VICIS, creator of the top-rated helmet for football safety, announced a contract to improve combat head protection with the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center today. The company will work on replacing existing foam liner pads in combat helmets with its own technology.
Within the last two months, the VICIS ZERO1 helmet was awarded top marks by both the NFL/NFLPA and the Virginia Tech Helmet Laboratory. Now the Seattle-based company will turn its attention to mitigating blunt impacts in military helmets.
“The NSRDEC is excited to work with VICIS in the development of their suspension pad system for use in military combat helmets,” said Benjamin Fasel, a mechanical engineer at the NSRDEC and project manager of the VICIS contract, in a statement. “VICIS has demonstrated great results in their football helmets, and we look forward to continuing those types of results with the unique blunt impact requirements of combat helmets.”
VICIS’s football helmets are constructed with multiple layers of protection, and include a band of small radial columns that move and bend with impact, reducing linear and rotational forces on an athlete’s head.
“This U.S. Army contract is further validation of VICIS’ ability to develop truly innovative impact mitigating technologies for sports and other applications,” said Dave Marver, VICIS CEO and Co-Founder, in a statment. “VICIS takes great pride in bringing this technology to our nation’s servicemen and women, protecting those who protect us.”
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
SportTechie Takeaway
Combat helmets typically focus more on ballistic impacts, protecting military personnel from bullets and shrapnel, than the type of hits seen in football. However, a 2013 Congressional Research Service report found that approximately 80 percent of traumatic brain injury in the U.S. military doesn’t come from the battlefield. Instead, it results from blunt impacts in training and other situations. Mitigating the effect of those hits could significantly improve the health and readiness of the military.