First large order for ballistic helmets gives hope to defence industry

Supplier to be Kanpur-based MKU, whose products have been supplied to foreign militaries

In April 2001, Sepoy Govind Ram was the leading scout of a Rashtriya Rifles patrol, moving cautiously along National Highway 1A on the outskirts of Bijbehara. As the patrol came under fire from a two-story building ahead, a bullet grazed his temple and thudded into the interior of the steel “bulletproof patka” on his head - improvised head protection that covers only the top of soldiers’ heads. The bullet ricocheted into his skull; he was dead within seconds.

Fifteen years and hundreds of dead soldiers later, the army last month finally signed a Rs 175-crore contract for 158,000 ballistic helmets.