New Combat Helmet can resist 7.62 rounds!!

www.military.com...

The Army and Marine Corps may soon field a lighter combat helmet with nearly double the bullet and blast protection of the current Advanced Combat Helmet.

Army officials said that recent tests of the so-called "Enhanced Combat Helmet" showed the helmets were so strong that engineers didn't have equipment powerful enough to penetrate them with simulated IED fragments.

"The test lab we sent it to couldn't calculate an [average ballistic rating] because … the test guns they had couldn't shoot fragments fast enough to penetrate the helmet," said the Army's top protective equipment buyer, Col. Bill Cole. "We don't know exactly what the [average strength] is, but it's better than we've ever seen before."

"We're going to have to build stronger test guns to figure out how good it is," he added.

Testers hoped to get about a 40 percent increase in ballistic resistance over the ACH. But Cole said in some tests, the new ECH was 70 percent stronger than the helmets worn by Soldiers and Marines today. Additionally the new helmet weighs about four ounces less than the ACH.

After a first round of test failures in 2009, the Army has finally found a design made by Ceradyne, Inc. that works -- so well, officials say, that some types of 7.62 rifle rounds can be fired point-blank at the helmet without going through.

Thats what I call progress. There hasn't been much improvement in head protection that only stops fragmentation and pistol rounds for a couple of decades. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where troops have been killed mostly by snipers that fires 7.62 at their has shown the immediate demand for new protection for helmets. And this is 4 ounces less in weight.

Incredible. I wonder how the new material compares to current body armour.

I sure hope canada is getting these new helmets [when they are released]. We cant just leave our soldiers heads out to be shot at with little protection. How else are we gonna survive when China invades?? Second line.

reply to post by deltaboy


Withstands 7.62 rounds????
I guess you can just hope that you don't get hit by the 9th round!!
Ok it was stoopid, but hey i'm tired.

that's seriously cool
can you imagine a dragon skin suit made of this material? you could literally walk straight through a barrage of machine gun fire right on your enemy and bttch slap him...lol

i want some

reply to post by deltaboy


This material was probably developed from reverse engineered UFO crashed debris.

reply to post by deltaboy


Then what..................the concussion kills you but they can reissue the helmet? $$$

Can't you see I'm prior service

reply to post by Analyze76


Well if you don't like wearing the helmet that can cause a concussion because it could deflect a round, then don't.

Considering the old "steel pots" could be "through and through" punctured by a .22, this is quite a feat.

Getting hit in the helmet with a 7.62 will be like getting hit with a bat - assuming it hits flat on and stops the bullet.

Just hope now that it comes with a cervical support so you don't break your neck.

Now if they can just get an accompanying cup to protect the doo-dads, we can just get brave as hell!

This is rated for 7.62x39 comparatively not a such powerful round when it comes to other 7.62 variants. You will encounter the 7.62x39 round more than anything else, and while the shock may cause a concussion I doubt it would break your neck.


Hopefully they'll issue these to me by the time I'm ready for deployment.

reply to post by Analyze76


You beat me to that one. I take it not many people have seen someone get hit by a 7.62 round. These little puppies take you off your feet. The chance is, that if you are hit in the head, you are going to lose the whole thing. Goodness, there are guys that took a round in the shoulder. It ripped their whiole arm from their bodies.

My primary weapon, when I first joined, was the 7.62 SLR. Damn, those things were powerful. The stopping power of one of those rounds was astronomical.

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


A 7.62x39 will not take your arm off. If you're talking about bigger, meaner 7.62 variants, MAYBE.

reply to post by projectvxn

No, you are right. However, this one would:

Type: Battle rifle
Place of origin: Belgium
Wars: Cold War, Vietnam War, Falklands War
Designed: 1951
Manufacturer: Fabrique Nationale (FN)
Produced: 1953
Number built: Over 1 million
Weight: 4.0-4.96 kg (8.8-10.2 lb)
Length: 1,090 mm (43 in)
Barrel length: 533 mm (21 in)
Cartridge: 7.62 × 51 mm NATO
Calibre: 7.62 mm (.308 in)
Action: Gas-operated, tilting block
Rate of fire: 20 rounds/min semi auto
Muzzle velocity: 823 m/s (2,700 ft/s)
Effective range: 600 m (656 yd)
Feed system: 20-round detachable box magazine
Sights: Aperture rear sight, hooded post front sight

I have actually seen it, first hand.

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


7.62x51 would definitely hurt...

reply to post by projectvxn


To be honest with you my friend, I was sorry to see this rifle taken out of service. Not a rapid rate of fire, but if you hit someone, they tended not to get back up.

reply to post by TheLoneArcher


Well, it's a .308

If you can stand after getting hit with a .308 you deserve to live.

There are differences like chamber pressures and what not..But it's basically a very similar round.

kinda like the difference between 5.56 and .223

reply to post by projectvxn


I hear that. You take care during your time in the sandbox. One of my boys is due out there soon, the other one sometime next year. Oh, and when you hear those puppies whining and thumping around you, don't be afraid of chewing some of that Afgan dirt.

Originally posted by deltaboy
www.military.com...

The Army and Marine Corps may soon field a lighter combat helmet with nearly double the bullet and blast protection of the current Advanced Combat Helmet.

Army officials said that recent tests of the so-called "Enhanced Combat Helmet" showed the helmets were so strong that engineers didn't have equipment powerful enough to penetrate them with simulated IED fragments.

"The test lab we sent it to couldn't calculate an [average ballistic rating] because … the test guns they had couldn't shoot fragments fast enough to penetrate the helmet," said the Army's top protective equipment buyer, Col. Bill Cole. "We don't know exactly what the [average strength] is, but it's better than we've ever seen before."

"We're going to have to build stronger test guns to figure out how good it is," he added.

Testers hoped to get about a 40 percent increase in ballistic resistance over the ACH. But Cole said in some tests, the new ECH was 70 percent stronger than the helmets worn by Soldiers and Marines today. Additionally the new helmet weighs about four ounces less than the ACH.

After a first round of test failures in 2009, the Army has finally found a design made by Ceradyne, Inc. that works -- so well, officials say, that some types of 7.62 rifle rounds can be fired point-blank at the helmet without going through.

Thats what I call progress. There hasn't been much improvement in head protection that only stops fragmentation and pistol rounds for a couple of decades. But the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan where troops have been killed mostly by snipers that fires 7.62 at their has shown the immediate demand for new protection for helmets. And this is 4 ounces less in weight.

I can tell you for nothing that modern kevlar helmets will stop 7.62mm rounds.

There's a soldier in Northern Ireland that took a .50 round impact on his helmet and lived to tell the tale. It deflected it and he survived (having been knocked into a coma for a week!)

Just out of curiosity I Googled the muzzle energy of a 7.62x39 round and that of a punch, just wondering what a comparison is in terms of energy.
It seems that the energy of a punch depends not only on the size of the guy throwing it, but also whether he's a martial artist or boxer (duh really?), but roughly speaking a punch has about 100-450J of energywww.science.ca.... I'd probably be down somewhere in the 60-90 joules of energy range, being built like a gnome with anorexia.
And according to Wikipedia, the 7.62x39 round has a muzzle energy of 2,110J. en.wikipedia.org...
So, point blank, even if it doesn't penetrate the helmet, that sucker's gonna hurt like Mike Tyson found out you were sleeping with his tigers. www.amazon.com...

Go ahead an crucify me if I am wrong, but I believe the advancement is due to sheer thickening fluid, or nanofluidics.
The British has started adding an inner layer to their combat helms, which are a sheer thickening fluid liner. It has increased protection against most small arms and fragmentation.

It is not really a surprise, and more uses for armoring with sheer thickening agents is bound to only increase as it's availability does.