Veteran-Owned Company Provides Gas Mask Alternative
Ventus Respiratory Technologies image
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Veteran-owned tech company Ventus Respiratory Technologies has created a lightweight respirator that can serve as an alternative to gas masks.
Arjun Grewal, the company’s CEO, said there is a lack of lightweight respiratory protection for military, law enforcement and first responders, and Ventus’ TR2 Tactical Respirator is a piece of equipment he wishes he had during his 20 years of military service.
“We feel like we’re really addressing a brand new segment of the market, because right now the only protection of its sort that soldiers, police, responders have access to is a gas mask, and this doesn’t really address the large volumes and environments that they’re often in, [which] include burn pits, high volume training, weapons ranges and breaching,” he said in an interview.
Lightweight particulate respirators are not standard issue. While soldiers are provided with gas masks, those are low-probability, high-threat pieces of protection, meaning that although exposure to things like chemical threats are lethal, the probability is very low.
The TR2 Tactical Respirator is designed for situations where gas masks are “not a mission fit,” providing respiratory protection while allowing warfighters to operate efficiently, Ventus’ product page stated.
“Because there actually isn’t a respirator like it for first responders, police or soldiers, we kind of had the luxury of building that from the ground up using the framework of existing protection,” Grewal said. “Some of the design … how it fits into a helmet, how it fits onto a range, how you’re able to use it with a weapon, were all mindfully designed into it so that it’s low burden.” The respirator is lightweight, platform agnostic and integrates with multiple types of helmets, he added.
While Ventus did not hold any military contracts at press time, it recently announced a partnership with Galvion, a helmet manufacturer that services NATO, as well as international militaries.
“We hold a number of trials that are ongoing right now with forces across NATO,” Grewal said. “We have about 10 different forces and special forces that are currently using and trialing and sharing feedback on the TR2,” which so far has been very positive.
The company has also made some small sales to U.S. and Canadian SWAT teams, and police in Europe, he said. ND
Topics: Global Defense Market