Ceradyne Inc. in Costa Mesa landed an $80 million order from the U.S. government to supply 77,000 helmets and related parts to the U.S. Marine Corps.
Ceradyne designs and manufactures ceramics-based products for use in defense, industrial and automotive markets, among others. It’s part of St. Paul, Minn.-based 3M Co., which acquired its operations late last year for $860 million.
Ceradyne now operates as part of 3M’s Advanced Materials Division.
The new combat helmets will be manufactured in Ceradyne’s Irvine facility.
3M said the helmets are expected to provide improved ballistic and fragmentation protection, and are set for delivery for deploying Marines in the first quarter of fiscal 2014, which begins October 1.
