Defense Holdings, Inc. Announces Its AfterGlow® Brand Combat/Tactical Vehicle (Lite) Photoluminescent (PL) Emergency Egress Lighting™ Kit
Arlington, VA (January 6, 2010) – Defense Holdings, Inc.® (DHi) today announced Its AfterGlow® Brand Combat/Tactical Vehicle (Lite)™ (CTVL) Photoluminescent (PL) Emergency Egress Lighting (EEL) kit.
The CTVL Kits are the latest in a series of DHi EEL kits originally developed in a highest national priority effort to help Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle operators survive Improvised Explosive Device (IED) attacks and other mishaps that left the operators trying to escape from an MRAP in low-light conditions. MRAP vehicles are armored fighting vehicles designed to survive IED attacks, mines and ambushes. DoD determined that MRAP exits and escape hatches needed to be positively marked or illuminated to aid emergency egress. After evaluation, DHi’s Emergency Egress Lighting™ Kits were selected for rapid field installation inside the troop compartment and driver/passenger sections of all MRAP vehicles in order to provide the warfighter with simple, highly reliable emergency markings. AfterGlow® Photoluminescent products identify locations of door latches/openings, grab bars and emergency equipment such as fire extinguishers in the absence of daylight or electrically powered lighting. DoD messages to MRAP operators identified DHi as the sole producer of the MRAP Photoluminescent products, identified the National Stock Numbers (NSNs) for the kits and their components, and referenced DHi’s AfterGlow Direct MRAP Photoluminescent Web page for ordering. DHi will seek assignment of an NSN for this new kit as well.
- NSN 9390 01 568 1116 — MRAP Basic™ Emergency Egress Photoluminescent Lighting Kit™
- NSN 9390 01 570 7240 — MRAP Cougar Emergency Egress Photoluminescent Lighting Kit™
- NSN 9390 01 573 0814 — MRAP Buffalo Emergency Egress Photoluminescent Lighting Kit™
- NSN 7690 01 572 7993 — Military Vehicle Fire Extinguisher Labels – Two hybrid Photoluminescent/reflective AfterGlow® fire extinguisher labels
- NSN 9390 01 573 0835 — Self-Adhesive Flexible Tape 1”x25’ – 25 feet of 1” wide, adhesive-backed AfterGlow® Photoluminescent tape
- NSN 9390 01 572 7888 — Self-Adhesive Flexible Tape 1”x100’ – 100 feet of 1” wide, adhesive-backed AfterGlow® Photoluminescent tape
- NSN 9390 01 572 7264 — Magnetic Flexible Tape 1”x25’ – 25 feet of 1” wide, high-energy magnetic-backed AfterGlow® Photoluminescent tape
- NSN 9390 01 573 0711 — Magnetic Flexible Tape 1”x100’ – 25 feet of 1” wide, high-energy magnetic-backed AfterGlow® Photoluminescent tape
Rich Martin, DHi’s President and CEO, states “In 2009, DHi shipped nearly 12,000 of its AfterGlow® Brand Photoluminescent (PL) Emergency Egress Lighting™ Kits to the U.S. Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps to improve MRAP vehicle safety and our warfighters’ emergency egress capabilities, We feel that we have fulfilled most of DoD’s immediate needs for its MRAP fleet and needed to add something to our list of products that might be a better match for DoD’s other light to medium combat and tactical vehicles. We feel that our new CTVL Photoluminescent Emergency Egress LightingTM Kit offers just that. The new CTVL kit includes one 25’ roll of 1” wide, adhesive-backed AfterGlow® Brand Photoluminescent tape, two hybrid Photoluminescent/retroreflective AfterGlow® Brand fire extinguisher labels, and 25 alcohol wipes for cleaning and preparing surfaces for installation and for cleaning the PL after installation. The new kit will sell to qualified Government purchasers for $80.00 and is also available at our AfterGlow Direct webstore. Our Photoluminescent materials have been demonstrated to not affect the use of current generations of Night Vision Goggles. The word that we are getting back from the warfighters is that our current kits are both easy to install and highly effective. We are pleased to be able to provide our warfighters with a solution that so easily and cost-effectively enhances their safety.”
DHi has pioneered the Photoluminescent safety product market and is currently the largest installer of Photoluminescent safety products in the United States. DHi’s AfterGlow Brand Photoluminescent Safety Products are installed throughout The Pentagon and in many other locations around the country. Our products are also installed on a number of US Navy and Coast Guard ships and are being used extensively in the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77). DHi developed a photoluminescent aerospace paint (NSN: 8010-01-558-3002) for the Navy to use on aircraft propellers on carriers. The paint, which is applied to the propeller tips, produces a glowing green ring visible from tens of feet away and heightens the awareness of personnel working around these propellers in low-light situations. Since this paint has been adopted, there have been no flight deck personnel killed or injured as a result of contacting spinning propellers. This paint has now been adopted for use on some helicopter main and tail rotors.
Defense Holdings, Inc. (DHi), a service-disabled, veteran-owned, small business, is a technology leader specializing in the defense and homeland security markets with headquarters in Arlington, VA, and production facilities in Trenton, NC. DHi has been ISO 9001 registered since 2003.
DHi works with Government agencies, universities and industry to put timely new technologies into the hands of those putting their own lives at risk to protect the lives of others.