Firm settles helmet lawsuit, gets new contract

[unhappycamper]

Employees sued over quality, won $2M
Sioux Manufacturing says the Kevlar cloth they...


Firm settles helmet lawsuit, gets new contract
By Michael Hoffman - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Feb 18, 2008 13:07:38 EST

Justice Department officials have accepted a $2 million settlement from a North Dakota company accused of producing substandard Kevlar cloth for up to 2.2 million combat helmets from 1994 to 2006.

Two former employees of Sioux Manufacturing Corp. filed a whistle-blower lawsuit on behalf of the government under the False Claims Act alleging that, to bump up profits, company officials knowingly produced Kevlar cloth that did not meet military specifications.

The Kevlar cloth manufactured by Sioux was used in the Personnel Armor System Ground Troops helmet, better known as the PASGT, which is now issued only to airmen in the U.S.

The Marine Corps and Army began phasing out the helmet in 2003 in favor of other models, and the Air Force is handing out the Advanced Combat Helmet in theater.

Despite the investigation into the company, the Defense Department awarded Sioux a new contract in August worth about $10.6 million to manufacture Kevlar cloth for 76,500 new Army helmets, the ACH.


Rest of article at: http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2008/02/airforce_helmet_080218w/