By Debbie Gregory.

As soon as next summer, the U.S. Marines will start receiving next-generation plate carriers that will be less bulky and lighter in weight, providing a smaller overall footprint than the current plate carrier, all the while maintaining the same soft armor coverage and protection level.

Vertical Protective Apparel LLC was awarded a $62,612,464 firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to produce and deliver the Plate Carrier Generation III (PC Gen III). A maximum quantity of 225,886 will be delivered, and the work will be completed by September 2023. The New Jersey-based company will manufacture the new carriers in eight sizes.

Infantry, schoolhouse and reconnaissance Marines, along with vehicle crewmen and combat engineers, will be the first to get the vests when fielding begins around June 2019. All of the plate carriers are expected to be delivered by September 2023.

The PC Gen III comes in three new sizes for Marines of smaller stature. And compared to the current legacy system, the PC Gen III offers increased ballistic protection. Additionally, since it’s lighter than the legacy system, it helps cut down on the fatigue Marines face in the field.

“This new system is more tailorable to fit Marines of various sizes with three new smaller-stature options,” said Flora ‘Mackie’ Jordan, body armor engineer for the Infantry Combat Equipment Team at the Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC). “We wanted to give as much mobility back to Marines as possible by reducing the weight and bulk of the vest without decreasing ballistic protection. We were able to reduce the weight of the vest by 25 percent.”

To achieve that result, excess material was removed from the shoulders and bottom of the plate.

The Plate Carrier Generation III is also made from a laminated laser-cut material, which cuts down on water absorption. The new system takes on about 7 percent of water, compared to the 70 percent absorbed by the current system.

Infantry, school house, and Reconnaissance Marines, along with vehicle crewmen and combat engineers will receive the vests when fielding begins in the third quarter of fiscal year 2019, according to MCSC.

By Debbie Gregory.

October 31st is the deadline for gear makers who want to respond to the Marine Corps Systems Command’s Request for Information (RFI) for new reliable magazine pouches that will fit the Corps’ new PMAG polymer magazines.

The Marine Corps switched to Magpul’s signature polymer Gen M3 PMag in 2017, but Marines have complained the new magazines don’t fit properly in their issued magazine pouches.

To be considered reliable, a magazine needs to feed as flawlessly as possible under normal and adverse conditions; it must be easy to maintain and clean; and it must resist damage due to rough handling, impacts, and other hazards of extreme use.

The Systems Command is looking to identify supplier sources for magazine pouches that will fit Magpul PMAGs as well as standard aluminum magazines for the M4 carbines and M16 rifles.

The baseplates on PMAGs are slightly larger than standard-issue aluminum magazines, which makes them difficult to fit in the current double and triple-stack magazine pouches. The newer Gen M3 design helps to mitigate fit problems.

In 2017, all four U.S. military services, U.S. SOCOM, and the U.S. Coast Guard either fully adopted or accepted the PMAG as their primary magazine offering.

If the contract is awarded, the order will be for 60,000 units, with a possibility of up to the maximum quantity of 500,000 magazine pouches.

For designs to be considered, they should:

• Allow the magazines to be smoothly drawn from the pouch with one hand.
• Be compatible with the current Pouch Attachment Ladder System for attachment to current load bearing equipment.
• Provide a retention mechanism that allows for the magazine to be retained during normal combat operations.
• Be configurable to allow for a single Marine to carry a minimum of six magazines on their person.
• Be lighter than the current M4/M16 double/single rifle magazine pouch for a double magazine design (T= 0.27lbs) or lighter than half the weight of the current M4/M16 double/single rifle magazine pouch if a single magazine design (T=0.14lbs).

By Debbie Gregory.

Boeing has been awarded a $2.38 billion contract by the U.S. Air Force to provide 84 of its MH-139 helicopter and related support (training devices and support equipment) to replace the more than 40-year-old UH-1N “Huey” helicopters, used to protect America’s intercontinental ballistic missile bases.

“We’re grateful for the Air Force’s confidence in our MH-139 team,” said David Koopersmith, vice president and general manager, Boeing Vertical Lift. “The MH-139 exceeds mission requirements, it’s also ideal for VIP transport, and it offers the Air Force up to $1 billion in acquisition and lifecycle cost savings.”

The MH-139 derives from the Leonardo AW139, which is used by more than 270 governments, militaries and companies worldwide. Leonardo will assemble the helicopters at its northeast Philadelphia plant, with Boeing integrating military-specific components at its facility south of that city.

“The new helicopter will be an important tool for Airmen charged with securing and defending the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missiles,” the Air Force said in a statement announcing the award.

The MH-139 helicopters will be the product of a joint effort between Boeing and Leonardo. Leonardo will assemble the helicopters at its northeast Philadelphia plant, with Boeing integrating military-specific components at its facility south of that city.

Earlier this year, six U.S. Senators wrote a letter to the Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson urging the Air Force to expedite the acquisition of a replacement helicopter.

Hueys first entered Air Force service in 1970.

“We’re proud to provide the U.S. Air Force with solutions across the entire services ecosystem,” said Ed Dolanski, president of U.S. Government Services, Boeing Global Services. “With the AW139 platform’s more than 2 million flight hours and established supply chain, we look forward to applying our expertise to drive cost savings while supporting mission readiness.”

The first delivery of an operational helicopter is expected in Fiscal Year 2021.

By Debbie Gregory.

Air Force Captain Jason Lo was awarded nearly $41.9 million in his negligence lawsuit against SoCalGas, after being struck by one of the company’s trucks. The award does not including punitive damages.

Lo nearly died after being struck by the truck driven by employee Dominick Consolazio  in Hawthorne, CA on February 13, 2017.   The accident occurred when Consolazio suffered a seizure and struck Lo on his motorcycle as he was waiting at a red light.

According to the lawsuit, Lo was wedged underneath the front end of the gas company truck, which came to a stop at the intersection for 23 seconds. When Consolazio regained consciousness, he dragged Lo 430 feet as he attempted to flee the accident and get on the freeway.

Witnesses got out of their cars and blocked Consolazio’s path until the police arrived and arrested him on the spot. He pleaded no contest to felony hit-and-run causing injury, and was sentenced to five year’s probation and community service.

The lawsuit alleged Consolazio and SoCalGas should have known he was unfit to work as a driver because he suffered from epilepsy and continued to have seizures despite taking medication, including one six weeks before the collision. Supervisors also knew Consolazio went on disability leave for six months and had his driver’s license suspended following a severe seizure in 2012, not long after he worked 79 hours of overtime for the company in one week, according to the lawsuit.

Captain Lo lost 40 percent of his blood and spent close to a month in the hospital, nearly losing his life and his leg.  Lo underwent multiple surgeries, and his leg remains severely disfigured and is still at risk of amputation.

“The Lo family will live with this tragedy for the rest of their lives,” said Lo’s attorney, Brian Panish. “The settlement reached by the parties after the jury’s substantial verdict will enable this young couple to move forward, build a family and get Captain Lo the medical care he will need in the future.”

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Army wants to push its long-range guns into territory where it’s never been. The service’s Strategic Long Range Cannon is projected to farther than any existing gun, or any gun ever made.

Gen. John “Mike” Murray, commander of Army Futures Command, told Congress the command wants to field a long-range cannon that can shoot out to 1,000 nautical miles, a range comparable to that of Tomahawk cruise missiles.

Murray testified at a hearing before the House Armed Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Readiness to explain to lawmakers how the Army Futures Command will change the Army’s acquisition and modernization process.

“We are looking very hard and starting down the path of hypersonics and also looking at what we call the Strategic Long Range Cannon, which conceivably could have a range of up to 1,000 nautical miles.” That’s the equivalent of 1,150 land miles.

The Army’s largest guns, the M109A7 Paladin self-propelled howitzer and the M777 towed howitzer, are 155-millimeter guns with a maximum range of 18.6 miles. The Long Range Land Attack Projectile, a round specially designed for the Zumwalt-class of destroyers and then promptly cancelled over cost concerns, has a range of about 85 miles. Even the massive 16-inch guns of the Iowa-class battleships had a range of only 23 miles.

“From a tactical fires perspective, we are going through basically a two-step upgrade to our current Paladin, going to the M109A7, which is a new chassis,” Murray said. “The next step is coming very quickly. We call it the extended-range cannon artillery. … We have already shot a … round out of that tube and more than doubled the range of our current artillery. And the goal is to get that out even further.”

When this long-range cannon might see combat is yet to be determined.

Under a new streamlined acquisition approach, the service was able to shave five years off the development process, Murray said. “The initial estimate was we could field one in 2025. We are now down to [fielding] four battalions in fiscal year 2020. The requirements process was done in 90 days, as opposed to the three to five years.”