[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 17382-17383]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       NET ARMOR MADE IN FRANKLIN, MA SAVES LIVES IN AFGHANISTAN

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                     Wednesday, September 29, 2010

  Mr. McGOVERN. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with my colleagues 
a message I received last week from Technology Solutions Group--LAST 
Armor, a manufacturing company in Franklin, Massachusetts, and a 
production facility of QinetiQ-NA (QNA). This company keeps good jobs 
in Franklin--but more importantly, Madam Speaker, they save lives in 
Afghanistan.
  The Franklin facility produces what is called ``net armor'' to 
protect a wide range of vehicles that transport our soldiers on 
missions in Afghanistan. This net design was developed jointly by QNA, 
DARPA and ONR. Easy to use, these QNA nets provide many types of 
vehicles with 360-degree protection, including overhead, from rocket-
propelled grenades (RPGs). This ultra-lightweight, low-cost and easily 
adaptable protection will even defeat multiple RPG hits.
  Earlier this year, I toured the Franklin facility. I had the 
opportunity to talk with the workers and plant managers, and I saw the 
net armor they were manufacturing. I heard the enthusiasm and pride 
they had in their work, and I tried to imagine how the light-weight 
nets that I held could possibly stop a rocket-launched grenade.
  And then last Thursday, I received a note from the company. It was a 
story that appeared September 22nd in an online newsletter from Fort 
Campbell, Kentucky. It's written by U.S. Army 1st Lieutenant R.J. Peek, 
who is with the 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division. 
His story is filed from Ghazni Province in Afghanistan, and he talks 
about how his platoon was ambushed and his truck, covered with the new 
net armor, had taken three direct hits by insurgent RPGs and not one 
penetrated the truck. He finishes his story with the following quote, 
``All of the Soldiers whose vehicles were hit by RPGs are alive today 
and still in the fight'' because the QNA nets did exactly what they 
were supposed to do.
  Madam Speaker, I hope all the workers at the Franklin facility have 
seen this report from the field. We are proud of the courage and 
sacrifice of our uniformed men and women in

[[Page 17383]]

Afghanistan. But we are equally as proud of the men and women in 
Franklin, Massachusetts whose labor helps save the lives of our troops 
each and every day.
  Madam Speaker, I would like to enter into the Record 1st Lieutenant 
Peek's story, so that all my colleagues can appreciate his candor and 
the description of what his platoon faces every day, and how the QNA 
nets are making a difference.

             [From Clarksville Online, September 22, 2010]

 (By U.S. Army 1st Lt. R.J. Peek, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry, 101st 
                           Airborne Division)

       Ghazni Province, Afghanistan.--When 3rd Battalion, 187th 
     Infantry began using new mine-resistant, ambush-protected 
     all-terrain vehicles, they also made the switch from bar cage 
     armor to net armor.
       When the first few trucks moved into circulation with the 
     net armor, many Soldiers were concerned about its 
     effectiveness, but the nets were combat tested September 
     19th, and Soldiers approved.
       U.S. Army 1st Lt. Matthew Ward from Herndon, VA, platoon 
     leader of 2nd Platoon, B Company, 3rd Battalion, 187th 
     Infantry, confessed he was skeptical about the nets. ``I just 
     didn't think the thin net would be able to safeguard the 
     vehicle and the Soldiers from a rocket-propelled grenade.''
       While conducting a patrol along a highly traveled road in 
     eastern Ghazni, insurgents initiated an ambush from close 
     range. Less than 100 meters away, insurgents fired a volley 
     of RPG rounds, followed by a series of machine gun fire and 
     then another RPG.
       The Soldiers of 2nd Plt., B Co. returned fire and moved 
     their trucks forward out of the ambush. From their new 
     position, the Soldiers continued to fire, forcing the enemy 
     to break off the attack and flee. What amazed the Soldiers, 
     and the leaders, was the trucks had taken three direct hits 
     by insurgent RPGs and none had penetrated the trucks.
       ``The worst effect of the insurgents' RPG fire was that I 
     got my bell rung a bit,'' said U.S. Army Pfc. Joseph Sweat 
     from Smithville, Tennessee. Sweat was driving one of the 
     trucks that was hit. ``The RPGs detonated at the nets, 
     failing to penetrate the vehicle's armor,'' said U.S. Army 
     Staff Sgt. Cameron Erisman from Hiram, GA.
       ``It turns out, the nets did exactly as advertised they 
     would do,'' added Ward. ``All of the Soldiers whose vehicles 
     were hit by RPGs are alive today and still in the fight.''

                          ____________________