Despite SSPPs efforts to keep gear production for its fighters in-house, the military does not shy away from seeking help from various external organizations. However, the Hector, the product of a collaboration between the Red Shield atelier and SSPP, never made it to mass military production due to its high cost, which, to be fair, is well justified by the exoarmors characteristics. Turned down by the military, Red Shield decided to recover their development losses by opening sales to external buyers—stalkers and other inhabitants of the Zone.