Maintainer Head and Hearing Protection

Head and hearing protection equipment used by Navy ground crew in the proximity of aircraft has remained fundamentally unchanged since the 1950s. New, inventive protective headgear technologies are sought to improve cranial impact protection, user comfort, and product maintenance as worn in areas of high-noise hazards and diverse weather and working conditions. Head injuries may occur due to hard surface and rotary blade impact. Proposed designs must be compatible with advanced hearing technology, NVD, and CBR equipment. Integrated electronics should be impervious to EMI, and no part of the assembly should become a FOD source. In Phase I of this project, DCCI will exploit the strengths of our recently improved headgear designs focusing on proposed ancillary items and their impact on such designs. New concepts will be developed integrating the supplementary items. Modern manufacturing processes and materials will broaden the scope of the new designs. During this period, weight, cost, logistic support, and environmental effects will be investigated. Advanced materials and resources will be sought, tested, and recommended. During Phase II, fully functioning prototypes will be developed, fabricated, laboratory tested, and placed into real-world environments to verify performance and to solicit end user feedback.