Carrier (APC) + Law Enforcement Plate Carrier (LEPC), the SCARABTM LT + SCARABTM LE, and the Low-Profile Armor Carrier (LPAC) + Low-Profile Assault Armor Carrier (LPAAC). We then created multiple configurations of each carrier/vest shape by offering different cummerbund, front flap, and quarter flap setups to bring you 26 new modular carrier/vest configurations.
SCARAB LT & SCARAB LE – 14 New Configurations APC & LEPC – 7 New Configurations LPAC & LPAAC – 5 New Configurations
Our goal is to provide the end user with gear that matches each user’s personal preference and mission specific needs. The project began with the objective to allow the end user to build their own carrier or vest setup. As the planning progressed, the decision was made to make the setup as easy as possible for the end user. We assembled all the possible configurations for you, simply put, modularity made easy.
For more information, on the new modular carrier and vest configurations please visit our website at www.velsyst.com
