Titanium Alloy Helmets for Tuhao Families in the Former Soviet Union
Speaking of military helmet, everyone is familiar with it. Every change from the early helmet to today’s Kevlar helmet reflects the progress of human military science and technology. However, there are also unknown alternative helmet in history, such as the Titanium alloy helmet in the Soviet Union and Russia. The outstanding advantage of titanium alloy is its high strength, but its weight is much lighter than that of ordinary metals. It is a very ideal bullet-proof material. However, the processing technology of titanium alloys is very complex, resulting in its very expensive cost. There are few real ballistic materials of titanium alloys produced in the world. However, the former Soviet Union is an exception. They have abundant raw materials of titanium metal in China. The processing technology of titanium alloy has always been in the leading position in the world. The titanium alloy bomber and the titanium alloy submarine they developed are the performance monsters of that era. So it is not difficult to understand why only the Soviet Union developed and equipped a large number of titanium alloy helmet. The history of the Soviet Union equipped with titanium alloy helmet can be traced back to the middle and late 1980s. At that time, the Soviet Special Forces in Afghanistan began to equip STSh-81 titanium alloy helmet, which weighed 2.4 kg and consisted of three titanium alloy bullet-proof plates with a thicker inner liner to reduce impact. The improved version is STSh-94, which is quite common in photographs, including the hostage incident in Beslan and other operations, you can see the use of this helmet. The Soviet Union has also been equipped with a 6B6 heavy titanium alloy helmet, which looks very strange, like a mask worn by welders, weighing up to 3.5 kilograms. Because of its heavy weight, it is usually used in anti-terrorism operations and is not suitable for the field environment. The helmet is made of spherical body, with an integral face mask that can be turned up in front and an observation slit. The helmet can meet the protection standard of-_-5, that is, the highest level of protection required by the Russian Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. Because of the high price, these titanium alloy helmet was only equipped with the most elite special forces of the Soviet Union at that time, and can be seen in the war in Afghanistan, Chechnya and all previous anti-terrorism operations. The bullet-proof capability of titanium alloy helmet is absolutely unknown. It can not only deal with all kinds of fragments easily, but also resist the shooting of 5.45 mm and 7.62 mm ordinary projectiles at a long distance, which is incomparable with modern Kevlar materials. But the titanium alloy helmet also has a big problem. After all, the weight of two or three kilograms, if worn for a long time, will still affect the combat effectiveness of soldiers. Therefore, since entering the new century, it has gradually been replaced by Kevlar helmet. However, the bullet-proof ability of titanium alloy is very attractive. With the continuous development of titanium alloy materials and processing technology, there may be a large number of titanium alloy helmet with excellent performance and low cost in the future.