The Armor Holdings Products unit of BAE Systems has agreed to pay $30m to resolve charges that it knowingly made and sold defective bullet-proof vests used by US police and emergency workers, the Justice Department said on Tuesday.
The department had charged that Armor Holdings made and sold Zylon vests despite having information that the materials degraded quickly and were unsuitable for ballistics use.
The settlement is part of a larger probe into the use of Zylon materials in body armour. The United States in June sued Zylon's maker, Honeywell, for sales of its Zylon product Z Shield to Armor Holdings.
BAE acquired Armor Holdings Products last year. The Justice Department allegations concerned vest sales between 2000 and 2005, Armor Holdings said through a spokesman.
Armor Holdings is responsible for the settlement payment, which will go against its books, spokesman Michael Munz said.
The company denied the charges and said it settled to avoid the costs and uncertainty of litigation. It said it had acted responsibly "and with utmost concern for police officer safety."
"Promptly after learning of concerns about the potential impact of environmental effects on Zylon material supplied to AHP, AHP issued various product storage and use and care advisories to its customers about such concerns," Munz said.
"And over the past several years, AHP has replaced more than 50,000 Zylon-containing vests under AHP's Zylon vest exchange programme."
He said the company had fully cooperated with the Justice Department and had taken earlier steps to address concerns over Zylon.
By Randall Mikkelsen, Reuters.
