In order to ensure safety of jawans during anti-insurgency operations, the Army will procure more than 1,58,000 ballistic helmets from an Indian manufacturer. The contract is worth over Rs170 crore and the delivery will start from August this year. This is the first big order for helmets in the last two decades as soldiers are still using helmets which are cumbersome and heavy, thereby, impacting operational efficiency in combat.
The contract for lightweight helmets was signed between the Government and MKU, a Kanpur-based unit which specialises in manufacturing helmets and bullet proof jackets, late last month. This company exports these items known as personal armour to various advanced countries.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat had announced last week that his priority was to equip his soldiers engaged in counter-insurgency operations which involve close quarter battle with lethal weapons and protection gear to ensure “lethality and yet survivability.”
The new helmets are designed to withstand the impact of 9 mm ammunition fired from a short range as most encounters in insurgency operations take place at close range sometimes at a distance of not more than ten feet. The ballistic helmet’s ruggedness meets the global standard for protection among leading armed forces, officials said here on Wednesday.
As per the Army’s requirements, a certain number of helmets will also be fitted with in-built communication system besides sight system, they said. These helmets provide more flexibility to the soldier during an operation as he has to carry lesser number of equipment on person and can move fast, they said. Such modern equipment can make the difference between life and death in combat.
At present, soldiers wear heavier helmets which obstruct clear sight. In order to overcome this problem, the Army some years back improvised the head gear and most security personnel now wear a metal head band known as ‘patka.’
However, these ‘patkas’ offer protection only to the forehead and the back of the head, and Rawat had also commented on its limited protection capabilities besides the weight. Since this makeshift headgear is meant to stop a bullet fired from close distance, the metal is heavy and the ‘patkas’ weigh more than three to four kgs causing related problems. The new helmets will cover the entire head and various field trials proved that the soldiers were comfortable donning it during high risk missions, officials said.
Besides this piece of critical protective gear, the Army will also procure at least 50,000 bullet proof jackets from an Indian vendor through the revenue route. The government has authorized the Vice Chief of Army to use his funds to buy these jackets and may allow him to place an order for 50,000 more jackets, sources said. Apart from these procurements, the user trials of some other brand of bullet proof jackets are on and the government has allowed the Army to buy them under the Buy Indian category. However, the government is also open to a foreign vendor, officials said.