More Proof the GOP Doesn't Care About the Troops
Posted: Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:08 pm
DOUG
When it's $$$$$$$ v. the troops, the GOP backs the $$$$$$$$$$.
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Manufacturer in $2 Million Accord With U.S. on Deficient Kevlar in Military Helmets
By BRUCE LAMBERT
A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.
Sioux upgraded its looms in 2006, company executives say, and the government says it has started inspections at the plant.
The United States attorney for North Dakota, Drew H. Wrigley, called the accord “an appropriate resolution” because the Defense Department had said that 200 sample helmets passed ballistic tests and that it “has no information of injuries or deaths due to inadequate Pasgt helmet protection.”
Pasgt, pronounced “pass-get,” stands for the Personal Armor System for Ground Troops, which includes the helmet model being replaced.
At the core of the investigation was the contention by two former plant managers that Kevlar woven at Sioux failed to meet the government’s “critical” minimum standard of 35 by 35 threads a square inch.
When properly woven, Kevlar, a polymer thread made by Dupont, is stronger than steel, and able to deflect shrapnel and some bullets. Government regulations call for rejecting Kevlar below the 35-by-35 standard.
The company “was underweaving,” Mr. Wrigley said.
“That is undebatable,” he said.
...Although the difference between 34 and 35 threads a square inch seems modest, the cumulative loss in layers of fabric is significant, Dr. Thomas said.
“Every time that you’re losing some mass, you’re losing some integrity,” she said.
The strength comes from crossed yarns, the points that disperse projectile impact. “The fewer crossovers, the less energy dissipation you’re going to have,” she added.
A 34-by-34 weave results in 5 percent fewer crossovers than 35 by 35, a difference Dr. Thomas called “quite a lot.”
“I’m surprised somebody is not pursuing that more vigorously from the government,” she added. Were she a soldier’s parent, she said, “I would want to give my son a better helmet.”
See here.
When it's $$$$$$$ v. the troops, the GOP backs the $$$$$$$$$$.
===============
Manufacturer in $2 Million Accord With U.S. on Deficient Kevlar in Military Helmets
By BRUCE LAMBERT
A North Dakota manufacturer has agreed to pay $2 million to settle a suit saying it had repeatedly shortchanged the armor in up to 2.2 million helmets for the military, including those for the first troops sent to Iraq and Afghanistan.
Twelve days before the settlement with the Justice Department was announced, the company, Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, was given a new contract of up to $74 million to make more armor for helmets to replace the old ones, which were made from the late 1980s to last year.
Sioux upgraded its looms in 2006, company executives say, and the government says it has started inspections at the plant.
The United States attorney for North Dakota, Drew H. Wrigley, called the accord “an appropriate resolution” because the Defense Department had said that 200 sample helmets passed ballistic tests and that it “has no information of injuries or deaths due to inadequate Pasgt helmet protection.”
Pasgt, pronounced “pass-get,” stands for the Personal Armor System for Ground Troops, which includes the helmet model being replaced.
At the core of the investigation was the contention by two former plant managers that Kevlar woven at Sioux failed to meet the government’s “critical” minimum standard of 35 by 35 threads a square inch.
When properly woven, Kevlar, a polymer thread made by Dupont, is stronger than steel, and able to deflect shrapnel and some bullets. Government regulations call for rejecting Kevlar below the 35-by-35 standard.
The company “was underweaving,” Mr. Wrigley said.
“That is undebatable,” he said.
...Although the difference between 34 and 35 threads a square inch seems modest, the cumulative loss in layers of fabric is significant, Dr. Thomas said.
“Every time that you’re losing some mass, you’re losing some integrity,” she said.
The strength comes from crossed yarns, the points that disperse projectile impact. “The fewer crossovers, the less energy dissipation you’re going to have,” she added.
A 34-by-34 weave results in 5 percent fewer crossovers than 35 by 35, a difference Dr. Thomas called “quite a lot.”
“I’m surprised somebody is not pursuing that more vigorously from the government,” she added. Were she a soldier’s parent, she said, “I would want to give my son a better helmet.”
See here.