Technology firm Skydex Technologies Inc. has won a major military contract to provide protective plastic flooring for more than 4,000 all-terrain vehicles that will be used by U.S. Armed Forces in Afghanistan.

Centennial, Colo.-based Skydex, earlier this year designed a blast panel consisting of two layers of thermoplastic polyurethane covered with a layer of thermoset urethane. Through Skydex’s patented ‘twin hemisphere’ technology, these protective coatings can reduce floor-transmitted blast force from improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by 71 per cent, officials said.

Since 2001, IEDs have killed 2,400 Americans in Iraq and Afghanistan and wounded 23,000 more. The percentage of casualties linked to IEDs has been increasing in Afghanistan, Skydex officials said.

The material also provides shock absorption and vibration dampening. Skydex’s primary TPU supplier is Lubrizol Corp. of Wickliffe, Ohio, but the firm sources material from other TPU makers as well.

Skydex officials declined to identify the sheet makers it works with to make the blast panels. Military ATVs using the product are assembled by Oshkosh Corp. of Oshkosh, Wis., and Force Protection Inc. of Ladson,S.C.

Orders for additional ATVs extend ‘well into next year,’ according to Foley. “Protecting things that matter’ is our motto, and that is really become our niche,’ he said. Government officials have said the overall ATV project eventually could be worth $3 billion and cover more than 5,000 vehicles.

Skydex delivered its first prototype blast panel to the U.S. Department of Defense in March. The project was fast-tracked, allowing it to be approved in less than the typical 18-to-24-month review period. ‘Approval times are shrinking rapidly because of the nature of these conflicts that we are in,’ Foley said. ‘The military is trying to take advantage of what industry can do.’