AF officials: Helmet recall affects thousands - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

AF officials: Helmet recall affects thousands

The Air Force is recalling the combat helmet issued to thousands of deploying airmen because it was improperly made with defective materials.

ArmorSource LLC, formerly Rabintex USA LLC, manufactures the Advanced Combat Helmet, or ACH.

Air Force officials are still determining how many airmen have the helmet, according to spokesman Gary Strasburg, but the number is at least in the thousands based on figures from the Army, the service that fielded the helmet and uncovered the problems.

The Defense Logistics Agency distributed 24,000 of the helmets to the Air Force and Navy, and the Army ordered a recall for its 20,000 helmets — 2 percent of 1 million — in a servicewide message released last Friday. Soldiers were told to exchange their helmets through unit central issue operations.

“There is evidence that ArmorSource and Rabintex ACHs were produced using unauthorized manufacturing practices, defective materials and improper quality procedures which could potentially reduce ballistic and fragmentation protection,” the message read.

The exact risk to airmen, soldiers and sailors wearing the helmets is still being determined, but sample testing from a quarantined inventory showed it did not meet Army specifications.

The Army could not say where all the helmets are but suspect some of them are in the war zones, spokesman Lt. Col. Jimmie Cummings said.

“No one has gotten hurt that we know of,” Cummings said. “We have sufficient numbers of helmets by other manufacturers in the Army’s inventory, and they are being issued to soldiers worldwide and units that are in possession of the recalled helmets.”

The Army would not comment on how it found out about the helmets and is unsure how long the helmets have been in the inventory.

The Army, Air Force and Navy adopted the helmet in 2002 to replace the Personal Armor System for Ground Troops helmet. The ACH weighs about 3 pounds in size medium and is designed to protect airmen from fragmentation and 9mm ammunition.

Three other companies manufacture the ACH — Gentex Corp., BAE Systems and MSA.

ArmorSource is based in Hebron, Ohio.

The manufacturer’s label is on the inside of the helmet and may be covered up by pads that can be removed.

If the label is unreadable, airmen should identify the manufacturer using the retention system hardware, the Army said.

“If the hardware matches figure 13, WP 0002-14 of the ACH operator’s manual, the helmet is an ArmorSource or Rabintex and must be turned in,” according to the message.

Last year, the Army recalled 34,218 ACHs made by Gentex Corp. because the company told the Army it believed the four screws attaching the chinstrap and related parts did not conform to contract specifications.

The screws failed the ballistics tests at temperatures of 60 degrees below Fahrenheit and 160 degrees above Fahrenheit. In those extreme conditions, rounds were fired directly at the screw heads. Gentex alleged a subcontractor had falsified certificates of compliance related to the type of steel screws it furnished.

Previous coverage

— Army recalls 44,000 helmets

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