February 07, 2008
Sioux Manufacturing of Fort Totten, North Dakota, will pay $2 million to settle a suit alleging that the helmets it supplied to the military were inadequate.
The suit, originally brought under the whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act, alleged that the Kevlar woven at Sioux failed to meet the government’s minimum standard of 35 by 35 threads a square inch. When properly woven, Kevlar is stronger than steel and able to deflect shrapnel and some bullets.
According to a February 6, 2008 story in the New York Times, the company has upgraded its looms and received a new contract worth up to $74 million just twelve days before the settlement was announced.