The effect of lightweight helmets on the mobility of soldiers

Ballistic helmets, without a doubt, are a great form of protection. However, there is a huge need to be conscious of those they are built for; soldiers. It is also necessary to consider how to build them in a way that doesn’t affect the efficiency and movability of soldiers.

Ballistic helmets basically provide protection for soldiers against bullets when they are on a mission and different types have been designed for years. Helmets go through replacements and mostly, weight is always considered. The end result is making a new helmet that is lighter than the one that was replaced.

The above end result isn’t surprising because soldiers, over the years, don’t wear only ballistic helmets for protection. There are other complementary protective pieces like the body armor that protects the chest. This makes it necessary for helmets to always be lightweight for soldiers’ comfort when all protective pieces are jointly worn and weighed on soldiers.

In addition, there are attachments like bullet-free goggles, rails, visor, mandible, etc that are mounted on the helmet itself. The recognized importance of these attachments makes it impossible to do without them. For example, the bullet-free goggle provides light in dark places. A heavy helmet alongside these attachments when mounted automatically places unnecessary weight or tension on the soldier’s head. The effect of such discomfort is reduced performance. However, a lightweight helmet erases this possibility.

It is worthy to note that the current helmet used by the army is the Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS) and it weighs 1.36 pounds, approximately. This is a huge improvement from the Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH) that weighed 3.3 pounds. Definitely, this is because the effect of lightweight helmets on increased mobility and huge performance of soldiers has been recognized by the army.

In conclusion, protection is a crucial element for soldiers but it shouldn’t be the case that weight is sacrificed for protection. A balance between both should be met for increased mobility of soldiers and a high level of productivity on any mission they embark on.

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