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Adept Armor Unveils the NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible

Friday, December 19th, 2025

A breakthrough in lightweight, one-handed, high-performance facial ballistic protection.

Denison, TX. (December 2025) – Adept Armor, pioneers in next-gen protective solutions, today announced the release of the NovaSteel™ Flip Ballistic Mandible, Gen 2, an entirely reengineered facial protection module designed to meet the evolving ballistic and impact threats faced by modern warfighters, tactical teams, and security professionals. The Gen 2 model introduces a patented, sealed hinge mechanism that enables silent, one-handed flip-up operation with free-stop positioning at any angle, while preserving a lightweight form factor, wide field of vision, and exceptional ballistic performance.

Modern body armor has dramatically reduced thoracic injuries, but as coverage has improved, personal vulnerability has shifted. The face, once indirectly shielded, has become the most exposed anatomical region during ballistic engagements. Face and neck injuries are up 30 percent since Vietnam, and the face is struck over 700 percent more frequently than its surface area would predict. These shifting patterns of wounding have left the face as the most exposed region of the warfighter’s body.

?Injury simulations clearly illustrate the vulnerability of the face to ballistic and blunt-force impact, even at comparatively low velocities. As a result, the need for practical, high-performance facial protection has become paramount. The NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible, Gen 2, was expressly engineered to address this challenge, delivering substantial ballistic, fragment, and blunt-impact protection while maintaining wide visibility, ease of use, and compatibility with contemporary helmet systems.

“I’m incredibly excited to finally announce our new NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible, Gen 2. After nearly two years of development and countless prototypes, we’ve achieved a genuine breakthrough. The new face shield is lightweight, breathable, and exceptionally easy to operate. Users can flip it up, down, or hold it at any point in between with a simple, quiet, one-handed motion. It’s dramatically more intuitive than anything currently available,” said Jake Ganor, President of Adept Armor.

The NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible, Gen 2, represents a comprehensive redesign of Adept Armor’s acclaimed ballistic mandible platform. Its most significant innovation is its sealed, all-aluminum, patented rotating mechanism, permanently welded to a dedicated Combat Circlet, and designed for:

Silent, smooth, one-handed actuation
Free-stop positioning at any angle without detents or latches
Stable, secure operation that preserves cheek-weld, comms access, and ventilation
?A dramatically reduced mechanical footprint compared to bulky or fixed alternatives

Underneath the protective housing lies an entirely new rotational architecture, engineered to deliver a level of sophistication, durability, and ease of use unmatched in current ballistic facial protection systems.

“Helmets have come a long way, but facial protection has lagged behind. We’re working to close that gap,” Ganor explained. “This isn’t a niche accessory anymore – in terms of protection, ergonomics, and durability, it’s at a point where it can become an essential piece of equipment.”

The NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible, Gen 2, is built from high-grade NovaSteel alloy, offering robust ballistic resistance while remaining exceptionally lightweight at less than 1 pound. The sealed hinge delivers quiet, controlled operation with no clicks, snaps, or latch noise that could compromise user position. The low-profile geometry maintains a wide field of view and is fully compatible with most ballistic glasses, goggles, and common weapon optics. The mandible provides multi-threat protection against pistol-caliber ballistic impacts, high-velocity fragmentation, blunt-force events, and debris.

Key specifications include:

Ballistic Rating: 124 gr 9mm FMJ
Ultra-low BFD, enabling a tight, low-profile fit and cheek-weld capability
Wide, unobstructed field of vision with no optical distortion
High resistance to blunt impact and fragmentation
No fogging, no transparency degradation, and no visor-related distortion
Fully compatible with the ACH model and all NovaSteel helmets (2024+)

?The NovaSteel Flip Ballistic Mandible surpasses the ballistic and blunt-impact thresholds of the ACH and ACH Gen II helmet specifications, despite no formal testing protocol existing for ballistic mandibles. The design also demonstrates broad compliance with VPAM-3 helmet test criteria, maintaining low backface deformation, delivering stable edge-shot protection, and performing reliably even after sustained high-temperature conditioning at 168°F and beyond.

The mandible mounts via integrated bosses on the Combat Circlet Gen 2, leaving rail space free and requiring no drilling or modification. This Flip Mandible mounts only to the dedicated Combat Circlet supplied with the unit. It is not compatible with the standard Combat Circlet Mark II, older Circlet variants, or any third-party helmet mounting hardware. Each unit includes the NovaSteel Flip Mandible, Gen 2, and its dedicated welded Combat Circlet with integrated flip rotator assembly. Available in Black or Green. MSRP $490.00.

For more information on Adept Armor, visit its website or follow along on Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube.

Posted in Armor, Helmets, Press Release | No Comments »

People’s Liberation Army Integrated Soldier System

Saturday, December 6th, 2025

At Milipol we got a glimpse of the QDS204E Integrated Soldier System. Interestingly, it’s shown here in MultiCam, likely to draw international clients. Nothing seen here is groundbraking but it’s nice to get a look.

Here is an article from 2022 regarding improvements to the system which seems to be in spiral development.

Considering China and Russia’s defense pact, I find it an odd choice for any NATO nations to entertain the notion of adopting Chinese defense systems. I’d suspect this display (and other companies at Milipol) hoped to draw African and Asian contingents in attendance.

Posted in Armor, Clothing, Helmets, International, Milipol | No Comments »

SCHUBERTH GmbH Presents New T100C Training Helmet

Friday, November 21st, 2025

Magdeburg, 18 November 2025 – Head protection specialist SCHUBERTH GmbH from Magdeburg is presenting the new T100C training helmet at Milipol Paris 2025. The helmet was developed specifically for training as well as operational scenarios in military and law enforcement settings, combining low weight with maximum protection and modularity. With this, SCHUBERTH expands its portfolio of tactical head protection systems with another practical, field-oriented model.

Optimized for Training and Real-Condition Operations

The T100C is the training variant of the proven M100 combat helmet and features the same interfaces (rails, shroud, etc.) and identical interior components, ensuring that operation remains unchanged for the user. The newly developed multilayer carbon-composite shell provides maximum shape stability and durability while significantly reducing weight.

Weighing just 750 g (sizes XS–M) and 790 g (sizes M–XL), the T100C is the lightest training helmet in its class. For the first time, a tactical training helmet meets the requirements of the mountaineering helmet standard EN 12492 and the whitewater helmet standard EN 1385.

The EPP inner shell with 4-point chin strap and neck cushion provides optimal comfort and shock absorption. Thanks to the new adjustable interior system, the helmet can be individually adapted to head shape and wearing preference and is compatible with all tactical hearing protection systems available on the market.

Flexibility Through a Modular Accessory System

Like all modern SCHUBERTH system helmets, the T100C features a fully modular design. The integrated rail system with three attachment points allows simultaneous mounting of oxygen or respiratory masks, communication systems, cameras, or IR/IFF identification modules. Additionally, the helmet is equipped with the Enhanced Connection Device (ECD) system, which provides extended interfaces for additional accessories—from artificial camouflage material to tactical add-on components.

Design and Safety According to International Standards

The T100C meets the relevant safety standards for training and exercise helmets:

• Mountaineering helmet EN 12492

• Whitewater helmet EN 1385

It is available in Black, Bronze Green, and Sand Brown. The helmet shell features a high-cut design.

“With the T100C, we are offering our military and police partners a training solution that replicates the handling and ergonomics of our combat helmets exactly—at significantly reduced weight and with maximum wearing comfort. This closes the gap between realistic training and operational deployment,” explains Milad Youkhanna, Head of Military & Law Enforcement at SCHUBERTH GmbH.

Posted in Helmets, International, Milipol, Press Release | No Comments »

Milipol 25 – MSA Gallet TC 901

Wednesday, November 19th, 2025

MSA unveiled the new TC 901 helmet by Gallet at Milipol in Paris, France. This new helmet design is made from Polyethylene and rated for 9mm and frag protection. Offered in three sizes, Small, Medium, and Large, the TC 901 is modular and scalable.

Additionally, the helmet can easily be disassembled by removing a single bolt at the rear of the ARCH, which loosens the ARCH first and then the edge molding. You will recognize the ARCH rail system from the TC 800 series helmet as well as the ratchet headband. The new liner system is removed by unclipping the chinstrap from its upper sockets within the helmet.

Seen below are concepts of future helmet accessories for the TC 901.

Posted in Helmets, Milipol | 1 Comment »

Sentinel Skin for Raptor Tactical’s Sentinel Inside Helmet Skullcrusher System

Monday, November 17th, 2025

Raptor Tactical has introduced an accessory for their Sentinel Inside Helmet Skullcrusher System, Sentinel Skin which serves to offer MultiCam camouflage to the Black foam forehead pad.

Designed to replace the liner of Ops-Core high-cut helmets or ACH, the Sentinel Inside Helmet Skullcrusher System seamlessly integrates with the shell, eliminating bulk and redundancy while delivering stability for stand alone use of NVG and optics support.

raptortactical.com

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Gentex Corporation Secures Third Year Option on its Advanced Combat Helmet Generation II Contract Worth $38.4 Million

Thursday, November 13th, 2025

CARBONDALE, PA, November 13, 2025 — The Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) has exercised the third one-year option period of the Advanced Combat Helmet Generation II (ACH Gen II) production contract (SPE1C1-23-D-0004) awarded to Gentex Corporation. Valued at up to $38,376,425, this latest action extends through October 16, 2026 with the U.S. Army, ensuring America’s soldiers continue to receive advanced ballistic protection with a significant 22% reduction in weight compared to the legacy ACH helmet system.

Building on decades of innovation, the ACH Gen II helmet integrates ultra-high-performance materials and advanced manufacturing processes to deliver superior ballistic protection and blunt-impact performance while reducing overall weight. This results in greater comfort, agility, and mission endurance for today’s warfighter.

“Gentex is proud to continue our close partnership with the U.S. Army and the Defense Logistics Agency through the ACH Gen II program,” said Kevin Reilly, Close Combat Segment Directorat Gentex Corporation. “This award reaffirms our mission to deliver lightweight head protection to America’s warfighters, built with pride by the skilled workforce of Northeastern Pennsylvania.”

“Gentex Corporation continues to be a cornerstone of our region’s defense-manufacturing strength,” said Congressman Rob Bresnahan (PA-08). “The company’s recent recognition as a Best Place To Work in PA for 2025 confirms their commitment to their employees. This contract not only supports the safety and readiness of our nation’s soldiers but also sustains hundreds of high-quality jobs here in Northeastern Pennsylvania.”

The ACH Gen II is a key part of Gentex Corporation’s portfolio of U.S. military ground-combat helmet programs, including the Enhanced Combat Helmet (ECH), High-Cut ECH, Next-Generation Integrated Head Protection System (NG-IHPS), and the USSOCOM Family of Tactical Headborne Systems (FTHS). Gentex continues to advance mission-critical technologies that enhance survivability, comfort, and communication for military personnel around the world.

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Dry Land, Wet Work, Same DNA: New EXFIL Rescuer Helmets from Team Wendy Are Born from the Field, Built for SAR

Wednesday, November 12th, 2025

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Nov. 12, 2025 – Team Wendy®, a leading provider of innovative head protection systems, introduces EXFIL® Rescuer bump helmets for search-and-rescue (SAR) missions spanning terrain to tide. Developed directly from field feedback, the new product platform reflects Team Wendy’s “listen first, adapt fast” approach to design and features two purpose-built models: the EXFIL® Rescuer for on-the-ground operations, and the EXFIL® Maritime Rescuer for maritime, hurricane and swift-water response.

The EXFIL Rescuer delivers advanced protection and everyday adaptability for land-based missions, while the EXFIL Maritime Rescuer extends that performance into the water with a liner engineered for neutral buoyancy and quick drying. Both models feature liner systems with Zorbium® foam technology—combining blunt-impact mitigation with comfort—and both helmets are available in high-visibility red or yellow.

“We wanted to give agencies and public-safety teams a unified system that works across multiple rescue environments,” said Garson Greathouse, Regional Sales Manager (Southeast) at Team Wendy. “Starting with the same shell used in our popular EXFIL LTP (Lightweight, Tactical, Polymer) bump helmets, we expanded that foundation by closing the loop with SAR crews, until the platform reflected the realities of the way they actually work onshore and offshore.”

Built light, built right

The EXFIL Rescuer weighs just 1.59 lbs. (varies slightly by size and pad configuration) to give first responders the freedom to move fast, stay sharp and keep their focus where it counts. Designed for the rigors of wilderness rescue, structural collapse and urban interface, among other dangerous scenarios, it offers a full roster of mission-ready features including:

An aluminum shroud designed to handle helmet lights for hands-free illumination, night vision and thermal imaging products.
A lightweight, impact-modified polycarbonate shell with signature EXFIL geometry.
A Velcro® pattern designed for top led lights or IR strobes, attachments and patches.
The handmade CAM FIT™ retention system featuring Team Wendy’s signature BOA® fit integration (a micro-adjustable dial helps distribute light, even pressure around the head).
Rails compatible with EXFIL accessories including face shields, visors and Peltor™ adapters.
A sport-style chin strap for a low-profile, secure fit.

For water rescue

Retaining the same core hardware and base weight, the EXFIL Maritime Rescuer builds on the landward model with a marine-grade liner, while the under-the-chin retention system stays clear of snorkels, comms and hoods upon water entry.

“SAR swimmers told us that an over-the-chin or cup-style strap can scoop water and yank the helmet, so you’re constantly retightening it instead of focusing on the rescue,” Greathouse said. “Or, if the liner floats, you get ‘bucketing,’ where the helmet lifts or pulls your head back, and that can break your seal.

“The EXFIL Maritime Rescuer is our answer to those concerns. It uses an under-the-chin strap that stays clear of the airway and a moisture-shedding, neutrally buoyant liner that won’t fight you in the water. It’s about achieving a mission-ready fit rather than pushing a tactical helmet into rescue work it wasn’t intended for.”

A new spin on SAR

Search and rescue work is not served well by repurposed gear, and helmets that prioritize fire or other hazards often miss the adaptability that SAR missions demand. That’s why Team Wendy’s applied science program focuses on understanding the blunt and rotational impacts (e.g., debris strikes, wall collisions, head-to-ground falls) that are the primary drivers of concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

To evaluate helmets beyond legacy linear drop tests, the team developed DREW (Dummy for Rotational Evaluation of Wearables), a biofidelic (behaves like the human body) rig that captures both linear and rotational head motion. At Team Wendy, this work contributes to the development of advanced liner systems, foam chemistries and pad geometries that can benefit the men and women who put their well-being on the line every day—innovations like those found in new EXFIL Rescuer helmets.

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On a Mission to Measure What Matters, Team Wendy Shares New DREW Data

Wednesday, October 29th, 2025

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Oct. 29, 2025 – Team Wendy®, a leading provider of innovative head protection systems, presented at the recent Personal Armour Systems Symposium (PASS) held in Bruges, Belgium, where company researchers shared new findings on DREW (Dummy for Rotational Evaluation of Wearables), including a paper published in the proceedings. Aiming to advance helmet testing from traditional linear drops to encompass rotational events, Team Wendy is on a mission to change the way the industry measures head impacts.

Who’s DREW?

Developed by Team Wendy, DREW is a biofidelic (behaves like the human body) helmet-test rig built to simulate real head-to-ground falls and capture both linear and rotational head motion (something legacy linear-drop tests miss). It uses a 50th-percentile Hybrid-III head, neck and torso on a pivoting assembly to recreate front, rear and side impacts, as well as to study both head-direct and whiplash-induced events.

“We want to measure how the brain responds to complex impacts, in ways that we still don’t understand well enough, so we can inform better products and standards going forward,” said Ron Szalkowski, head of R&D at Team Wendy and co-author of the PASS paper. “DREW helps move that conversation beyond linear drops to the rotational forces associated with concussion and other forms of traumatic brain injury (TBI).”

What Team Wendy Discovered

The PASS paper compared Team Wendy’s standard EXFIL® Ballistic helmet liner to a high-density foam ballistic liner tuned for DOT/monorail drops (where the helmeted head form is guided straight down onto an anvil at relatively high impact speeds). Using DREW in a rear, whiplash-induced configuration, as well as a front, direct impact configuration, the foam ballistic liner produced higher head loads (peak linear and angular acceleration) with no meaningful gain reduction in peak angular velocity.

“The foam liner was associated with more jolting to the head, both straight-on and in a twisting motion,” Szalkowski said. “Think of it like tuning a car’s performance on a treadmill, only to learn that it struggles with bumps and turns in the road. The danger is that a helmet design can look good on paper, but increased rigidity, for instance, does not necessarily help you in a real fall.”

The PASS poster also showed how DREW can mimic a real parachute landing. Researchers used sensor data from mouthguards worn by paratroopers to study the rotational dynamics linked to concussion-inducing, head-to-ground impacts. Then they tuned the rig (adjusting the drop angle and whiplash distance) until DREW matched the data within 4%.

“This gives our engineers a realistic target to design helmets against, and it could go so far as to inform future revisions to test procedures and performance criteria,” Szalkowski added.

Headstrong for Safety

Team Wendy’s initiatives at PASS showcase a profound commitment to comprehensive, peer-reviewed research that raises the benchmarks for head protection. Based on these insights, the company is advancing with DREW evaluations across different helmet categories and is supplying data to aid standards development efforts in partnership with academic and governmental entities. To request the PASS paper and poster, please reach out to Sara Jonas, global director of marketing, atsjonas@teamwendy.com. The paper is also available via PASS proceedings.

This material is founded on research funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research through PANTHER award number N00014-21-1-2916. Team Wendy expresses gratitude to the partners at Robert Morris University for their contributions to FEA modeling and for the RISE3D injury metric utilized in DREW studies.

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