It’s so easy to lose track of various developments in the FR in military uniform program that I’ve made myself a more detailed timeline of events. I find it useful for reference, so it might be for others as well.
April 2012
Alexium reports receiving a letter of intent from Duro Textiles to license Alexium’s FR treatment under an exclusive commercial agreement. The scope of the license was to include Duro’s nylon product areas for military.
April 2013
Alexium reports commencing work with the US Marine Corps to develop an FR treatment focused on nylon blends such as a standard-issue NyCo fabrics.
November 2013
After working throughout 2013 to conduct production trials with Duro and establish 50 wash durability, Alexium announces in November 2013 that it has successfully developed a halogen-free FR product suitable for NyCo.
March 2014
Alexium reports that, in response to an invitation from the USMC, which was seeking to develop a faster-drying alternative tropical combat uniform, it had submitted an FR-treated NyCo fabric sample.
December 2014
Alexium reports that it had been working in conjunction with the DoD throughout 2014 for their evaluation of Alexium’s FR treated NyCo fabrics.
February 2015
Alexium reports submission of an FR treated NyCo fabric to Natick for downselect testing. The NyCo fabric was described as having a wide range of applicability in the armed forces, including the Extreme Cold Weather Combat System (ECWCS), the army combat uniform (ACU) and the flame retardant army combat uniform (FRACU). Fabric placements into those programs were said to occur outside of Natick, with Alexium pursuing those placements independently of the effort with Natick.
October 2015
Alexium reports it had been selected by the DoD to finalize development of FR treatments for US Army uniform fabrics. DoD was to fund the final stage of the development of the Alexiflam treated NyCo fabrics leading to field trials on US Army uniforms.
H1 2016
Army reports holding the last of four uniform user evaluations (field trials) of eight different lighter weight, stripped-down ACU uniform designs.
Mid-2016
A spokesperson for Natick says the Army would take what it had learned from the field trials and design a material and a uniform during 2017. "We don’t just want to pick a fabric; because it may be OK, but what if there’s something better? We’ll look at best of these and develop a single material." Natick said it then aimed to hold final user evaluations in either late 2017 or early 2018.
Mid-2016
Duro Textiles closes down.
July 2016
Alexium reports that, although it achieved all of the technical goals around flame retardancy, the DoD had since shifted the goal to produce a lighter weight and more breathable base fabric to which the FR could be applied.
August 2016
It is reported that the Army and the Marines had teamed up to find a new lightweight uniform suitable for hot weather. The new uniforms would be treated with permethrin before issue and officials were said to be looking into flame resistance treatment.
September 2016
Alexium reports partnering with a new major fabric supplier of NyCo to the Army and the Marines with the goal of engineering a lighter and more breathable base fabric that could be treated with Alexium’s FR to satisfy all of the DoD’s requirements.
November 2016
Alexium reports that it had recently furnished the Marines Corps with FR treated samples of Corps approved uniform fabric, along with independent testing data.
Q1 2017
Alexium reports its continuing work with the military on FR for uniforms, and notes that a significant increase in allocation to defence spending by the Trump administration made it far more likely that the DoD would push forward with new contracts for both purchasing and innovation.
Q2 2017
Alexium reports that its fabric partner had produced a finished fabric that has passed all of the DoD lab-scale performance, comfort and weight requirements. Completed garments were reported to be in the PyroMan testing phase.
Mid 2017
Garments made with new lighter weight fabric apparently fail Pyroman test due to heat flux through the fabric.
August 2017
The Army reports it has chosen a new lightweight NyCo (57/43) IHWC uniform and will conduct field trials.
Q3 2017
Alexium reports that recent efforts had been focused on the fabric supplier tweaking the breathability of the military fabric to ensure a successful result in a future field evaluation but also to minimize heat flux through the fabric during a fire event. It was stated that once Alexium and its partner had finalized the fabric construction and FR treatment, the project would move into a procurement phase.
October 2017
The Army puts on display a new prototype lightweight ACU – the IHWCU. The Program Executive Officer Soldier said that the Army wanted to bring the uniform first to soldiers in jungle environments but then hoped to bring the uniform to all soldiers. He said there were hopes to have the uniform available within a year. Flame resistant capability was said to be in consideration.
October 2017
The Marine Corps report completion of the last of four field trials of a tropical utility uniform, selected from an initial five different fabric options. A decision package on the uniform was said to be anticipated in Q2 FY with the uniforms to be available from late 2018.
November 2017
A solicitation request is issued for the development of a low-cost and durable FR treatment for the Marine Corps Combat Utility Uniform (MCCUU). Preference was stated to be for treatments that could be applied at the uniform level.
Q4 2017
Alexium reports fabric prototypes were still in the process of being finalized. Once finalized, external testing and a limited user evaluation (field trial) would follow.
January 2018
Army reports holding user evaluation trials for a new IHWCU. Feedback was said to be happening in April or May and adjustments would then be made as needed. The Army was still not totally committed to this uniform - "It they don't like this material, the 57/43 NYCO blend, we may go with something else.”
Q1 2018
Alexium reports that it was still working on a 3rd uniform prototype to meet DoD’s requested weight and breathability requirements. Once the fabric was finalized the next steps were to complete chemical finishing of the new fabric, cut-and-sew into garments for testing, pass full uniform PyroMan™ testing, proceed to a minimum 90-day limited user evaluation (field trial), be tested by US military for hazard assessment evaluation of the toxicological and ecological impact of the FR solution, await military to finalize the specification and award the contract, sign agreement with fabric partner and produce chemistry for uniforms.
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