3M wins U.S. contract to make enhanced combat helmets

3M Co. in October agreed to make 37,500 "enhanced combat helmets" for the U.S. Army and Navy.

The new $27 million helmet order is in addition to the 77,000 combat helmets that 3M is making for the U.S. Marine Corps.

The combined contracts are worth $107 million.

3M gained the technology to make so-called enhanced helmets when it acquired Ceradyne Inc. two years ago.

The helmets are designed to provide a 35 percent improvement in ballistic fragmentation protection, 3M said.

Military officials like the helmet because it offers soldiers and service personnel more protection without increasing weight. The new helmet is equivalent in weight to helmets currently in use, 3M said.

In December, Popular Science magazine listed the new helmet technology as one of the 100 greatest innovations of 2013.

The safety products division of Maplewood-based 3M has been making news in recent weeks with its donation of 1 million respiratory facemasks to fight the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The division earlier this year celebrated its 75th anniversary making reflective highway signs and lane markings.

3M's safety and graphics business reported $1.4 billion in third-quarter revenue and $340 million in quarterly profits. Profits for the quarter jumped an impressive 8.8 percent mainly due to increased safety product orders form the United States and Europe.