Combat helmet
helmet for military use, especially that intended for the battlefield
A combat helmet, also called a ballistic helmet, battle helmet, or helmet system (for some modular accessory-centric designs) is a type of helmet designed to serve as a piece of body armor intended to protect the wearer's head during combat.
Helmets designed for warfare are among the earliest types of headgear to be developed and worn by humans, with examples found in several societies worldwide, the earliest of which date as far back as the Bronze Age. Most early combat helmets were designed to protect against close-range strikes, thrown objects, and low-velocity projectiles. By the Middle Ages, helmets that protected the entire head were common elements of plate armor sets. The development of firearms, cannons, and explosive weaponry rendered armor intended to protect against enemy attack largely obsolete, but lightweight helmets remained for identification and basic protection purposes into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when developments in modern warfare saw a renaissance of combat helmets designed to protect against shrapnel, debris, and some small-caliber firearm munitions. Since the late 20th and early 21st centuries, helmets have evolved to protect against explosion shock waves and provide a mounting point for devices and accessories such as night-vision goggles and communications equipment.
History
Helmets are among the oldest forms of personal protective equipment and are known to have been worn by the Akkadians and Sumerians in the 23rd century BCE, Mycenaean Greeks since the 17th century BCE, the Assyrians around 900 BCE, the ancient Greeks and Romans, throughout the Middle Ages, and up to the end of the 17th century by many combatants. Their materials and construction became more advanced as weapons did. Initially constructed from leather and brass, and then bronze and iron during the Bronze and Iron Ages, they soon came to be made entirely from forged steel in many societies after about 950. At that time, they were purely military equipment, protecting the head from cutting blows with swords, arrows, and low-velocity musketry.
“Combat helmet” enters the record as helmet for military use, especially that intended for the battlefield. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Combat, helmet and military can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Combat helmet” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.