The Next Generation Integrated Head Protection System is a 3.27 pound helmet — in its large size — that may look identical to its predecessor, the Integrated Head Protection System, but offers another level of protection, officials told Army Times.

Starting today, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams at the division will receive the new helmet, starting with 2,000 soldiers from 1st brigade.

The previous version of the IHPS was 5% lighter than the more widely fielded Advanced Combat Helmet, which is still in use across the Army. The older IHPS, which Program Executive Office-Soldier began fielding in 2018 to replace both the Advanced Combat Helmet and the Enhanced Combat Helmet for close combat units, provided better blunt force protection at a lighter weight than the older models.

“The (helmet) provides increased ballistic and fragmentation protection while reducing the weight required to previously reach this protection level by 40%,” said Maj. Matthew Nulk, assistant program manager of the Head Protection Team. “This is world-leading rifle threat protection we’re providing to our soldiers.”

The Army fielded an estimated 119,000 IHPS models across the force between 2018 and 2022, said Lt. Col. Kenneth Elgort, program manager for soldier protective systems.

But its ballistic protection was still limited to pistol rounds and fragmentation. Soldiers could attach an applique, meanwhile, for small arms protection, but that accessory, which added 2.5 pounds to the system, proved too cumbersome and was rarely used, officials said.

Advances in polymers allowed designers to develop the next generation version of the helmet at the same weight but with greater protection, Alex De Groot, lead engineer for head protection at PEO Soldier, told Army Times.

Older helmets are made from materials called aramids, commonly known by the commercial name Kevlar, De Groot added. That hard, brittle material protects by disintegrating on impact. But polyethylene, the newer material being used, “acts like a catcher’s mitt,” De Groot said. The material deforms on impact, dissipating energy.

The service expects to field 190,000 next generation IHPS by 2028, Elgort said. The new helmet comes in small, medium, large and extra large sizes.

The next generation version is being built by Gentex Corporation and Avon Protection Ceradyne, officials said. Developers are still working on improving the new helmet even as it fields.

Soldier feedback during testing noted stiff front pads inside the helmet, Elgort said. In response, designers have come up with four new pad options that soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division will test and provide feedback on this spring. The office expects to begin fielding the best pad option in early 2025.

At the same time, PEO Soldier recently stood up a team to integrate a combination of communications and hearing protection system into the new helmet, Elgort said. That effort is expected to run through research, development, testing and engineering over the next two years.

The non-close combat force, which makes up the majority of the service, will continue to use the ACH, which is also being upgraded. Soldiers this year will test a 15% lighter version of the ACH. The first generation ACH weighed 3.31 pounds, while the version being tested weighs 2.81 pounds.

The Army’s current fielding plan for the next generation IHPS, according to the Program Executive Office-Soldier, is:

• February-March: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigade Combat Teams, 82nd Airborne Division, followed by 2nd Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Liberty, North Carolina.
• Third Quarter Fiscal 2024: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Brigade Combat Teams, 101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
• Late summer: 3rd Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Cavazos, Texas, followed by 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.
• Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024: 4th Security Force Assistance Brigade, Fort Carson, Colorado; 5th Security Force Assistance Brigade, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
• Fiscal 2025: 173rd Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, Italy; 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany; 1st Brigade, 11th Airborne Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska.

*UPDATE: This article has been updated to include additional information about the helmet fielding provided by PEO-Soldier.

The Radio Carrier Rucksack was assessed in airborne drops with soldiers at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, according to an Army release.

The radio ruck is being developed at the Natick Soldier Systems Center by Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center.

Soldiers evaluated the ruck with both the AN/PRC-158 and AN/PRC-162 radios in “combat-realistic scenarios” to see whether the new setup could prevent damage to radios during parachute jumps.

Developers have modified the existing Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment assault pack that’s fielded across the service.

“The radio harness allows the radio to be connected to the existing assault frame, while the side pouches allow for individualized space to store antennas away from other equipment and gear,” explained Bob Cohen, Manpack Lead Test Engineer.

That lets users secure the radio to the pack frame easier, allowing for better weight, balancing and cooling. Also, the modifications give users better access to the radio while carrying the ruck and allows for more storage.

“There’s additional space in the bottom compartment that can be used to individually store spare batteries and other ancillary equipment for ease of access,” Cohen said.

In the new configuration, the ruck will hold the radio, antenna, battery and the soldier’s basic equipment load.

Recent tests at Yuma allowed developers to work out an extra modification, specific to airborne operations.

“The configuration of these rucks is slightly different than the currently issued rucks,” said Sgt. 1st Class Cody Lavalla, a soldier assigned to the Army’s Airborne Test Force at Yuma. “We are going through the process of figuring out how to rig the harness single point release to the ruck so all the equipment will survive the jump and is safe for the jumpers.”

The single point release on the harness is what keeps the ruck close to a paratrooper’s body during the initial phase of the jump. But for safe landings, paratroopers must release the ruck to drop below them.

At about 150 feet off the ground, users lower the ruck with the release, extending the ruck by 15 feet below before landing.

“We don’t want the ruck still attached to us when we prepare to land on the ground, or we risk injuries as we do our Parachute Landing Falls,” Lavalla said.

The system clears the ruck from their body for landing but keeps it tethered so it’s nearby once the paratrooper is on the ground and quickly gathering their parachute and gear.

“The test went well. The results of the test demonstrated that the rucksacks successfully secure and protect the radios during airborne operations. There was no damage to the rucks or radios observed during the inspection that occurred after the test was complete,” Lavalla said.

The radio ruck is expected to field to units such as the 82nd Airborne Division in early 2025, according to the release.

The Q-Collar, made by Q30 Innovations, is on display here at this year’s Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show.

The collar, approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use to mitigate repetitive concussive impacts such as those received in contact sports, was analyzed in a recent study that partnered Army researchers with Emory University and concluded its first phase in November, Q30 CEO Tom Hoey told Military Times.

The recent analysis looked at blast exposure, like that experienced by soldiers using explosives and artillery, mortars or shoulder-fired weapons. While research into repetitive impacts has been evaluated by the FDA, blast exposure has not yet been reviewed by the agency.

Military Times recently reported that at least 459,000 troops have been diagnosed with a form of traumatic brain injury since 2000.

Separately Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Thom Tillis, R-N.C. cited Pentagon studies in a letter to Defense Secretary Loyd Austin showing cognitive deficiencies and memory problems among troops who repeatedly fire heavy weapons. Another study the senators cited noted 75% of blast exposure problems in one unit were from troops firing their own weapons.

The company has asked the FDA to evaluate the research and add the blast exposure results to their already approved use for impacts, Hoey said.

Separate from the Army-Emory study, which used small animals, Q30 worked with Cincinnati SWAT Team members, running functional magnetic resonance imaging on the team before and after a daylong explosives training course. Those who wore the collar had identical before and after scans, those who did not showed deficiencies in cognitive tests following exposure, Hoey said.

The collar puts 1.5 pounds of pressure on the internal jugular vein in the neck, Hoey said. That pressure slows the outflow of blood from the brain by about 20%.

By slowing the blood flow, it backfills blood in the brain keeping the brain from moving around in the skull, Hoey said. Concussions are largely a result of the brain sloshing around inside the skull and bruising or damaging its tissue when it collides with the interior of the skull.

The jugular vein compression has been validated by a 2017 study at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center showing protection against blast-induced traumatic brain injury by increasing brain volume.

However, some critics question the level of protection that the device could provide, and company officials said that research is ongoing.

James Smoliga, a professor of physiology at High Point University in North Carolina, has pushed back on claims made about the device in academic journals, the New York Times reported. In an interview with CBC, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, he said that the research wasn’t based on “solid physiology.”

Martha Shenton, a professor of psychiatry and radiology at Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital, is an expert in the type of brain imaging Q30 scientists have used for much of their research. She reviewed the FDA findings in 2022 at the request of the New York Times. She questioned the interpretation of the data provided by Q30 from their studies. Shenton said the numbers provided run in the opposite direction of what a brain scientist might predict, and only in “one narrow range of severity.”

“(Q30 scientists) say, ‘We get a change and it doesn’t matter the direction,’” Shenton told the New York Times. “It’s so not what you would expect.”

The FDA posted a more detailed summary decision that raised questions about the imaging work. Officials cited uncertainty regarding the imaging technology Q30 used in its studies. Under some circumstances, studies showed slight changes in the brain tissue of soccer and football players who didn’t wear the collar, even if they didn’t report concussion symptoms.

Retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Johnson, a former medic with 5th Special Forces Group who now works for Q30, said the device gives operators a non-invasive way to reduce the effects of work they can’t avoid.

“You’re exposed to explosives, breaching, loud weaponry, all kinds of impacts and sub-concussive events as a lifestyle,” Johnson said.

There isn’t an effective way to completely modify the training or facilities to solve brain trauma exposure problems, he said.

“We’re not going to eliminate exposures — you have to fire these weapons,” Johnson said. “So how do you mitigate some of this?”

Hoey said that the company will continue their research with the Army and Defense Department to show that the collar is acceptable, safe and tolerable.

“I do think the blast study changes the narrative,” Hoey said. “It shows there is a way to prevent injury caused by concussive blast waves. I do think it will change the conversation.”

The SlingShot Ballistic Sunglasses by Revision are the latest eyewear designed specifically for military and law enforcement personnel.

Revision is one of only four eyewear companies with products on the Authorized Protective Eyewear List. The other three are Oakley, Wiley X and Eye Safety Systems, or ESS.

The list is controlled by the Army’s Program Executive Office-Soldier but covers ballistic eye protection for all the services. The company is preparing to submit the Revision SlingShot to PEO Soldier for a potential addition to the authorized list.

Andrew Stiles, Revision’s business developer and a retired Navy E2-C Hawkeye pilot, told Military Times that the company looked at one of its current designs, the Stinger Hawk, and sought ways to improve it for users.

The most obvious change is a “browless” frame that removes the top part of the frame from the design.

The move helps with three areas.

First, Stiles said, it makes changing out lenses much quicker. Most military eyewear comes with at least two options, a tinted and clear lens, for daytime and low-light or nighttime use.

Second, the brow bar on sunglasses can trap heat, fogging the lens. Without the bar, heat can dissipate quicker, clearing any residual fog or moisture for a better view.

But the third area that helps may be the most tactically advantageous.

“In stressful situations or using gun optics you lower your head,” Stiles said.

What that means is if they’re using eyewear, they’re often looking through the top of the lens.

“So where do you want your frame?” he said.

With no brow bar, there’s less obstructing the user’s view, Stiles said.

A newer feature to the Revision eyewear line offers another potential tactical advantage due to the use of their registered trademark technology I-VIS.

The company used artificial intelligence paired with photographs of a wide range of terrain and colors to match lens and color technology with the natural environment.

Historically, ballistic eyewear makers used clear, tinted, yellow or amber lenses. Over time, Stiles said, users found the single-dye, monochrome lenses reduced the amount of color hues a user could see.

That has a way of “flattening” the colors in a jungle or desert scene.

But, Stiles said, with better lens technology the circle of color hues a user can see widens, adding more detail to their vision.

“We can expand that and that gives you access to more hues,” Stiles said. “Being able to see more hues promotes a high contrast that gives you an increased depth of field.”

For military use that means target acquisition and noticing subtle changes in the environment.

One final change in the SlingShot is an optional “thin arm” that users can swap out on the eyewear when wearing communications headsets.

Though the currently fielded sunglasses do fit with existing communications gear, the slimmer arm, about half the width of the existing options, could streamline the fit.

*CORRECTION: This article has been updated to reflect that Revision is preparing to submit the SlingShot sunglasses to the Army’s Program Executive Office-Soldier authorized protective eyewear list.