Troops to get better helmet

FORT DRUM — Soldiers may be getting a new combat helmet this fall.

The Enhanced Combat Helmet could replace the Advanced Combat Helmet, according to an Army news release. The advanced helmet has been in use since 2003.

There is no indication which units may get the helmet, but this fall, the 10th Mountain Division's 3rd Brigade is scheduled to be in Afghanistan. After its return, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team is expected to deploy overseas.

While the 3-pound thermoplastic helmet is thicker than the current helmet, it is about 4 ounces lighter.

The new helmet is intended to provide 35 percent more fragmentation protection than the current helmet, but has shown to be stronger in lab studies, according to Maj. Jason Morneault, of the Army's equipment development office.

Studies have not yet determined an exact rating for the helmet, project manager Col. William Cole told reporters at the Pentagon this month, according to an Army news release.

"We do know it's better than anything we've seen before," he said. "We're going to have to build stronger test guns to figure out exactly how good it is."

The commonplace use of improvised explosive devices in Iraq and Afghanistan have contributed to making brain injuries the hallmark of the two conflicts.

The Army has counted more than 178,000 cases of traumatic brain injury since 2000. Almost a quarter of them were serious.

Army officials hope the new helmet will lessen those numbers.

"It potentially could mitigate some traumatic brain injuries. We're seeing it has great potential," Brig. Gen. Peter N. Fuller said at the pentagon briefing. "We're trying to work through getting that product accelerated."