The US Army is soliciting industry for systems that distribute the weight of an IOTV or SPCS (plate carrier) and associated equipment to your hips. It looks like RDECOM is going to host a little show-and-tell April 13-14th to let the makers show their wares. After that, the winners will deliver 10 sets of gear in various sizes, presumably so the Army can test the systems out.
The Army is on the hunt for a system that doesn’t alter the existing armor system, distributes the weight to the hips and sacrum (lower back), weighs less than 5 pounds and fits soldiers in the 5-95th percentile. Other attributes (read, nice-to-haves) are:contoured straps, assorted colors and camo patterns, support for other tactical equipment, low profile configuration, heat and flame resistance, quick release, 30 seconds to don, heavy duty buckles, durable enough to last 1 year in combat, won’t inhibit the soldiers ability to roll or get in the way when exiting/entering vehicles, no impact on marksmanship, no intererance with soldiers front mounted gear.
I can think of a few rigs out there that the Army would be interested in, namely, London Bridge Trading Company’s Comfort Armor Suspension System (CASS), Archangel Armor’s Internal Frame Load Bearing Armor System (IFLBAS), and Crye Precision’s Structural Kinetic Support System (StKSS). Though, the latter two wouldn’t work off the shelf with IOTV and SPCS, it would be interesting to see how quickly the systems could be made compatible.
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