VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – (OCTOBER 12, 2017) – Mission Ready Services Inc. (“Mission Ready” or the “Company”) (TSX VENTURE:MRS) is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a contract to produce next generation cold weather gear prototypes for the US Army based upon Government furnished designs under solicitation number W911QY-17-R-0041. The single fixed price contract awarded to Protect The Force (“PTF”) – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mission Ready – is for the production of approximately 130 each of an experimental cold weather jacket and trouser in approximately 6 sizes with a receipt date no later than December 1, 2017 for a winter 2017-2018 limited field user evaluation.
The US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development & Engineering Center (“NSRDEC”) is conducting a front-end analysis under the Cold Temperature and Artic Protective System (“CTAPS”) project. CTAPS is a Soldier head to toe clothing ensemble with -65 to +45F environmental protection. The CTAPS objective shall improve the cold weather soldiers’ survivability, mobility and lethality potential in the fewest number of clothing layers with increased utility that allow soldiers to configure the clothing protection to match their activity any environment conditions from-65 to 45F.
Technical analysis to date has identified performance gaps and is now examining new technology and design improvements to quantify capability advancements over the Army’s 2000 era Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (Gen III). PTF will produce concepts and make recommendations for improved performance and/or manufacturability of the Government design as appropriate on an experimental cold weather jacket and trouser to quantify what advancements can be achieved in the Gen III Layer 5 Softshell jacket and trouser.
Jeffery Schwartz, President & CEO of Mission Ready, states, “The great minds within our Company continue to raise the bar for tech-centric, defense-related innovations. This award is a tremendous win for the Company in that it provides a highly credible medium for the Company to further prove its innovation capabilities by disrupting another critical industry, on a very high level, through the production of this next generation cold-weather technology.”
The US Government has furnished the Company with detailed technical drawings and graded patterns for the recommended jacket and trouser design as well as a list of required material components with source information, and any specific construction requirements that may not be included in commercial garment sewing practices. NSRDEC has not provided a detailed performance specification and is relying on the Company to fabricate the garments based upon its experience constructing military garments and utilizing its best commercial production and inspection practices.
Mission Ready’s Chief Technology Officer, Francisco Martinez, led the proposal phase working with the Company’s Innovations and Manufacturing team as well as key suppliers. Mr. Martinez states, “The US Army growing needs in upgrading their cold-weather uniforms is an important life saving program for our Soldiers. Participating as the sole company in this key prototyping effort is a validation point of the vision that we set for Protect The Force early in 2017, and a moment of pride for the extremely dedicated and talented team of employees in both Boston, MA and Jacksboro, TN. We look forward to working with the Army and with our suppliers in this key effort.”
The findings from this effort and other concepts from industry shall lead to a complete integrated clothing ensemble for winter 2019 field testing. The FY19 field test results shall inform the requirements and acquisition entities of CTAPS capability advancements to determine if Army full scale development and fielding will be pursued.
For more information, visit MissionReady.ca or ProtectTheForce.com.
