Tactical Communication and Protective System (TCAPS) is an Army hearing protection and augmentation program designed to enhance low level sounds and improve clarity while simultaneously reducing or removing exposure to hazardous impulse noise and blast overpressure. Additionally, TCAPS is compatible with military communications systems.
Ceradyne was recently awarded a contract for their Enhanced Combat Helmet for use by the US Army and Marine Corps. One of the key ingredients to the success of their design was DSM’s Dyneema HB80 unidirectional (UD) composite. HB80 happens to be the only material that passed stringent ECH testing and is currently used in vehicle armor applications.
In a press release, Dr. James Zheng, chief scientist Soldier Protective and Individual Equipment, PEO Soldier said, “The ECH program represents a major advance in helmet technology that can deliver enhanced superior protection for our troops. Our close collaboration with leading industry partners such as Ceradyne and DSM Dyneema enabled us to utilize their valuable technological expertise and support, resulting in the new ECH helmet.”
We got some photos of Brookwood’s finalist submission for the US Army Camouflage Improvement Effort and at first we didn’t want to offer them because the patterns didn’t seem to share a common geometry. We were actually hoping to get some better photography that would show the patterns’ common features. Turns out, having a true family of patterns with common geometry was just general guidance and not a factor in selection and the Brookwood patterns don’t include this feature. So here they are.
In a statement received by SSD from PEO Soldier spokeswoman Debra Dawson this morning, the Army has announced that they have withdrawn the unrevealed, so-called ‘Natick’ or Government developed family of patterns from the Camouflage Improvement Effort.
“On Jan. 10th, the Army announced that families of camouflage patterns from one government team and four commercial vendors were selected to proceed into the next step of evaluations. As part of a cost savings strategy and as a result of initial assessments, the government submission is being removed from further consideration as a replacement to the universal camouflage pattern. This decision has been made in light of the similarity between elements of the government and one industry submission and the higher score of the industry submission during the initial evaluation. We are excited about the four vendor patterns we are going forward with. We anticipate experiencing very positive results in our field trials and more advanced computer evaluations. We will continue to work closely with our industry partners and our government team, especially in terms of research, development and evaluation. The Army conducts extensive testing to ensure we provide Soldiers with the very best clothing and equipment.”
Good on the Army for reducing redundancies and further focusing the effort. This leaves the four industry finalists:
ADS Inc as Prime, partnered with Guy Cramer
Brookwood Companies
Crye Precision
Kryptek
U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Gina Vaile-Nelson, 133rd MPAD
Please review this morning’s lead story from SSD…
And then read Matt Cox’s KitUp’s article from today…
Camo Update: Army Doing “Research†on Camouflage
Based on what both Matt and I heard, and related to you, do you feel that the Army’s Camouflage Improvement Effort is a priority?
Last week, SSD participated in a media roundtable concerning Army modernization. According to the Army’s top Modernization officials, one of the rejected recommendations of the “Decker-Wagner” report on acquisition reform was to change the name of PEO Soldier to ‘PEO Soldier and Small Units.’ At face value it actually makes sense, considering the Chief of Staff of the Army’s number one priority is to “unburdening the soldier and establish the squad as the decisive combat element.” That is, so long as you don’t know what PEO Soldier actually does, and that is equip the Soldier, which is the most fundamental weapon system our nation possesses. Fortunately, the Army’s leadership realized that changing the name could also change the focus and we applaud the Army for its decision.
The concern in the Army wing at the Pentagon is the perception that Army Acquisition is broke. According to LTG Bill Phillips, “The myth is, Army acquisitions can’t deliver. The truth is, we deliver for our soldiers. We’ve delivered yesterday, we deliver today and we’ll deliver tomorrow.”
MG Tony Cucolo, the Director of Force Development at the G8, spoke about several Army wins including the Double V hulled Stryker that was but a GDLS Powerpoint slide 24 months ago and has already been in the fight saving lives. The Army plans to buy a total of 760 of the vehicles, enough for two Brigades, a few spares and training and R&D.
However, we were a little disturbed by one thing. We were allowed to ask one question and it involved the Army’s impending date with destiny regarding camouflage. When we asked the panel if the Army was prepared to recapitalize all of its uniforms and Organizational Clothing and Equipment in a family of new patterns, we were answered with the General Officer version of the punt. You know…”Um yeah, we know they’re working on something down there at PEO Soldier.” They aren’t completely oblivious to the notion but the idea of fielding billions of dollars worth of personal gear over the FYDP isn’t even on their plate. Considering that the Soldier is the CSA’s number one priority, it begs the question; “Is the Army Camouflage Improvement Effort going to result in anything tangible?”
Over the last couple of years the US Army has been collecting anthropomorphic data on its Soldiers to improve models for clothing patterning and size tariffing for uniforms and other sized equipment as part of the ANSUR II program. This anthropomorphic data is also used by engineers who develop cockpits and crew stations on vehicles and aircraft. Anthropometry is the study of physical dimensions in people, including the measurement of human body characteristics such as heights, breadths, girths, and reaches.
Not only are Soldiers built differently now than they were when the currently used info was collected in 1988 from active-duty personnel, but Americans in general are bigger. Consequently, this time around the Army wanted to collect info on the from about 13,000 troops representing the total force including Reservists and Guardsmen.
They have been making the rounds to various installations and recently visited Camp Shelby where this video was taken. In addition to the 95 traditional body measurements taken, 3D whole body, head/face and foot scans were be collected as part of this $9.5 Million program.
We were getting lots of questions from folks in industry asking us if we had heard anything about this year’s Soldier Systems Advanced Planning Brief for Industry. We hadn’t, and we hadn’t seen any announcements on Fed Biz Opps so we sent an inquiry to PEO Soldier but they never answered back. However, we’ve consulted with enough industry sources that we feel confident telling you that there isn’t going to be an APBI this year. It’s almost like cancelling Christmas for some folks.
The Soldier Systems APBI was a unique gathering. It brought together Acquisition professionals representing all four services, USSOCOM, and DHS with industry reps from the entire supply chain. No other DoD commodity group could boast this kind of interaction. What’s more, it didn’t cost an arm and a leg to participate so you’d see a lot of smaller firms there as well. I’d hazard a guess that more business was conducted over the two days in the lobby of that get together than at any other time throughout the year.
Sure, there are lots of other meetings throughout the year, but they are smaller and parochial in nature. For example, the footwear producers will meet, and maybe the printers or the armor folks. But generally, they are talking amongst themselves and often at an industry day where they are in direct competition. The APBI was the one time a year where everyone was in it together and critical to the health of the industry.
With an abrupt change in leadership at the PM-ICE the week before last and an upcoming change of command at PEO-Soldier this is the perfect time to ‘rally the troops.’ Hopefully, someone will step up and be able to recreate the magic that was the Soldier Systems APBI in a non-parochial venue.
