SSh-68

The SSh-68 (Russian: СШ-68 [стальной шлем образца 1968 года/stalnoy shlyem], English: SSh-68 steel helmet model 1968) - is a steel combat helmet of the Soviet and then Russian Armed Forces. The SSh-68 is a further development of the SSh-60 helmet. It differs primarily in its greater strength, greater front slope of the dome and the shorter outer edge.[1] It is usually painted in dark green.[2]

SSh-68
SSh-68 helmet
TypeCombat Helmet
Place of originSoviet Union
Service history
Used bySee Users
WarsSoviet-Afghan War
1982 Lebanon War
First Nagorno-Karabakh War
Georgian Civil War
Transnistria War
War in Abkhazia
Tajikistani Civil War
East Prigorodny Conflict
First Chechen War
War of Dagestan
Second Chechen War
War in Donbas
Second Nagorno-Karabakh War
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Production history
Designed1968
Produced1968-present
VariantsSee Variants

The helmet weighs 1,300 grams (with leatherette balaclavas - 1,500 grams). SSh-68 provides protection from impact shock (machetes, etc.), and steel fragments (shrapnel) weighing 1.0 grams at speeds up to 250 m/s.[3] The SSh-68 is not meant to protect against bullets.

The SSh-68 was used by the armed forces of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies, and others. Today, it is still in service in most countries of the CIS, as well as Vietnam and Afghanistan.[4]

Due to the introduction of improved helmets starting with the original 6B7, the SSh-68 was progressively withdrawn from service. In the Russian Armed Forces, the final examples are being gradually replaced by the newer 6B7-1M and 6B47 helmets.

Variants
Russian KFOR soldier wearing an upgraded SSh-68 with an added inner Kevlar shell in 2001
  • SSh-68M/СШ-68М (GRAU index - 6B14) - A modernization of SSh-68 by installing an aramid fiber liner, called SVM, inside the helmet, as well as modern harness belt and restraint systems. As a result, the mass of the helmet is increased to 1.9 kg. The helmet is designed by "Special equipment and communication", for the personnel of the Russian Ministry of the Interior Internal Troops. The SSh-68M provides head protection of class 1 (pistol and revolver bullets).[5] It's manufactured by NII Stali.[6]
  • SSh-68N "blank"/Заготовка (Grau index - 6B14) - Modernization of SSh-68 by increasing the thickness of the aramid membrane inside the helmet, as well as by the installation of modern harness belt and restraint systems. As a result, the mass of the helmet is increased to 2 kg. This helmet is designed for the personnel of the Russian armed forces. The helmet protects the head in class 1 (9×18mm Makarov pistol and revolver bullets), as well as from fragments of steel of spherical mass of 1.1 g (6.3 mm diameter of fragment) up to 400 m/s.[7]

Sizing

SSh-68 are available in three different sizes, P1, P2, and P3. P1 (small) is good to about a 58 head, size 2 (medium) is between about 59 and 61 and size 3 (Large to extra large) is from 61 up. SSh-68s are not sized as NATO helmets are since they are designed to be able to adjust for soldiers to wear an Ushanka or other heavy hat underneath it during the winter.

Replacement

In early 2000s the Russian military attempted to replace the SSh-68 with the new 6B7 helmet, which was never widely used. By the 2010s a new model, the 6B27 largely replaced SSh-68 in Russian service, but the old helmet is still in limited use by the Russian Armed Forces. In other post-Soviet states (except for Baltic countries and Georgia) there are still large stocks of SSh-68 in use, although in Ukraine it was sporadically replaced by Kaska-1M.

Users

Current
Syrian Army commandos wearing SSh-68s while operating a MILAN ATGM

Former

See also

Notes
  1. "Headstrong".
  2. Sergey Monetchikov. Uniforms: From helmet to the steel helmet Magazine "Big Brother», № 6, June 2009 www.bratishka.ru/archiv/2009/6/2009_6_14.php
  3. Dmitri Mamontov. Cast iron forehead: Keep your head "Popular Mechanics", February 2007 http://www.popmech.ru/article/1197-chugunnyiy-lob/page/1/ Archived 2013-10-10 at the Wayback Machine
  4. "From Behind the Iron Curtain: Communist Bloc Helmets".
  5. NL-68M, a protective helmet of steel upgraded "СШ-68М, шлем защитный стальной модернизированный — ОРУЖИЕ РОССИИ, Информационное агентство". Archived from the original on 2012-12-08. Retrieved 2012-07-14.
  6. "Composite Helmet, Ballistic helmets, Military helmets RUSSIA, RUSSIAN helmet, Kevlar helmet".
  7. upgraded bulletproof helmet NL-68N "blank" http://shooter.com.ua/zashhita/966-modernezirovannyj-pulestojkij-shlem-ssh-68n-zagotovka.html Archived 2012-11-01 at the Wayback Machine
  8. "Azerbeijan Ssh68". Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  9. "Equipment donation shows deepening PH-Russia ties". Philippine News Agency.
  10. http://brendonshelmets.weebly-.com/syria-ssh68.html
  11. "Ukraine Ssh68". Archived from the original on 2019-04-26. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  12. "Mũ chống đạn của Quân đội Việt Nam chịu được đạn 9mm". netnews.vn. 13 June 2016. Archived from the original on 2019-04-16. Retrieved 2019-04-16.
  13. "Vietnam Ssh60".
  14. "Lithuania Ssh68".
  15. "Mongolia Ssh68".
  16. "Nicaragua".
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