Arlington, VA (January 25, 2010) — Defense Holdings, Inc.® (DHi®) announced an initiative aimed at introducing its photoluminescent (PL) safety marking systems to the U.S. Coast Guard.  DHi has pioneered the PL safety product market and is the largest installer of PL safety products in the U.S. These marking systems include PL paints, tapes and other combined PL/Retroreflective (PL/RR) appliqué products and they are intended for use with aircraft propellers and helicopter rotors, tiedown marking, shipboard signage, small craft, building safety markings and potentially daymarks and runway markings. 

DHi developed a photoluminescent aerospace paint (NSN: 8010-01-558-3002) for the Navy to use on aircraft propellers on carriers. The paint, which is applied to the propeller tips, produces a glowing green ring visible from tens of feet away and heightens the awareness of personnel working around these propellers in low-light situations. This paint has now been adopted for use on some commercial helicopter main and tail rotor blades. Both the paint and our tape/appliqué products could easily be added to the Coast Guard’s rescue baskets to make them easier to see during night rescues. Our PL products are compatible with all Night Vision Goggles now in use.

DHi’s SleeveLight™ is a high-performance, rechargeable, long-lasting, PL sleeve with a cruciform cavity running its length. Photoluminescent SleeveLight™ slides over chains, wires, ropes, rods, and straps to provide a versatile, cost-effective, glow-in-the-dark, marking capability that can help prevent personnel injuries and equipment damage in low light situations where safety is a concern.

Our PL/RR shipboard products are also installed on a number of US Navy and Coast Guard ships and are being used extensively in the Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN-77). We are one of only two companies whose products have been approved by the Naval Sea Systems Command for shipboard use in Navy and Coast Guard vessels.

In the past year DHi has developed and shipped more than 11,500 Photoluminescent Emergency Egress Lighting™ Kits for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles. Our CTVL kit is ideal for use in the Coast Guard’s smaller boats and cutters.

Our AfterGlow® Brand Photoluminescent Safety Products are installed throughout The Pentagon and in hundreds of other public and private buildings around the country.

DHi is also developing two other products aimed at the Coast Guard’s needs. These are combined PL/RR materials for (1) buoys and daymarks and (2) helicopter landing pads. Testing will begin in the spring of 2010.

Rich Martin, DHi’s President and CEO, states “Defense Holdings, Inc. is hoping to be able to introduce these new products to those in the Coast Guard. We are pleased to be able to contribute in even a small way to the safety of those who risk their lives to protect us.”

Click Here to read 3/2010 article from U.S. Coast Guard Forum article on DHi Marking Systems (pdf).