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Show C HiDiop Tones November 26. 2003 Air Force News New armor protects warfighter by Donna Miles American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON (AFPN) New, reinforced helmets and body armor currently being fielded to the military represent just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what is on the drawing board for protecting warfighters of the future. The future fighting force will have far superior protective systems that provide enhanced capabilities while imposing less weight on the user, said officials from U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center at Natick, Mass. The center conducts research and product development for all the military services. Engineers are looking at new materials and composites that offer enhanced protection with less weight, said Robert Kinney, director of Natick's Individual Protection Direc- torate. The Marine Corps is fielding a new helmet that, thanks to new materials, offers 6 percent more fragmentation protection and the ability to stop 9mm rounds, Natick officials said. The helmet, weighing a little more than 3 pounds, d about a less than the previous Kevlar helmet, introduced in the early 1980s. A similar but somewhat streamlined helmet developed by half-poun- the Army for special operations forces, the modular inte- grated communication helmet, also provides increased ballistic protection. Army officials have expressed "tremendous d interest" in fielding the new helmet to other troops, Kinney said. Looking a decade down the road, warfighters' helmets are expected to become even more impenetrable to enemy rounds, while offering an array of added protections. The objective force warrior program integrates thermal sensors, video cameras and chemical and biological sensors within the helmet. It also includes a visor that can act as a "heads-udisplay monitor" equivalent to two h computer monitors in front of the wearer's eyes, said LeeAnn Barkhouse, a business liaison for the program. The program is a "system of systems" the Army is developing for warfighters in 2010 and beyond, she said. New technology is also improving warfighters' body-armforward-deploye- 17-inc- p or Overseer systems, Natick officials said. The new Interceptor body-armsystem is in wide use by soldiers and Marines in Afghanistan and Iraq, where it "is saving lives left and right," Kinney said. The vest, which the Marine Corps began fielding in late inserts that protect the vital 1999, includes two fire at point-blan- k organs against 9mm submachine-gu- n said officer for Natick's Marine DeeTownes, project range, Corps team. The vest also includes removable flaps that cover the groin, throat and neck. Lightweight boron-carbid- e protective plates make the Interceptor weigh a little more than 16 pounds, compared to 25 pounds for the flak jacket, the previous body armor. But Natick officials are exploring different materials and composites of materials that will provide increased ballistic protection while shedding as many as 6 more pounds from the vest, Kinney said. "Sixteen pounds is still too heavy," he said. "Our goal is d to one-hato get a reduction in weight. If we can get under 10 pounds, that would more reasonable." The body-armsystem being developed for the objective force warrior program incorporates boron-carbid- e ceramic plates that will weigh 10- - to less than those in the Interceptor, while delivering equal or greater protection. New construction processes are being explored to shape the plates so they fit more snugly against the chest and spine, said Dutch DeGay, equipment specialist for the program. Natick officials also plan to replace the layers of Kevlar in the Interceptor vest with a new M-- fiber that will d less, he said. weight about vest will position the protective The plates about 2 inches from the torso, DeGay said, to reduce chest injuries or bruising in the event that the wearer takes a hit. "Our goal is to create a protective system that is lower profile, lower bulk and lower weight," he said. "We want it to be like a second skin, so the warfighter barely even knows that it's there, but that offers the protections needed in a combat environment." or iS v'll , 't5 i : 4 -- 'i, -- - 1 lf one-thir- or next-generati- 30-perc- tlf, Vi d mil M l I -- )? 20-pl5 one-thir- self-adjusti- Ml Li I ' -- - i iiTitilirrn iniiiirnirfn iTuriinU Courtesy photo bust of Saddam Hussein watches over a doorway atop the former Presidential Palace, home of the Coalition Provisional Authority, In Baghdad. 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