On Wednesday, May 6, 2026, Austrian company ULBRICHTS GmbH of Schwanenstadt, a manufacturer of ballistic head protection made from titanium and Polytanium, announced on its Facebook profile that the German armed forces had signed a six-year framework contract with its military division, PROTECTION, for the supply of individual ballistic protective equipment. This equipment includes ballistic combat helmets, heavy bullet-resistant visors/masks, ballistic neck/nape protectors, and Fortis front helmet-mounted bullet-resistant shields offering ballistic protection against 7.62 mm × 51 NATO rifle ammunition and 7.62 mm × 39 MSC intermediate ammunition. The first batch of new ballistic combat helmets, together with the additional equipment listed above, has already been delivered to selected Bundeswehr users.
Optio-family helmet for the Bundeswehr / Photo: Ulbrichts GmbH
For the first time, the customer included in the requirements catalog for ballistic head protection a requirement to provide protection against mechanical trauma in accordance with the VPAM HVN 2009 standard for test level 3, ensuring protection from 15 mm from the edge of the helmet shell. In the case of helmets made from aramid or PE, this value is around 40 mm from the edge of the shell. The design of the shell, together with the internal suspension system, is intended to minimize the impulse of concentrated energy from bullet impact and blunt-object impact, as well as to reduce the trauma values transmitted to the skull and, consequently, to the brain to an energy level of less than 25 joules, analogous to VPAM HVN 2009 with regard to rifle-caliber fire from long-range weapons.
“With this order, we are setting a milestone for military head protection systems,” explains Georg Scharpenack, CEO & OWNER. “German Armed Forces / Bundeswehr will thus receive exclusive protection for direct action missions that combine safety, comfort, and freedom of movement.”
The framework agreement guarantees the Bundeswehr access to this advanced protective technology for the next six years. It is a step that, for the first time, combines trauma protection with ballistic safety.
Helmet display by Ulbrichts GmbH during the 30th MSPO 2022 in Kielce / Photo: Dariusz Borkowski, MILMAG
In connection with this brief information, the question arises: what exactly was purchased and received, in what quantity and for what amount, and by soldiers of which selected formations of the German armed forces? From company representatives close to Ulbrichts’ management, I received information that will certainly not satisfy the hunger for knowledge on the subject among fans of the company and its products. The information, in the form in which it was released, was cut down as much as possible and censored by the German customer, which granted special permission for the publication of this message. We know only that the helmet is derived from the OPTIO family of protective headgear and is made from a hybrid aramid-titanium material. At Ulbrichts GmbH, this material is known as Polytanium. The model intended for the Bundeswehr is made in the CURVED option, meaning with convex recesses for a communications system and hearing protection, in a version close to the MID-CUT profile. The helmet is fitted with a set of side mounting rails together with Velcro hook-and-loop panels. The helmet set is supplemented by a heavy ballistic visor offering ballistic protection in accordance with the German VPAM 3 standard. The shield is 150 mm high. The FORTIS frontal shield, weighing 500 g and attached to the front of the helmet with hook-and-loop fasteners, is capable, together with the shell, of stopping a steel-core projectile fired from the popular Kalashnikov assault rifle and reducing its energy from more than 2,000 joules to below 25 joules. This ballistic combination of the FORTIS shield and the Optio helmet provides frontal ballistic protection at VPAM 6 level under the VPAM HVN 2009 standard. The manufacturer provides a 10-year warranty for Optio-family helmets and a 5-year warranty for the Fortis shield. The weight of the complete Optio helmet in its basic version starts at 1,200 g. The helmet has a screwless design. It comes in one size, fitting head circumferences from 48 cm to 62 cm. The quick-change adapters are made of stainless steel. The ballistic set ordered by the German Army is completed by a ballistic collar with varying ballistic resistance from VPAM 3 to VPAM 4. The ballistic resistance of the Optio helmet made from Polytanium against a standard 1.1 g FSP fragment is V50 > 610 m/s, measured according to the STANAG 2920 standard.
As can be seen in the photograph, the Bundeswehr ordered the helmets in military green, unlike public-order forces and counterterrorist formations, which use Optio-family helmets in gray and black.
ULBRICHTS GmbH secures a 6-year framework contract with the German Armed Forces / Bundeswehr for advanced ballistic combat helmets incl. visors, neck and rifle protection. A milestone in military head protection, combining trauma and ballistic safety for direct action missions. pic.twitter.com/Hgk6wA0QJm
— Ulbrichts_Gmbh (@UlbrichtsGmbH) May 6, 2026