Army Shows Off Its Lightest Combat Helmet Ever | Military.com: Army equipment officials said Thursday that the service's newest combat helmet will feel significantly lighter to soldiers while providing the same protection.
The Advanced Combat Helmet Gen II will replace the legacy Advanced Combat Helmet, which was fielded about 15 years ago.
The service earlier this month awarded Revision Military, based in Essex Junction in Vermont, a contract worth about $98 million to make 293,870 of the new helmets.
Made of high-density polyethylene instead of the current helmet's Kevlar, the ACH Gen II weighs about 2.5 pounds in size large -- about a 24-percent weight reduction, officials from Program Executive Office Soldier said at Fort Belvoir in Virginia.
For small and medium sizes, the Gen II is about 21-percent lighter than the standard ACH, making the new helmet an average of 22-percent lighter, Maj. Brandon Motte, assistant product manager for Soldier Protective Equipment, told reporters Thursday.
Despite being lighter, the ACH Gen II provides the same protection against fragmentation and 9mm projectiles as the current helmet, equipment officials maintain.
