U.S. Border Patrol Agents Protected by Dupont Kevlar Vests

DuPont has signed a multi-year agreement with the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Border Patrol to outfit its agents with protective vests containing new DuPont Kevlar Comfort XLT technology.

Dupont claim that the latest Kevlar innovation, Kevlar Comfort XLT technology, allows vests to weigh at least 25 percent lighter than current all-aramid fabric designs while maintaining the same high levels of ballistic performance. Vest manufacturer U.S. Armour recently delivered the first shipment of vests with the new technology to the CBP Border Patrol.

As the mobile uniformed law enforcement arm of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the CBP Border Patrol is responsible for policing 6,000 miles of Mexican and Canadian international land borders and 2,000 miles of coastal waters surrounding the Florida Peninsula. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept 11, 2001, the CBP Border Patrol has stressed an even greater priority in seeking and deploying specialized technologies to assist its agents, including the latest advances in personal body armour.

"As the single, unified border agency of the United States, the CBP Border Patrol mission is vitally important to the protection of America and the American people," said Woody Lee, national director of the CBP Border Patrol's national body armour program. "It is essential for us to work with companies which display longstanding commitments to reliability and quality."

"The latest Kevlar advancement is another example where DuPont is putting science to work to solve real-life problems," said Bill Harvey, vice president and general manager, DuPont Advanced Fibre Systems. "For CBP Border Patrol agents, many of whom spend all day on their feet working in extreme weather conditions, Kevlar Comfort XLT will provide the protection they need without sacrificing the freedom of movement required to do their jobs effectively. This technology is a good example of the R&D pipeline from the DuPont Safety & Protection platform where we are developing new products to help keep people safe and protected."

"At U.S. Armour, we are fully committed to a single mission: producing the finest armour products available in the world today," said Stephen Armellino, president of U.S. Armour. "After integrating Kevlar Comfort XLT into our vest design and exposing it to rigorous testing procedures, we found the vest demonstrated excellent multi-hit capability and trauma performance. We are particularly happy with the weight and comfort of the vest relative to the high level of performance."

Publication Date: 04/02/2005

WWW Link: http://www.dupont.com

 Subscribe to our Composite News Feed