MKU launches new ballistic helmet

The Kavro Doma 360 helmet (pictured above) comprises top-to-chin (longitudinal) and side-to-side (lateral) harness adjustment functionality. (MKU Limited)

Indian defence company MKU Limited has launched a new ballistic helmet known as the Kavro Doma 360 at the Milipol Paris 2023 exhibition held in Paris from 14 to 17 November.

The helmet, according to the company specifications, can protect against AK-47's 7.62×39 mm mild steel core (MSC) bullets, as well as 7.62×51 mm and 5.56×45 mm NATO rounds.

The helmet can be equipped with night-vision devices, communication devices, masks, mandibles, and torches, MKU said in its press release on 14 November.

The Kavro Doma 360's high-cut combat version weighs 1.45 kg in its small size configuration, while the advanced combat version weighs 1.8 kg in its large size configuration, Neeraj Gupta, managing director of MKU, told Janes on 17 November.

“MKU has developed the Kavro Doma prototype under [the] Make-II category of the Indian government's Defence Procurement Procedure (DPP),” Gupta said.

Projects under the ‘Make-II' category, according to the Indian Ministry of Defence's (MoD's) Department of Defence Production, involve prototype development of equipment primarily for import substitution with no government funding.

The company will soon deliver helmet prototypes to the Indian Army for testing purposes, Gupta added.

The Indian Army requires 80,000 ballistic helmets that can protect soldiers from 7.62×39 mm bullets.

With the Kavro Doma 360, MKU aims to participate in tenders for ballistic helmets from European and American countries as well, Gupta said.