Military equipment: Army, Marines strive to improve personal combat gear.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: SOLDIER TECHNOLOGY

AS THE PENTAGON STRUGGLES TO pay mounting war costs, the Army and Marine Corps are pressing ahead with efforts to provide troops with improved equipment.

The list is long, including everything from better helmets and body armor to protective eyewear, winter clothing, boots, socks, even parachutes.

Money; however, is tight. The Army expects that it will need $17.1 billion in 2007 alone to repair or replace equipment that has been lost, damaged or worn out in combat. The Marines may require as much as $12 billion.

Nevertheless, the two services say they are placing a high priority on providing better personal gear to help protect war fighters against specific threats they are facing, such as roadside bombs, desert heat and cold mountain weather.

"I've seen more equipment go out to Marines in the past four years than in the 20 years I was in the Marine Corps," said Daniel F. Fitzgerald, program manager for infantry combat equipment for the Marine Corps Systems Command, at Quantico, Va.

The two services for the first time, conducted a joint briefing recently in Alexandria, Va., to outline their needs to defense contractors. "We did it to save time and money," said Lt. Col. John Lemondes, the Army's product manager for clothing and individual equipment at Fort Belvoir, Va.

"We're aligned almost identically with the Marine Corps," he said. "Yet, this was the first time the two services had almost everybody we deal with in the same room at the same time.

"The goal is to make everything lighter, less bulky, more capable and more affordable," Lemondes said.

To help achieve that goal, Lemondes' office in 2005, established a quality assurance team. "To the degree we can, we use the equipment ourselves," he said.

For example, his team recently tested personal airdrop systems, cold-weather clothing and mountain gear. "We need to show that, when we put something out there, we are not afraid to use it."

Altogether, the clothing and individual equipment office is responsible for 200 items, Lemondes said. Current priorities include:

Advanced bomb suit. This full-body emsemble, designed to protect explosive ordnance disposal technicians against bomb blasts, fragments, heat and flame, dates back to 2002. The Army wants to make the helmet more blast resistant and to add night-vision technology and a holster for handheld EOD equipment, said Maj. Clay Williamson, an Army assistant product manager. The service plans to buy up to 1,000 of the upgraded suits, starting in 2008.

Advanced combat helmet. Since awarding five-year contracts worth up to $200 million to Gentex Corp., of Carbondale, Pa.; Mine Safety Appliances, of Newport, Vt., and Specialty Defense Systems, of Dunmore, Pa., the Army has fielded more than 600,000 of these helmets, said Maj. Jonathan D. Long, an Army assistant product manager.

They are lighter, more comfortable and stable than the previous version, and they offer more ballistic protection, he added. The Army is considering further improvements, including an even lighter weight without reducing protection, a built-in communications system and a ballistic face shield.

Eye protection. The Army is fielding a wide variety of stylish...