Russian task force will wear bulletproof caps made from recycled materials

With the aim of reducing costs, Russian military complexes have recently decided to produce titanium bulletproof caps for Russian special forces with recycled titanium.

According to Yevgeny Chistyakov, head of market research and information at the Steel Research Institute, the use of recycled titanium will reduce the price of K6-3 or Altyn bullet caps to 40,000 rubles (US $ 1270) instead. for 70,000 rubles (2,200 USD) if using high quality titanium material. Thereby, it will equip this type of hat more widely in special units.

Altyn bulletproof vests or its newer variant K6-3 are the best bulletproof caps of the Russian Army, often equipped for units of FSB, MVD or other special forces.

However, even if the number of soldiers in these units is small, the price of the hat is also quite expensive to be fully equipped.

The reason this type of cap is so expensive is because it is produced mainly from titanium and some rare earth metal components, manganese, nickel, chromium . help increase the hardness and corrosion resistance of the hat.

K6-3 is currently the best bulletproof cap of the Russian military today and is only used for special forces.

Dr. Valdimir Bazhin, a lecturer in the University of Mining at the University of Steel, said that if used to make bulletproof caps, recycled titanium, if not containing too much impurities, is no less competitive than titanium.

Another expert, Sergei Chusov, head of the laboratory at the Steel Research Institute, said recycled titanium contains an amount of oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon impurities that reduce its heat-resistant and corrosion-resistant properties.

With this property, recycled titanium cannot be used to make aircraft parts, however, its bulletproof ability is completely unaffected."The most important is the recycled titanium hat that meets all technical requirements," Chusov said.

According to Chusov, recycled titanium caps overcame tests with Tokarev and PSM pistol bullets, meeting the anti-bullet level II standard of the Russian standard.

In addition, hats made from recycled titanium are also about 300g lighter than the old style hats. Total weight of both caps and bulletproof masks 'only' 3.7kg.

Specialist on weapons, Maxim Popenker interviewed Izvestia, said if the price dropped significantly but the quality did not change, recycled materials would be welcomed to produce bulletproof caps. However, Popenker also stressed that the US and NATO have no longer produced titanium hats, instead of artificial materials such as kevlar.

Worldwide, titanium is a strategic metal and not much in nature. For the United States, due to limited titanium production, they often had to buy Soviet titanium through third countries to build strategic bomber components.