Military textiles: what this article covers
This article examines CORDURA® Advanced Fabrics and other textile technologies used in defence and tactical clothing, including durability, abrasion resistance, near-infrared signature management and flame-spread protection.
Related PCIAW resources: explore Defence Clothing for Modern Threats, the Defence & Security Steering Group and PCIAW’s CORDURA® fabric overview.
PCIAW® gets under the bonnet of the defence and tactical market in the professional clothing industry, looking at the high-grade suppliers protecting military forces around the world.
Next Gen CORDURA® fabrics transform military uniforms
When this article was published in 2022, CORDURA® brand was marking its 55th anniversary while highlighting the strength and durability of its military and tactical fabric portfolio.
With durability in the DNA of CORDURA® brand, its Nylon 6.6 fibre technologies have helped to revolutionise military gear and apparel, assisting soldiers in facing a broad spectrum of combat conditions, including desert, forest, jungle, temperate and other extreme climate related elements.
Innovating with fabric technologies from head-to-toe
The diverse technology components included in the CORDURA® fabric family such as high tenacity, abrasion resistance, comfort, Near-Infrared (NIR) signature management and enhanced flame spread protection have helped support a long history of innovative and effective solutions for the infantry soldier across the globe.
CORDURA® TrueLock™ Fabric – Eco-friendly fabrics with locked-in colour
Engineered with high tenacity nylon 6,6 multi-filament fibre that is solution-dyed, locking the color in at the molten polymer extrusion level, CORDURA® TrueLock™ Fabric has excellent colour-fastness, UV-fade and abrasion resistance, lot-to-lot colour consistency, extended UV strength stability, and long-lasting colour vibrancy. The process used to make CORDURA® TrueLock™ Fabric also uses less water, energy, and CO2 to help leave a lighter footprint along the path to sustainability. CORDURA® Truelock™ Fabric is available in classic US Military and other tactical colours with built-in IR signature management for improved concealment (Coyote, Desert Sand, Tan, Camo Green, Ranger Green, Black, and Wolf Gray). CORDURA® brand’s military and tactical fabric portfolio continues to offer strength and durability on the brand’s 55th anniversary.
CORDURA® NYCO Fabric – comfort of cotton with enhanced durability
Originally designed as a rugged, lightweight comfort solution for military combat uniforms, durable CORDURA® NYCO Fabric is engineered with an intimate blend of INVISTA T420 nylon 6,6 staple fibre and delivers enhanced abrasion and tear resistance. It offers ‘No Melt No Drip*’ performance and 3-5x slower flame spread** versus equivalent weight polyester/cotton. CORDURA® NYCO Extreme Fabric based on INVISTA T420HT high tenacity fibre technology has a mission to create a new generation of durable, yet even lighter weight fabrics.
CORDURA® NYCO Knit – Soft comfort performance with staying power
Engineered with military-grade INVISTA T420 nylon 6,6 staple fibre blended with cotton for a natural look and feel, CORDURA® NYCO Knit combines soft comfort performance with long-lasting durability.
CORDURA® Classic Fabric – the original CORDURA® fabric made with a cotton duck appearance optimised for abrasion resistance
Designed for living and built to last, the original durable CORDURA® fabric has proven performance in many of the world’s toughest environments. Made with high tenacity air jet textured nylon 6,6 filament yarns in a range of sizes – 370, 560, 770, and 1100 dtex. CORDURA® Classic Fabric is used in bags, gloves, load carriage, ballistic vests, and boots.
LinkedIn/cordura®-brand-fabric
Carrington Textiles: over 90 years protecting armed forces
Since 1930, Carrington Textiles has been a strong and dynamic market leader in the professional clothing industry, supplying a vast selection of standard and specialised fabrics into military forces and major defence organisations around the world.
The British fabric manufacturer exports to over 80 countries globally and produces 130-million metres of fabric annually from its group of factories in the UK, mainland Europe and Asia. With one of Europe’s largest fully integrated textile processing and finishing operations, Carrington Textiles is well-equipped in its long history of supplying the UK and Dutch Ministries of Defence, alongside the Finnish and Estonian armies as prime examples.
Long-standing expertise in defence fabrics
Carrington Textiles’ success in developing fabrics for armed forces has been achieved by working closely with Pincroft, their main factory in the UK, benefitting from state-of-the-art facilities and advanced technologies in dyeing and printing.
Combining this with Carrington Textiles’ unrivalled excellence in global sales and customer service means that their Defence fabric range brings together longstanding knowledge and capability to give an outstanding product collection.
With fabric compositions that include polycotton, cotton-nylon, high tenacity nylon and CORDURA® blends, the textile manufacturer has a wide range of 100 different camouflage patterns that can be produced in a variety of shades and fabrics.
Advanced fabric technologies for greater strength
One of the most popular technologies used in Carrington Textiles’ defence fabrics is high tenacity yarns which offer greater tear, strength, and abrasion resistance. The high tenacity yarn defence fabrics are also lighter than comparable ‘standard’ yarns, whilst being naturally moisture-wicking, durable, quick-drying, and thus ideal for military applications.
+44 (0)1257 476 850
LinkedIn/company/carrington-textiles
Uplift360: the future of defence textiles
Uplift360 is on a mission to alter the future of textiles for the defence sector as the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) sets about its sustainable transformation exploring the opportunities of the circular economy; to create value out of waste.
Innovate. Pilot. Commercialise.
Underway is a potentially ground-breaking R&D project; seeking to achieve the chemical recycling of para-aramids back into virgin-grade para-aramids, closing the loop on textiles for PPE in the military and defence sector.
Uplift360 is also working on a program of material waste mapping using artificial intelligence to monitor the textiles reaching the end-of-life stage for reuse, repurposing or recycling, amongst a backdrop of other sustainable projects.
“The technology being developed is very exciting. This could be seminal when successfully implemented, and not just in the defence sector“.
General (retd) Richard Nugee, Non-Executive Director for Climate Change in Defence, Chairman NAAFI Board
Textiles for Defence: The Round Table Series
In partnership with PCIAW® as a Trusted Member, Uplift 360 seeks to bring the professional clothing industry on the journey to solve the ‘black holes’ in waste through technological development with a collaborative approach.
On Thursday 14th April, the first of the round table series will listen exclusively to PCIAW® Trusted Members operating in the defence sector or with innovations in sustainable production.
The round table will discuss the challenges and opportunities experienced in any sustainability strategies being implemented across the textiles industry whilst Uplift360 seeks to understand how the industry could work together to contribute to future MoD tenders.
The classified objectives of PCIAW® Trusted Members
Textiles for Defence: The Round Table Series will identify low hanging fruit in sustainable textiles that can be implemented now in MoD tenders.
The PCIAW® reported in Circular Textiles for a Sustainable Future, that there are many emerging technologies being tested and the round tables look to identify potential solutions or strategies that should be prioritised with support in pilot projects for the medium term.
The nature of professional clothing, particularly PPE in the defence sector is highly regulated for its lifesaving nature, which poses problems for lowering its environmental impact in the circular economy. This project seeks to ask the industry what are the ‘black holes’ in order to accelerate R&D to overcome them.
Setting the future agenda
As the round table series progresses, PCIAW® and Uplift360 will bring together the fellow Trusted Members along with various areas of the Ministry of Defence to engage on the future sustainability agenda for defence textiles.
We understand how sustainability is important to defence and security, it’s not just the environmental impact it’s de-risking supply chains, self-sufficiency and finding the value is material waste.
Sam Staincliffe, Co-Founder, Uplift360
+44 (0) 7449 444212
Related PCIAW resources: Explore PCIAW’s defence clothing work and the Defence & Security Steering Group.
