India's Kavro SCH 111 T composite helmet for Sikh personnel.

[Jack59]

Indian Army troops belonging to the Sikh community will now soon be receiving ballistic helmets, designed especially for them to wear on their turbans. Army officials are describing this procurement as the first such order for the Sikh soldiers. The Indian Army is planning to purchase as many as 12,730 ballistic helmets under emergency procurement using the fast-track mode. (February 2023)









More on the helmet:
All about the new Ballistic Helmet For Sikh Soldiers

Fresh news:
Helmets for Sikh troops: All fighter pilots, soldiers deployed in sensitive areas to wear full protective gear, MoS tells Parliament
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt was responding to a question by Patiala MP Preneet Kaur.
In the backdrop of a controversy being kicked up over the move to introduce ballistic helmets for Sikh troops, the Central Government on Friday stated that all pilots of fighter aircraft /combat helicopters and soldiers deployed in the areas where enemy attacks are anticipated or defending important installations are to wear the full protective gear for personal safety.
“Sikh troops battling terrorism have been wearing bullet proof patka over cloth patka while maintaining their religious identity. Tank crew of armoured regiments also wear padded communication head gear,” the Minister of State for Defence, Ajay Bhatt said in the Lok Sabha today.
He was responding to a question by Preneet Kaur, Member of Parliament from Patiala, on whether the government proposes to make wearing of tactical helmets by Sikh soldiers compulsory.

A modern-day soldier needs to have all-round protection from the newer and emerging threat of warfare. Indian soldiers are provided the requisite protection to include bullet proof jackets and bullet proof helmets to operate in challenging environments. Safety of soldiers who are deployed on security duties is considered paramount, Bhatt said.
Tactical helmets are an integral part of flying gear for combat aircraft operations and protective gear of soldiers against enemy gunfire. Fighter pilots and helicopter pilots of the Indian defence forces have always been wearing helmets over their religious headgear for heads up display and communication, he further added.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence had issued a request for proposal to procure ballistic helmets specially designed for Sikh troops. This had generated a debate amongst in religious as well as defence circles. A section of the Sikh religious and political leaders had opposed the move, contending that wearing a helmet instead of the traditional turban was against the tenets of Sikhism and would affect the identity of Sikhs. That had also appealed to the Prime Minister not to introduce such helmets.
Several defence and historical experts, on the other hand, had pointed out that Sikh soldiers had been wearing helmets in the bygone era. They had also cited the example of personal equipment used by Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army.

From India's The Tribune news paper.
Saturday, 29 July 2023

[Greg Pickersgill]

Here are a few more links to support this interesting dicovery by Jack - it appears the Kavro is an MKU product Ballistic Helmets | Army Helmet | ACH | MCH | HCH | PASGT | Bullet proof Combat Helmet - MKU

Special Ballistic Helmet | Designed especially for Sikh soldiers | Kavro SCH 111 T

MKU presents the ‘Veer’ helmet for the first time, a Combat Helmet designed for and dedicated to Sikh Heroes - Asian Military Review

Ballistic helmet for Sikh soldiers now available

Helmets compulsory for Sikh soldiers in British, Canadian and Australian armies | Chandigarh News - The Indian Express

The last one, the Indian Express article, implies that this helmet may be used by other nations, including the UK.

[Greg Pickersgill]

Information on the helmets of the modern Indian army can be a little hard to find. Some years ago I accidentally came across a couple of interesting threads on Quora, including one by someone named Harsh B Mishra (who writes a lot of sometimes surprising stuff about the Indian Air Force) which gave a detailed and plausible outline of helmets used. I'm always a bit apprehensive about passing around Quora URLs because they don't always link correctly, or even return anything at all, but lets try this -

Why does the Indian army use helmets of the bygone era? - Quora

If the link works continue scrolling down and find some more comments by others on Indian (and other) helmets, (If not a Quora user, remember to click on the 'more' link for the full posting.)

See also Harsh B. Mishra - Quora