Maine company Compotech building armored plating for Army [Video]

BREWER, Maine — As turmoil unfolds across the Middle East and Europe, a group of Maine engineers hopes their invention will keep American troops out of harm’s way.

The Expeditionary Shelter Protection System (ESPS) is a lightweight, shielded perimeter designed by Brewer-based contractor Compotech to protect soldier tents and shelters from small-arms fire and metal fragments from artillery.

“It catches everything, so nothing gets through the backside,” Compotech CEO Tyler Jolicoeur said Wednesday.

Jolicoeur and his co-founders developed the technology for the armor at the Advanced Structures and Composites Center at the University of Maine. They launched Compotech in 2011. Now their flagship product, ESPS, ships to Army depots across the world, where it is a preferred alternative to sandbags when it comes to protecting troop shelters.

The entire armor can be …