3M [MMM] officially launched the F70 new ballistic helmet last week aimed at the international market and featuring improved durability capabilities the company developed while building the Army’s helmet of the future.
Terry Griffith, defense business manager for 3M, told Defense Daily several foreign customers have already purchased the new helmet and the company is engaged in several ongoing international competitions he expects to bid in the coming months as the F70 moves toward a wider release.
“This is more for the non-U.S. market. This one’s really geared for the commercial market specifically,” said Griffith. “The level of protection, the form factor, the cuts, and the accessories are really some of the key points.”
Griffin declined to name the international customers who have already purchased the new helmet.
3M showcased the F70 at last week’s Association of the United States Army conference, and while the Army has already settled on its ballistic helmet of the future, Griffith said the new helmet is aimed at international armies and potential law enforcement customers.
Griffith said the F70, developed over the last two years, meets mid-level protection requirements and was designed to improve on the durability offered by the Ultra Light Weight Ballistic Bump Helmet and provide more modular options than their Combat II Ballistic helmet.
“Those were kind of two ends of the extreme, and the F70 now fills in that middle part. Because this is attractive to everything from law enforcement to special forces with the high-cut for instance, to regular armies,” Griffith said.
Many of the upgraded configurations grew out of developments during 3M’s work on the Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS), which the Army has selected as its future ballistic helmet.
3M moved into low-rate initial production on the IHPS in 2017, and the Army awarded the company a $34 million add-on order this past March to continue supplying the new helmet.
The new F70 features two form factors, a high-cut and full-cut version, and was designed to be highly modular, able to take on a range of visors and a mandible, according to Griffith.
The two versions of the helmet weigh between 2.2 and 2.4 pounds.
Griffith said the new F70 is able to protect against projectiles, such as fragments from hand grenades, traveling at speeds of 840 meters per second. 3M’s previous mid-level power protection helmet had a protection gauge of 640 meters per second.