The Armored-Vehicle Protective-Mask 3 History - development of gas mask for use by military-tank personnel

CML Army Chemical Review, July, 2000 by Robert D. Walk

A common-mask system would simplify logistics and save money. Thus, the Army sought to develop a common-mask system--the XM29. This one mask would use a common facepiece for all variations and would be of one-piece, injection-molded, transparent, silicone rubber. The use of this revolutionary materiel was a tremendous leap forward. Silicone provides an excellent sealing to the face in a wide range of temperatures and has no adverse skin toxicity. The mask used a screw-mounted-filter canister that either mounted on the mask cheek (right or left side) or on a hose. The side opposite the filter or hose attachment had a voicemitter and a front voicemitter as well.

The tanker version of the mask had the appropriate microphone installed and had a permanently attached hose to a separate filter mounted on the belt or chest of the soldier. Unfortunately, the silicone itself did not provide adequate protection against CB agents or the decontamination chemical and required special coatings. In addition, the XM29 eye lens had a tendency to "frost," but this could be corrected by scrubbing it with a mild cleanser. The technology did not exist to coat the silicone properly and allow it to remain transparent. Problems with the lens coating led to the Army's development of the XM30 series, which was effectively an XM29 with a separate, glued-on lens.

1980s

The XM30-series masks continued the developmental work of the XM29-series and even had designations attached. The XM34 was combat-vehicle-crewman mask designation. The XM30-series mask was based on the earlier work of the XM29 mask. The XM30 was a hybrid approach that retained the silicone faceblank materiel, but mechanically bonded a transparent, urethane-materiel lens to the faceblank. There were some initial manufacturing problems with securing the lens adequately to the silicone facepiece, which were not resolved within the program schedule. The manufacturing bonding process to bond the urethane lens mechanically to the silicone faceblank was eventually solved, and the U.S. Air Force adopted the XM30, now redesignated the MCU-2/P, as their standard mask.

Both the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy have reliably used the inherent advantages of a flexible, full-windshield lens in a flexible, silicone faceblank for more than 18 years. Unfortunately for the Army's part of the program, in 1981 after an investment of more than $60 million dollars, it received a Senator William Proxmire "Golden Fleece Award" for a perceived waste of the taxpayers' money. Shortly afterwards, the Army's portion of the program was dropped and a minimum-change, minimum-risk program was initiated for the M40 series.

The M40 program was initiated to modernize the Army mask as quickly as possible. The objective of the M40 program was to combine the best elements of the mechanically attached, rigid lenses of the M17 and the silicone faceblank and replaceable filter canister of the XM30 program into a new mask for the military. Several versions were called for, including a tank mask. Scott Aviation[R], ILC Dover, Inc., and Avon submitted masks for the program. The M42 mask was the armored-vehicle-crewman version of the M40 series.