Low Cost Manufacturing of Ballistic Helmets

One of the US Army’s priority R&D areas has been focused on lightening the load carried by the soldier. Much of this concentrates on personnel body armor such as ballistic vests and helmets. Recent composite material developments using aramid fabrics coated with thermoplastic resins and graphite fabric-epoxy skins demonstrate potential not only to meet/exceed all structural and ballistic requirements; but also to reduce weight of the current helmets. INTER Materials (INTER) is in a unique position to assist the US Army in developing a new manufacturing process to mold thermoplastic composite ballistic helmets with graphite-epoxy skins based on: 1) INTER has developed an innovative technology for cost-effectively molding thermoplastic matrix composite helmets that takes less time than the current compression molding process used for the PASGT helmet; 2) INTER technology would allow the US Army to incorporate superior ballistic protection with significant weight and cost reduction; 3) the INTER process has great commercial potential because it takes advantage of 80% of the existing helmet manufacturing infrastructure and; 4) INTER has ongoing working relationships with a US helmet manufacturer and international military markets.