Defense contractors ready with lighter weight helmet shells.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie
• Position: SOLDIER EQUIPMENT

Even though military officials have repeatedly called for lighter soldier equipment, executives from the protection industry say troops remain without the next-generation technology already available off the shelf.

Revision Military in January released two new helmet shells--the Batlskin Viper P2 and Batlskin Cobra P2, which are 20 percent lighter than the Army's current Kevlar shells.

But because the Defense Logistics Agency is likely to continue buying heavier helmets, Revision may have to wait for a major Army procurement contract to have a chance at a large-scale buy, Revision CEO Jonathan Blanshay told National Defense.

"We keep hearing about how they want to reduce the weight off soldiers, but we can reduce helmet weight by 30 percent tomorrow, and yet DLA doesn't seem to want to require that," Blanshay said. "So there seems to be a disconnect between what the publicly stated desires and requirements are, and then what DLA actually seems to actually want to buy."

One opportunity may be the soldier protection system's (SPS) helmet component, Blanshay said. The Army plans to use the SPS program to procure new full-body equipment protecting everything from a soldier's head to his extremities. Blanshay said he expected the Army to release an invitation to tender "any day now."

The Army will award...