Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/958224
S ince 1941 to the middle of the 1980s, the steel M1 helmet was the basic issue for US infantry. Upon its introduction, it was the most modern solution at that time: it was the first time when helmets had a two-piece design consisting of a steel helmet shell and liner. In comparison to earlier helmets, M1 provided far better protection of the back and sides of the head, while thanks to the application of an addi- tional internal part, the damage caused by steel chips after being hit by a shrapnel was minimized. What is more, it's worth to mention about use of Hadfield steel with high content of manganese. Despite the low resis- tance to corrosion, it had very food ballistic properties while being relatively thin (~1 mm). However, development of technology never stops, so the first attempts of designing a new helmet took place already in the 1950s. The designers tried to re- place steel with titanium. Such a solution would allow removal of the liner, since titanium was resistant to chipping, it was light, durable, and allowed increas- ing the thickness of the shell without increasing the weight. But processing of titanium was difficult; the material was very expensive, and it also appeared that the properties of the final helmets did not differ signifi- cantly from the previous model. I think that the price was a major factor in that case, since a steel helmet shell cost the taxpayer $6... In 1961, new liners were introduced. They were made of ballistic nylon bound by using phenolic resin and then press-formed. The use of ballistic fabrics in production of liners opened new possibilities. equipment