PMCI - May 2016

Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT) helmets for
the Foreign Military Sales effort in Afghanistan.
Their production group operates and maintains a wide variety
of automated, semi-automated, and manual machinery in a
streamlined production environment to produce our state-ofthe-art
head protection systems. ArmorSource maintains a core
labour force of approximately 100 employees with over 60% of
that base dedicated to manufacturing operations and quality.
When required, they have the ability to surge from a single
shift operation to three fulltime shifts, employing well over 200
individuals within the manufacturing and quality departments. At
their peak, the manufacturing and quality headcount was nearly
250 individuals!
Their internal mantra is “Deliver what you promise and don’t
promise what you can’t deliver.” In this vein, they embrace
the mission to significantly enhance their products’ ballistic
capabilities while preparing next generation products for release.
They are an ISO 9001:2008 registered organisation for the
design and manufacture of ballistic helmets, a registration they
were proud to receive in 2009 and still hold today. An important
aspect of the research carried out is to closely follow worldwide
risk and threat trends in order to collect information and data that
will ultimately result in improved helmet designs with increased
ballistic performance, greater stability, superior impact resistance,
and long-term comfort.
HIGH PERFORMANCE PROTECTION
Increased protection in the past has usually meant piling on
the weight to gain it, but as with all things, technical materials
and components tend to change on an almost daily basis, and
ArmorSource are obviously past masters in taking the very best
that can be found!
When we saw some of their very latest helmet models in
Germany what really struck all of us was the weight savings that
have been made, not just without loss of protection, but in fact
adding to it. If you take for example their LJD Aire model, it is
the lightest ballistic helmet in the defence and law enforcement
market. The LJD Aire reduces the weight of traditional helmets
by more than 40% while exceeding the ballistic protection of the
Lightweight Advanced Combat Helmet. In a full coverage version,
size L, the boltless helmet will weigh a mere 1.9 lbs/850g,
compared to an equivalently sized Advanced Combat Helmet
(ACH), which weighs 3.3 lbs/1.5kg. The LJD Aire possesses the
ACH/ MICH geometry, and will be available in mid and high
cut versions, offering standard or boltless siderails, standard or
boltless retention, and customers’ choice of aftermarket products,
including shrouds and brackets.
The ArmorSource LJD Sniper Helmet is the lightest version of
the U.S. Army Advanced Combat Helmet (ACH / LWACH) designed
for use by Military Troops; the High-Cut variant in size S/M weighs
in at just 2.4 lbs/1.1kg! The LJD Sniper reduces the Areal Density
of the traditional ACH helmet by more than 30% and the LW-ACH
helmets by more than 15% while exceeding the ballistic protection
of the Lightweight ACH. The LJD Sniper provides extremely high
protection against a wide spectrum of small fragments as well
as handgun bullets. It is extremely comfortable due to its new
ergonomic design, lighter weight and flexible pad system and
brings the market the newest ballistic technology available in the
industry.
The AS-500 ACH (Advanced Combat Helmet) weighs in size
M 3.1 lbs/1.4kg and is a solid, tried and tested head protection
solution. The ACH is used by the U.S. Army and other military
organizations worldwide. The AS-500 ACH helmet provides high
protection against a wide spectrum of small fragments as well
as handgun bullets, and has been battle-proven extensively in
Iraq and Afghanistan. This is a classic design that is used and
accepted by the U.S. Government and other military organisations
worldwide.
At 2.29 lbs/1.04kg in size M the AS-501 Ultra Lightweight
Ballistic Helmet is an innovative, solid and extremely comfortable
solution for front line units and Special Forces. The AS-501
provides extremely high protection against a wide spectrum of
small fragments as well as handgun bullets and is extremely
comfortable due to its light weight and flexible pad system. It still
utilises the classic ACH shape meaning that specialist users will
blend easily into a larger force. There is also an Ultra Lightweight
HIGH-CUT Ballistic Helmet for those who need this style and this
reduces the weight even further to 1.874 lbs/0.85kg even when
going up to size L!
ARMORSOURCE
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