Twice-delayed next-gen helmet gets new tests - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Twice-delayed next-gen helmet gets new tests

The next-generation helmet is about to undergo renewed testing that will bring the lightweight, lifesaving helmet a step closer to the war zone.

But delivery of the helmets has been delayed again, and it may not be fielded until late next year.

The Enhanced Combat Helmet, under development through a joint Army-Marine Corps program, has been delayed a second time after failing to hold up well against projectiles during First Article Testing in April.

Initially, Marine officials blamed the test failure and fielding delay on the helmet’s manufacturer, but it turns out flawed Defense Department testing procedures were to blame.

The latest delay could push delivery back nearly two years from the initial target date of fall 2010.

Officials who are gearing up for retesting in December said though it could be fielded in April, it could be as late as September.

The ECH, which has been in development since 2009, uses an ultrahigh-molecular-weight polyethylene — a type of plastic — that will give troops a lighter and stronger helmet that can stop 7.62mm rifle rounds. Current helmets are designed only to stop shrapnel and lower-velocity pistol rounds.

Once cleared for fielding, the Army is slated to get 200,000 helmets, the Marine Corps will purchase 38,500 and the Navy 6,700 for corpsmen, Seabees and other deployed sailors.

Shortly after the helmet failed its first round of testing, the Marine Corps faulted the helmet’s producer, Ceradyne Inc. During a March hearing before the House Armed Services Committee, Brig. Gen. Frank Kelley, commander of Marine Corps Systems Command, attributed the failure to a “production anomaly.” After being cleared for low-rate production, the company had upped the temperature during the curing process to dry the paint faster, Lt. Col. Kevin Reilly, head of Infantry Combat Equipment at MARCORSYSCOM, told Marine Corps Times in March.

But it turns out the curing process did not have anything to do with the test failure, according to an emailed response from MARCORSYSCOM officials.

Why had the helmet done well during early developmental testing only to fail First Article Testing in April?

Marine officials conducted follow-on testing to identify the issue and found that ECH performed “as good or better” than the Army’s Advanced Combat Helmet when pitted against 9mm projectiles, according to MARCORSYSCOM. The ACH is the Army’s current streamlined helmet.

MARCORSYSCOM testing determined the curing wasn’t the problem but blamed newly instituted Defense Department helmet-testing procedures, which were introduced just prior to the start of the helmet’s First Article Testing.

“After extensive examination and range trials, the … changes were found to be inappropriate for determining performance,” according to written responses from the command.

Testing issues were numerous, according to MARCORSYSCOM.

Problems included a single-size clay head used to collect data, “unclear mounting procedures” and “test-induced variation.”

Test-induced variation, including mounting a helmet differently each time, can have such a significant effect that “a good helmet could fail if the test-induced variation was high enough to mask the actual helmet performance,” according to MARCORSYSCOM.

Reilly was unavailable for immediate comment to elaborate on these issues due to scheduling conflicts, a MARCORSYSCOM spokeswoman said.

Ceradyne representatives were also unable to comment, citing contractual obligations.

Testing procedures have since been revised and officials are confident they “can adequately test and evaluate this helmet and future helmets.”