MC2 Fabrizio holds the mobile barricade's removable side panels with Brook Thomas from Patriot 3 Inc., Ballistics Division. (Photo: Patrick Raffaele)
Tech Tuesday: Inside the Pentagon Technology Expo
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TechTuesdayBy Petty Officer 2nd Class Elliott Fabrizio
The Pentagon held it’s Technology Expo on Tuesday, with more than 40 companies displaying the latest in defense hardware and software.
For this week’s Tech Tuesday, I navigated my way through an ocean of business cards and free pens to highlight a few of the expo’s more interesting exhibits.
Just to get this out of the way, all of the booths were thrilling (especially the caterer’s booth with the chicken wings). These three represent the ones I personally thought were the most interesting and in no way reflects an official ranking system or a lack of quality in another exhibit. No angry letters please.
Patriot 3, a tactical ops company, has recently begun marketing their new X-treme Protection Series XPS Shield Line to police agencies and the military, and it definitely has the elite Special Forces look. The XPS-G2 is a rolling bunker, so whether clearing a building or working a security checkpoint, this foldable ballistic shield can provide an ideal source of cover.
It’s made up of six panels, each able to withstand high-powered rifle rounds. The four side panels can be removed and used as individual bullet-proof shields. Fully assembled, it forms a three-person-wide wall on wheels. The side panels can fold like wings, enabling the unit to move through all commercial doorways. It’s topped off with three ballistic viewing ports and a small gun port in the center from which to shoot, so there’s no reason to leave the safety of this mobile barricade.
“You can actually do offenses with this, as oppose to just being in a defensive position. You’ve got a rolling bunker you can move forward as you advance,” said Brook Thomas, Patriot 3 Inc., Ballistics Division.
Let’s imagine being on wrong side of that. Instead of having a Special Forces team advancing on your position, you’ve got the walls literally closing in on you—one bullet-proof wall specifically, with guns poking out. Unless you’re Neo from The Matrix, that’s game over.