The U.S. military's most elite war fighters are getting some new headgear.
U.S. Special Operations Command awarded a $95 million, five-year contract to the Gentex Corporation to furnish American commandos with both ballistic and non-ballistic versions of its Ops-Core helmet.
2017 was a big, big year for military fashion, from the end of the Army’s legendary gray PT uniform to the embarrassing $94 million in forest camo that Uncle Sam ordered up for Afghan soldiers in largely forest-free Afghanistan. But with the Army’s latest four-year uniform transition period now winding down, 2018 will be an even bigger year for soldiers as the branch fields its latest gear and weapons upgrades.
At the beginning of August, the civilian world lapped up a titillating piece of military news: Britain’s elite Special Air Service warfighters are currently experimenting with the Devtac Ronin Kevlar Level IIIA Tactical Ballistic Helmet, a skeletal bulletproof mask enthusiastically dubbed the “Boba Fett” helmet by the British tabloids. A cross between Iron Man’s streamlined helmet and Maximus Decimus Meridius’ ghoulish mask in Gladiator, the Ronin looks designed to make the enemy shit his pants — and according to The Daily Mirror, that was enough for elite Navy SEALs and Delta Force operators reportedly among the first to test the futuristic new kit.
