Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH) Gen II

Added: Oct 14, 2015 8:19 am Product Manager Soldier Protective Equipment (PM SPE) has made a number of programmatic decisions since the Industry Day held on 18 June 2015 at Fort Belvoir, VA. The primary changes are listed below.

1. The Government intends to release the solicitation in search of a design that includes holes in the helmet shell for the retention system and the night vision goggle bracket. The Army's current 7 Pad Suspension System and current Improved Retention System shall be acquired from the traditional Government-mandated sources listed in the Purchase Description (PD). The vendor shall not provide their own suspension or retention system designs for the initial solicitation.

2. The Government intends to require interested vendors to conduct testing at a National Institute of Justice (NIJ) approved laboratory. Although interested vendors are welcome to conduct testing at Aberdeen Test Center (ATC), it will not be a required testing location. All approved testing locations will be considered equal during proposal evaluation and source selection. The required testing matrix will be provided with the release of the solicitation.

3. The Purchase Description (PD) will be updated to include changes appropriate for helmets manufactured with polyethylene (PE) or PE hybrids. This will bring the ACH Gen II PD in line with other recent helmet PDs, such as that for the Improved Head Protection System (IHPS), Advanced Combat Vehicle Crewman Helmet (ACVC-H), and the Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH).

A draft PD is included with this special notice. Please note that not all requirements or verifications have been fully finalized. This is for informational purposes only. The finalized and controlling PD will be released with the solicitation.