In a first for the company, the Joint Strike Force Rail Tank prototype is going to the famed DEXCON defense materiel show in Abu Dhabi in January 2025.

DEXCON has hosted the debuts of such groundbreaking weapons systems as the French Dassault Mirage jet fighter and the Iranian Shahab-1 missile system.

“Basically, the 2025 show belongs to us”, said Pete Ablish, who headed up the JSFRT design team in R&D. “We’re going to create a whole new market, and it will take the competition at least a few years to catch up.” Ablish predicts the product will sell well, especially to third-world nations with developed rail networks.

Safety-Flo is looking for a base of firm client committments before starting production. Plans have been drawn up to convert the underused Ossining, Michigan plant, which is now making wicker products for export to Mexico, to JSFRT manufacture. According to plant manager Ed Simmons, the capacity is there. “We have most of the tooling. Before the wicker operation took over, this plant was used to make armor plating for airplanes. We could produce these things like liberty ships if a good-sized war got going”, he said.

Only the transport from Otisburg to Abu Dhabi remains to be worked out, according to Ablish. “We’re looking to ride rails for as much of the trip as possible, to save on costs,” he said.