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PRESS RELEASE: Avon Protection awarded US DoD ASPIRE Hood Mask Interface contracts

Date: 11 November 2024

Cadillac, MI, (November 11, 2024) – Avon Protection, renowned leader in innovative personal protective equipment, has been awarded three contracts by the US Department of Defense’s (DoD’s) ASPIRE HMI (Advanced System for Protection and Integrated Reduction of Encumbrances Hood/Mask Interface) program, which is executed by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND). 

The three contracts will cover the design and development of a solution to optimize integration between currently fielded M50 and M53A1 CBRN protective masks and CBRN protective garment hoods on a CBRN suit. 

“The risk a customer faces when procuring protective equipment as individual systems from different suppliers is that there are potential integration issues at the points at which these different systems meet, no matter how advanced each individual system is,” Steve Elwell, President, Avon Protection, said. “Our approach is to mitigate this risk by designing our equipment to integrate seamlessly together, and it is this understanding of the importance of interface optimization between systems that we will bring to our work on this contract.”  

The DoD is a strategic partner for Avon Protection, with millions of Avon Protection M50/M51 and M53/M53A1 air purifying respirators (APRs) in use across all branches of the US military.  

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The views expressed in this press release reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Department of Defense nor the JPEO-CBRND. References to non-federal entities do not constitute or imply Department of Defense or Army endorsement of any company or organization.