Discover Ulbrichts Austrian technology of combat helmet able to stop handgun rounds


The Austrian-based company Ulbrichts presents the latest generation of combat helmets for soldiers able to provide a high level of protection against projectiles and fragments according to military requirements. In addition to their reduced weight, the latest generation of ballistic titanium hybrid helmets from ULBRICHTS Protection features numerous other innovations in terms of protection, comfort, and design.
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Austrian company Ulbrichts has developed a new technology of combat helmet able to stop rifle and handgun rounds. (Picture source: Army Recognition)


In contrast to police forces, soldiers have to wear their helmets for much longer stretches at a time. As a result, weight has been the main criterion up to now when selecting combat helmets made mostly out of aramid fiber. Although these are very light and offer good protection against fragments, they display fatal weaknesses in the case of projectiles. Even if the projectile is stopped by the helmet shell, typical NIJ 3a aramid fiber helmets have extremely high back face deformation and potentially deadly residual energy values – and therefore trauma values. When a helmet stops a projectile, the deforming helmet strikes the wearer’s head and transfers high residual energy. This will cause potentially fatal head injuries.

After years of research, ULBRICHTS Protection has upgraded its titanium concept, which has been tried and tested for more than 20 years, to bring it into the weight class of combat-ready lightweight helmets. The latest version of the HIGH CUT / JUMP ballistic helmet only weighs around 1.25 kilograms. But despite its low weight, the helmet provides effective protection against handgun fire according to the Golden Standard VPAM 3 HVN 2009. This means that the helmet not only stops the bullet but also that the helmet has a very low back face deformation when being hit. This keeps the strike on the head low and the transferred energy below the threshold value below survivable 25 Joule. Thanks to its combination of titanium and polyethylene, the HIGH CUT / JUMP also offers excellent protection against fragments. This high-tech product not only gives soldiers effective ballistic head protection in highly dynamic situations but also enables them to wear it for long periods – and thus offers them the same level of protection that is already standard in many European police units today.

In addition to the particularly light HIGH CUT / JUMP, the entire VPAM-3 helmet range from ULBRICHTS Protection has also undergone an update. By further developing and improving the materials used, ULBRICHTS has achieved significant weight reductions in its VPAM-3 helmets without compromising their protective effects.

The Ulbrichts soldier helmet also offers the option of achieving true protection against rifles with an additional forehead shield. The FORTIS module can be attached to the front helmet shell in just a few simple steps using the Velcro surface. As a result, this ultra-light helmet variant is also able to stop shots from a Kalashnikov assault rifle using 7.62 x 39 steel-core ammunition (MSC) while at the same time achieving trauma values below 25 joules (test level VPAM 6 and trauma values analog to the European guideline VPAM HVN 2009 below 25 joules). This means that the ballistic protection of the combat helmet and vest can be adjusted. The Head and body are protected in the best possible way against various operational threats.