Description
HIGH CUT BALLISTIC HELMET
Novasteel Helmet
Unmatched Toughness
Advanced Evolution of the Steel Helmet
The steel pot. Immediately recognizable. A visual representation of the American fighting man, as seen on marketing and recruiting materials the world over. Millions of M1 helmets were produced, and they were the standard-issue helmet for US military forces from the World War Era until 1983. The M1 has been described as the most successful helmet of all time, given its service history spanning decades.
In light of this, it may be surprising to note that the metallurgy behind the M1 helmet dates back over one hundred years, and was never improved. The M1 is made from Hadfield Steel — an inferior armor alloy that first saw use in the early days of World War One. As far back as 1917, United States manufacturers had attempted to produce helmets from high-hardness chrome-nickel-vanadium steel. Unfortunately, these methods met with failure; the steel was too difficult to form with the means available at the time, and inevitably cracked during the stamping operation. The US had to resort to helmets of Hadfield’s high-manganese steel simply on account of the fact that it could be made cheaply and rapidly with that era’s methods of production.
So Hadfield Steel wasn’t even the best ballistic steel of 1917, to say nothing of today. For reasons that doubtless have much to do with institutional inertia, and which have nothing to do with steel’s merits as an armor material, the M1 was made of Hadfield Steel until the day it was discarded in favor of Kevlar.
Advances in steel processing technologies may have just turned the tables. The NovaSteel™ helmet is made of a vastly stronger alloy. It was built to withstand all of today’s threats. It is more comfortable, more modular, and more adaptable. It is a thoroughly modern high cut ballistic helmet, with the pedigree of steel, and performance that is in many respects the best available anywhere.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is the M1, evolved.
It is time for steel to retake its position as the helmet material of choice.
The Combat Circlet
Encircling the helmet, the Combat Circlet is an ideal mounting platform for NVGs and other headborne accessories. Mounted securely to the four retention-system holes on the helmet, it provides:
• An NVG bracket which requires no holes drilled into the front of the helmet, and bungee cord ports for stabilization and NVG retention.
• M-Lok side rails that accept accessories directly, and can also be used as a platform for Picatinny adapters.
• A vertical crest for more stability, and more accessory-mounting real estate. There are numerous modules in development for the crest, including applique blast protection, and an applique ghille module.
• A rear tie-down bar for enhanced stability, with or without a counterweight.
• Clean routing points for external wires and cables.
• Direct integration with the Face Protector.
The Combat Circlet is manufactured out of tough glass-filled polymer via advanced additive manufacturing techniques. It weighs just two ounces, but is impressively strong and resilient. Like the NovaSteel helmet, it’ll serve you well for years to come.
Face Protection Module
The NovaSteel Ventail offers enhanced protection from ballistic threats — covering the face, the side of the head, and a portion of the anterior neck. It also offers protection from blunt impact, blast overpressure, and debris. Mounts rapidly and securely to the helmet via the four retention system holes on the shell. Fully compatible with most ballistic glasses, the Ventail offers an unconstrained field of vision, and is significantly lighter and tougher than transparent ballistic visors.
Ballistic
Performance
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is fully VPAM 3 compliant, and is capable of stopping a wide variety of potent special threats, including:
• 7.62x25mm Tokarev at 1650 feet per second.
• 5.7x28mm ball rounds at over 2000 feet per second.
• 9x19mm 80gr. solid copper spun (SCS) rounds at carbine velocities.
And more. In every case, backface deformation is minimal.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet also boasts good performance against fragmentation threats, with performance comparable to aramid helmets such as the PASGT. The M1 had a V50 well under 1000 feet per second, and modern European metal helmets have a V50 against the same threat of just 986 feet per second.
Behind armor blunt trauma and head/neck acceleration
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is the best ballistic helmet to use if you’re concerned about behind armor trauma.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is not capable of significant backface deformation, and its stiff shell spreads the kinetic energy load of a projectile impact across the entire padding system.
In contrast, with a lightweight composite helmet, backface deformation is a real concern, and is associated with injuries up to and including skull fracture.
In any case, with either helmet, neck injuries resulting from head acceleration are very unlikely. A report by the Committee on Testing of Body Armor Materials for Use by the U.S. Army has examined the transfer of momentum in ballistic head impacts, and estimates that there’s a less than 0.1% chance of neck injury following small arms helmet impacts, up to and including 7.62x51mm rifle round impacts. This has been corroborated in tests performed by other labs.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet doesn’t only exhibit good ballistic performance – it does so in a way that poses effectively no risk of blunt impact injury to the helmet wearer. It won’t just keep you alive; it’ll enable you to return fire. No other helmet can say the same.
Further, TBI has been called “the signature injury of modern warfare,” and its emergence over the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has revealed that there are injuries that current helmets have not been designed to protect against. Helmets must continue to evolve to address today’s threats. The NovaSteel™ Helmet’s ultra-rigid shell and industry-leading padding system ensure extremely good blunt impact and blast protection. The NovaSteel™ Helmet may be a key component in the ongoing fight against blast-induced TBI.
Blunt Impact Performance
The NovaSteel™ helmet exceeds ACH blunt impact performance standards by nearly 50%.
The NovaSteel™ was tested at NTS-Chesapeake in accordance with the blunt impact testing procedure of AR/PD 10-02 Rev A Change 7 (the latest ACH and ACH Gen-2 blunt impact performance specification). It was shown to provide excellent impact protection, achieving an average headform acceleration of 78.5 G, vs. maximum acceleration of 150 G, as shown in the test report.
Test Video:
Environmental stability
The functional lifespans of composite helmets are unknown, and for this reason they are typically sold with short warranty periods. The NovaSteel™ Helmet, in contrast, has an indefinite service lifespan. If its handled and stored with reasonable care, it’ll maintain its full protective ability for many decades. It is nearly or completely impervious to cold, chemical exposure, solvent exposure, UV radiation exposure, and structural loading. Its heat resistance is substantially superior to polyethylene-based helmets; it has been tested to against steel-jacketed 9mm rounds, at over 1400 feet per second, immediately following 12 hours of conditioning at 100°C. Even under such conditions, it did not allow penetration and did not exhibit excess backface deformation.
Damage tolerance
Composite helmets must be immediately replaced after a single impact, for they will have delaminated and will not continue to exhibit good overall performance; they may even be impossible to wear comfortably, on account of permanent shell deformation. The NovaSteel™ Helmet, like the steel helmets of old, can remain in emergency battlefield service after sustaining impacts. For permanent damage to the shell is sure be slight, and should not meaningfully compromise future performance.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet can sustain tremendous damage before its form or function are compromised, and this battlefield durability makes it extremely well-suited for use by regular and light infantry forces.
With The NovaSteel™ Helmet, you can forget about
replacing your helmet every five years.
Edge-to-edge Protection
Composite helmets offer little protection around their rims; hits near the helmet edge can cause the ballistic material to roll, resulting in penetrations or excessive trauma. For this reason, the ACH spec has always included this terminology on fair hits: “An impact resulting in a complete penetration shall be considered unfair if it is within 1.5-inches of another impact, within 1.5-inches of the closest edge of any hole, within 1.0-inch of the edge of the helmet.“
On the streets and in the field, not all shots are fair. But the NovaSteel™ Helmet has you covered: It offers full edge-to-edge protection – which vastly increases its area of protective coverage. A leading competitor’s helmet offers 136 square inches of coverage in a size L – but the stated protective area of that helmet is under 90 square inches. The steel helmet offers well over 110 square inches of real protection.
Comfort and balance
As the steel helmet is not capable of significant deformation upon impact, thick pads are not required, and the standoff distance between the helmet and the head is reduced. Additionally, the shell is up to six times thinner than standard aramid or UHMWPE helmets. Ultimately, this makes for a more streamlined helmet, a better-balanced helmet, and a lower-profile target. Furthermore, the retention system developed by Adept offers real adjustability and stability, without ratchets or other mechanical parts that may break if handled roughly.
Modularity
A broad array of accessories are available or in development:
• NVG shroud
• M-Lok side rails
• Ballistic mandible
• Ballistic visor
• Blast liner set
• Rifle-rated ballistic applique
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is a platform, designed to be extremely customizable.
The World’s Toughest Ballistic Helmet
The NovaSteel™ Helmet steel helmet boasts traits that cannot be matched by any other combat helmet. Incomparable toughness. Near-zero shell deformation upon impact. Excellent performance against high-velocity special threats. A top-tier padding system. A pedigree that hearkens back to previous generations of the American fighting man. A price affordable for large-scale military procurement.
Several patents pending. The NovaSteel helmet is the first and the definitive modern steel ballistic combat helmet.
Ballistic performance:
VPAM-3 + special threats
Minimal BFD and trauma
Best-in-class performance
Extreme environmental stability
Best-in-class shelf-life
Modular
Modular design
Ultra durable
Capable of sustaining tremendous damage before form or function are compromised
Protection
From rim to rim
Developed
With comfort and balance in mind
The world’s toughest
combat helmet
“Please contact us for international order inquiries.”
HIGH CUT BALLISTIC HELMET – NOVASTEEL™
The world’s toughest ballistic helmet
The Steel Helmet – Evolved
The steel pot. Immediately recognizable. A visual representation of the American fighting man, as seen on marketing and recruiting materials the world over. Millions of M1 helmets were produced, and they were the standard-issue helmet for US military forces from the World War Era until 1983. The M1 has been described as the most successful helmet of all time, given its service history spanning decades.
In light of this, it may be surprising to note that the metallurgy behind the M1 helmet dates back over one hundred years, and was never improved. The M1 is made from Hadfield Steel — an inferior armor alloy that first saw use in the early days of World War One. As far back as 1917, United States manufacturers had attempted to produce helmets from high-hardness chrome-nickel-vanadium steel. Unfortunately, these methods met with failure; the steel was too difficult to form with the means available at the time, and inevitably cracked during the stamping operation. The US had to resort to helmets of Hadfield’s high-manganese steel simply on account of the fact that it could be made cheaply and rapidly with that era’s methods of production.
So Hadfield Steel wasn’t even the best ballistic steel of 1917, to say nothing of today. For reasons that doubtless have much to do with institutional inertia, and which have nothing to do with steel’s merits as an armor material, the M1 was made of Hadfield Steel until the day it was discarded in favor of Kevlar.
Advances in steel processing technologies may have just turned the tables. The NovaSteel™ helmet is made of a vastly stronger alloy. It was built to withstand all of today’s threats. It is more comfortable, more modular, and more adaptable. It is a thoroughly modern high cut ballistic helmet, with the pedigree of steel, and performance that is in many respects the best available anywhere.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is the M1, evolved.
It is time for steel to retake its position as the helmet material of choice.
The Combat Circlet
Encircling the helmet, the Combat Circlet is an ideal mounting platform for NVGs and other headborne accessories. Mounted securely to the four retention-system holes on the helmet, it provides:
• An NVG bracket which requires no holes drilled into the front of the helmet, and bungee cord ports for stabilization and NVG retention.
• M-Lok side rails that accept accessories directly, and can also be used as a platform for Picatinny adapters.
• A vertical crest for more stability, and more accessory-mounting real estate. There are numerous modules in development for the crest, including applique blast protection, and an applique ghille module.
• A rear tie-down bar for enhanced stability, with or without a counterweight.
• Clean routing points for external wires and cables.
• Direct integration with the Face Protector.
The Combat Circlet is manufactured out of tough glass-filled polymer via advanced additive manufacturing techniques. It weighs just two ounces, but is impressively strong and resilient. Like the NovaSteel helmet, it’ll serve you well for years to come.
Face Protection Module
The NovaSteel Ventail offers enhanced protection from ballistic threats — covering the face, the side of the head, and a portion of the anterior neck. It also offers protection from blunt impact, blast overpressure, and debris. Mounts rapidly and securely to the helmet via the four retention system holes on the shell. Fully compatible with most ballistic glasses, the Ventail offers an unconstrained field of vision, and is significantly lighter and tougher than transparent ballistic visors.
Ballistic
Performance
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is fully VPAM 3 compliant, and is capable of stopping a wide variety of potent special threats, including:
• 7.62x25mm Tokarev at 1650 feet per second.
• 5.7x28mm ball rounds at over 2000 feet per second.
• 9x19mm 80gr. solid copper spun (SCS) rounds at carbine velocities.
And more. In every case, backface deformation is minimal.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet also boasts good performance against fragmentation threats, with performance comparable to aramid helmets such as the PASGT. The M1 had a V50 well under 1000 feet per second, and modern European metal helmets have a V50 against the same threat of just 986 feet per second.
Behind armor blunt trauma and head/neck acceleration
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is the best ballistic helmet to use if you’re concerned about behind armor trauma.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is not capable of significant backface deformation, and its stiff shell spreads the kinetic energy load of a projectile impact across the entire padding system.
In contrast, with a lightweight composite helmet, backface deformation is a real concern, and is associated with injuries up to and including skull fracture.
In any case, with either helmet, neck injuries resulting from head acceleration are very unlikely. A report by the Committee on Testing of Body Armor Materials for Use by the U.S. Army has examined the transfer of momentum in ballistic head impacts, and estimates that there’s a less than 0.1% chance of neck injury following small arms helmet impacts, up to and including 7.62x51mm rifle round impacts. This has been corroborated in tests performed by other labs.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet doesn’t only exhibit good ballistic performance – it does so in a way that poses effectively no risk of blunt impact injury to the helmet wearer. It won’t just keep you alive; it’ll enable you to return fire. No other helmet can say the same.
Further, TBI has been called “the signature injury of modern warfare,” and its emergence over the course of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has revealed that there are injuries that current helmets have not been designed to protect against. Helmets must continue to evolve to address today’s threats. The NovaSteel™ Helmet’s ultra-rigid shell and industry-leading padding system ensure extremely good blunt impact and blast protection. The NovaSteel™ Helmet may be a key component in the ongoing fight against blast-induced TBI.
Blunt Impact Performance
The NovaSteel™ helmet exceeds ACH blunt impact performance standards by nearly 50%.
The NovaSteel™ was tested at NTS-Chesapeake in accordance with the blunt impact testing procedure of AR/PD 10-02 Rev A Change 7 (the latest ACH and ACH Gen-2 blunt impact performance specification). It was shown to provide excellent impact protection, achieving an average headform acceleration of 78.5 G, vs. maximum acceleration of 150 G, as shown in the test report.
Test Video:
Environmental stability
The functional lifespans of composite helmets are unknown, and for this reason they are typically sold with short warranty periods. The NovaSteel™ Helmet, in contrast, has an indefinite service lifespan. If its handled and stored with reasonable care, it’ll maintain its full protective ability for many decades. It is nearly or completely impervious to cold, chemical exposure, solvent exposure, UV radiation exposure, and structural loading. Its heat resistance is substantially superior to polyethylene-based helmets; it has been tested to against steel-jacketed 9mm rounds, at over 1400 feet per second, immediately following 12 hours of conditioning at 100°C. Even under such conditions, it did not allow penetration and did not exhibit excess backface deformation.
Damage tolerance
Composite helmets must be immediately replaced after a single impact, for they will have delaminated and will not continue to exhibit good overall performance; they may even be impossible to wear comfortably, on account of permanent shell deformation. The NovaSteel™ Helmet, like the steel helmets of old, can remain in emergency battlefield service after sustaining impacts. For permanent damage to the shell is sure be slight, and should not meaningfully compromise future performance.
The NovaSteel™ Helmet can sustain tremendous damage before its form or function are compromised, and this battlefield durability makes it extremely well-suited for use by regular and light infantry forces.
With The NovaSteel™ Helmet, you can forget about replacing your helmet every five years.
Edge-to-edge Protection
Composite helmets offer little protection around their rims; hits near the helmet edge can cause the ballistic material to roll, resulting in penetrations or excessive trauma. For this reason, the ACH spec has always included this terminology on fair hits: “An impact resulting in a complete penetration shall be considered unfair if it is within 1.5-inches of another impact, within 1.5-inches of the closest edge of any hole, within 1.0-inch of the edge of the helmet.“
On the streets and in the field, not all shots are fair. But the NovaSteel™ Helmet has you covered: It offers full edge-to-edge protection – which vastly increases its area of protective coverage. A leading competitor’s helmet offers 136 square inches of coverage in a size L – but the stated protective area of that helmet is under 90 square inches. The steel helmet offers well over 110 square inches of real protection.
Comfort and balance
As the steel helmet is not capable of significant deformation upon impact, thick pads are not required, and the standoff distance between the helmet and the head is reduced. Additionally, the shell is up to six times thinner than standard aramid or UHMWPE helmets. Ultimately, this makes for a more streamlined helmet, a better-balanced helmet, and a lower-profile target. Furthermore, the retention system developed by Adept offers real adjustability and stability, without ratchets or other mechanical parts that may break if handled roughly.
Modularity
A broad array of accessories are available or in development:
• NVG shroud
• M-Lok side rails
• Ballistic mandible
• Ballistic visor
• Blast liner set
• Rifle-rated ballistic applique
The NovaSteel™ Helmet is a platform, designed to be extremely customizable.
The World’s Toughest Ballistic Helmet
The NovaSteel™ Helmet steel helmet boasts traits that cannot be matched by any other combat helmet. Incomparable toughness. Near-zero shell deformation upon impact. Excellent performance against high-velocity special threats. A top-tier padding system. A pedigree that hearkens back to previous generations of the American fighting man. A price affordable for large-scale military procurement.
Several patents pending. The NovaSteel helmet is the first and the definitive modern steel ballistic combat helmet.
“Please contact us for international order inquiries.”
