Status Report on Protective Textiles for Indian Armed and Paramilitary forces

Dr. J. V. Rao NITRA Global Scenario

• In advanced countries more than 40% of total textile manufacturing activity involves technical textiles • China has devoted around 20% of its textile production in this field • Asia is emerging as powerhouse of both production and end-use consumption of technical textiles

Considering its highly skilled manpower, abundant raw material availability, India can play a major role in this filed Challenges

• Production is limited & fragmented • Lack of adequate legislative measures & standards at par with developed countries

• Non availability of raw materials (Spl. fibers) • Inadequate skilled work force • Inadequate R&D support • Inadequate Common Facilities Stake holders

• Policy makers • Ministry of Textiles • Facilitators • Centers of Excellence • R&D centers & Universities • Trade Associations • End users • General Public • Bulk consumers – Public & Pvt. institutes • Entrepreneurs • Small, medium & large scale investors Govt. of India Initiatives

• Five year focused action plan by Empowered

Committee on Technical Textiles (2004) • Inclusion of Tech. Textile machinery under TUF

• Creation of Eight Centers of Excellence (2008 & 2011)

• Thrust on spl. fibers in National Fiber Policy (2010)

• Integrated skill development program (2010)

• Tech. Mission on Technical Textiles (2010) Clothing for Armed & Paramilitary Forces

Armed Forces - Army, Navy & Air-Force Paramilitary forces - Coast Guard Organization Defense Security Force Assam Rifles Border Security Force Central Industrial Security Force Central Reserve Police Force Indo-Tibetan Border Police Rashtriya Rifles National Security Guards Railway Protection Force

States and Union Territories - Provincial Armed Constabulary Defense Services Market Size

Defense services (Army, Navy & Air Force) strength - 1.5 Mn

25-30% are involved in high risk, counter insurgency & spl. operations

Demand (Qty in pieces) for the year 2008 by Army, Navy & Air Force

Camouflage Uniforms 4.7 Mn Rainwear 2.3 Mn FR Suits 0.2 Mn High Performance Uniform 25,000

The demand for paramilitary forces is higher than the Defense services. Indian armed forces being the Background major users of protective textiles, CoE has critically examined specifications of protective textiles used by them with an objective to identify whether these specifications match with the state- of-art technology and address if gaps exist.

CoE hopes that this exercise will help in providing maximum protection to Indian armed forces and at the same time it assists the manufacturers to produce the right product. Requirements for Advanced Integrated Combat Clothing System

– Physical • durability to prolonged exposure to inclement weather and heavy wear • good tensile and tear strength and abrasion resistance – Environmental • water repellency, wind proof • Battlefield (good camouflage & low noise generation) – Physiological • low weight, easy to wear, minimum heat stress • air, moisture and vapor permeability • comfort and good appearance • The current armed and paramilitary specifications do not speak about wear, comfort and safety which depend upon the varying battle field conditions. • High mobility and smart look to the soldier are not a part of the specifications.

Revise the specifications for • Durability • Operational efficiency Wear properties In general mechanical properties such as tensile, tear and bursting strengths indicate the fabric wear property. However for combat uniform in addition to these general wear Abrasion resistance should also properties, it is essential to measure be included as one of the wear resistance in terms of abrasion. requirements.

The requirement should be such that there should not be “thread breaks” up to 50,000 abrasion cycles when tested as per IS: 12673:1989. Comfort Properties To enhance comfort properties of the Indian solider the following two requirements may be added to the existing specifications. Air permeability of the fabric shall be at least 5 cc/sec/cm2 when tested according to IS 11056:1984.

Water vapor permeability (water method) shall be 1400 g/m2/day (Minimum) when tested according to ASTM E-96 Safety (Heat or flame resistant properties) The presence of synthetic material such as polyester if exposed to heat or flame melts and sticks to skin causing severe burns. Combat uniforms having heat or flame resistance properties is essential in the present day context..

The use of either FR fibers or FR coating should also be included in the present specifications to meet surface ignition test when tested as per ISO 15025 (no hole formation, no melting and no dripping) Wrinkle Recovery Although wrinkle recovery property of the combat clothing is not directly linked to the performance of the fabric during the battle but good wrinkle recovery cloth makes smarter look to the solider.

Therefore it is recommended that the WR rating (after 24 hours) of the combat shall be minimum 4 when tested according to AATCC 128-2004. Color specification In the developed countries, camouflage print Colors often include khaki, green, brown and black, with additional colors such as olive, yellow, orange, pink, grey, beige and sand to extend use to other urban, rural and desert backgrounds

In India, almost same camouflage print (mostly developed using khaki, green, brown and black) is used for all types of surroundings. If the solider is engaged in the urban area, he/she should have such type of camouflage print uniform that matches with the urban surroundings. In such case the use of dark green and black need to be minimized. Indian Camouflage Prints

CRPF

BSF CISF

National Riffles NSG

ITBP Color specification Most of the specifications do not provide the color values leading to subjective decisions while making pass/fail decision

Therefore it is suggested that the specifications should also include CIE color values. Standards & Specifications prepared by CoE (Protech) Formulation of Technical Specifications/Standards (Protech)

Technical Specifications prepared by NITRA for

CoBRA Specifications

Nylon Belt NYCO Uniform

Multi purpose light weight load bearing frame with carrier facilities and convertibility as stretcher

Waterproof multipurpose rain poncho with convertibility as bivouac Life Jacket Specifications

Anti-Mosquito Veil Jungle Hat

Balaclava with convertible properties as cap comforter, face mask and cold weather muffler

Pouches

Durable Combat Rucksack Special operation Rope Technical Specifications

prepared by NITRA for Indian Navy

Cap FS Blue

T- Shirt

Short

Socks UNARMED COMBAT DRESS FOR MARINE COMMANDOES IS Specifications (Revised/Drafted) • Nylon life jacket with expandable polyethylene foam, buckle and whistle plastic (Revised & sent for adoption)

• Disruptive Pattern (Camouflage pattern) cloth for combat uniform made of Nylon 66 and cotton blended material (Drafted & communicated to BIS) Bullet Proof Jackets CoE examined the specifications of Bullet proof jackets, Combat clothing, Canvas tent fabrics and Woolen blankets

They were critically analyzed for the level protection against - missiles, fire and heat.

Recommendations are made wherever necessary to have highest degree of protection

Recommendations are also made to provide operational efficiency, maximum comfort and smarter look to the wearer Technical Specification of Light Weight Bullet Proof Jackets IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I

Recently MHA finalized the above specification as per NIJ Standard of Ballistic Resistance of Personal Body Armour ( ) Standard -010104 – Threat Level III A IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I

E Clause. Weight Jacket

Exisiting: Total weight Jacket including Hard and Soft armour panels, trauma pads and other carrier should not exceed 6.31 Kg and 6.62 Kg for std. and large sizes respectively

Recommendation: Weight of individual components should be specified along with total weight of the jacket IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I I Clause. Material Outer carrier material is made out of high tenacity PU coated Nylon material.

Existing Specifications Recommendations Parameter Test Method Requirement Requirements are to be Fire IS 11871 Duration after flame and modified as there are retardant glow : 5 seconds each two test methods – vertical and inclined

Hydrostatic IS 391(100 Not specified Minimum to be specified head cm water)

Water IS 392 Should be Zero Should be rated in 0 to Penetration 100 scale

UV IS 3417 Minimum 100 Test method is wrong (it Protection is older version for color factor fastness Clause M. IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I Soft Armour Panel (SAP)

Existing Specifications Recommendations Parameter Test Method Requirement Fiber Not Aramid/suitable To specify what are specified material the other suitable materials Weave and Not To specify GSM specified Requirement to be Hydro IS 391(100 Not specified given static head cm water)

Water IS 392 Should be Zero Should be rated in 0 to penetration 100

PU coating Not % PU coating and test specified method for identification IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I

Clause H (vi): Velcro Existing: It is a Trade name of USA based company. Test method is not specified. Recommendation: Name should be replaced by “Hook and Loop fastener” and tested as per IS 8156-1994

Clause H (viii): Belt/Kamarbandh Existing: Made of Woven Nylon/polyester. Recommendation: It should be made of same material as outer carrier (Pu coated HT Nylon) with Hook and Loop fastener.

Clause K: Color Existing: Specification not given Recommendation: Provide specification IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I

Clause H Hard Armour Panel (HAP)

Existing: Made of Polyethylene fibers; not covered with PU Coated fabric to make it water proof Recommendation: Test method for PE fiber and Test methods and minimum requirements for identification of PU coating, %PU coating and water proof to be included IV-21011/10/2009-Prov. I

Following test parameters are to be included 1. Fabric construction: EPI, PPI, weave, What about warp and weft counts and GSM 2. Durability: Tensile & Tear strength, abrasion resistance, dimensional stability, color fastness to washing, light and rubbing 3. % PU coating on the fabric and test method for identification of the coating 4. “Surface Ignition” test

To be deleted UV protection factor as the jacket is made of multi layers of material Technical Specification completed by CoE (Protech) till-date

1. Indian Navy 5 2. CRPF 30 3. BSF 1 4. National Disaster Response Force 1 5. Railway Police Security Force 1 6. Defense Bio-engineering & Electro-medical Laboratory 1 High-Visibility Warning Clothing for Professional Use Factors deciding Garment Classes

Performance Class 1: • For low-risk environments - Lowest levels of fluorescent and reflective materials Performance Class 2: • For moderately severe environments - Balance of fluorescent and reflective materials Performance Class 3: • For use in most severe environments - Offers the greatest amount of fluorescent and reflective coverage Quantity of material

• Class 1: • background material: > 0.14 m² • retro reflective material: > 0.10 m² • combined material: > 0.20 m² • Class 2: • background material: > 0.5 m² • retro reflective material: > 0.13 m² • Class 3: • background material: > 0.8 m² • retro reflective material: > 0.2 m²