YouTube video tests army helmets against gunfire
HARD HITS: The Ministry of National Defense said the performance of the helmets was within the design parameters, but it was developing an improved version
The military’s standard EMBH-105 helmet appeared to show signs of deformation and spalling from pistol fire in a test conducted by a Taiwanese-American YouTuber.
In a video uploaded on Sunday, the YouTube channel “Little Uncle Sam’s Gun and Fun” (山姆小叔Gun&Fun) compares the durability of Taiwanese, US, Chinese and Russian helmets by firing a pistol at each one to compare how well they hold up.
The channel last year uploaded a video that appeared to show that the military’s standard body armor offered insufficient protection against 5.56x45mm rifle cartridges, which sparked an online debate. The Armaments Bureau at the time said the channel had used an inappropriate testing method on the armor.
Last month, the Military of National Defense indicated in a report to the legislature that a new ballistic plate insert for the body armors offering improved protection against modern rifle ammunition would enter mass production next year.
In the channel’s latest video, its crew tested a variety of helmets against 9x19mm Parabellum and 7.62x25mm Tokarev rounds fired at a distance of about 5m.
The 9mm is the world’s most ubiquitous pistol ammunition and the 7.62mm Tokarev is used in Chinese People’s Liberation Army submachine guns.
Some of the Taiwanese helmets were supplied by Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei City Councilor Lin Ping-yu (林秉宥), according to the video.
Although 9mm fire did not penetrate the EMBH-105 helmet, it did exhibit a 27.4mm deep deformation, one of the test’s worst against that caliber.
The Taiwanese helmet sustained severe deformation after being struck by the more powerful 7.62mm Tokarev cartridges, which formed a deep gouge at the point of impact and destroyed much of the helmet’s outer material.
The tests suggest that the Taiwanese helmet offers significantly less protection than the others utilized in the demonstration except the Russian 6B47, which possesses a superior impact-absorbing liner, the video narrator says.
The EMBH-105’s outer layer also produced a significant amount of small fragments that peppered the ballistic gelatin placed under the helmet for the demonstration, suggesting they could have caused small lacerations to the head, the video showed.
The Ministry of National Defense on Monday said that the helmet’s performance was within design parameters and that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s ballistic research laboratory had previously conducted tests.
An improved helmet is being developed to enhance protection against concussion and spinal injuries, the ministry said, adding that the project is expected to be completed before the end of this year.