The military’s standard EMBH-105 helmet appeared to show signs of deformation and spalling from pistol fire in a test conducted by a Taiwanese-American YouTuber.
In a video uploaded on Sunday, the YouTube channel “Little Uncle Sam’s Gun and Fun” (山姆小叔Gun&Fun) compares the durability of Taiwanese, US, Chinese and Russian helmets by firing a pistol at each one to compare how well they hold up.
The channel last year uploaded a video that appeared to show that the military’s standard body armor offered insufficient protection against 5.56x45mm rifle cartridges, which sparked an online debate. The Armaments Bureau at the time said the channel had used an inappropriate testing method on the armor.
Photo: Still image taken from YouTube channel “Little Uncle Sam’s Gun and Fun”
Last month, the Military of National Defense indicated in a report to the legislature that a new ballistic plate insert for the body armors offering improved protection against modern rifle ammunition would enter mass production next year.
In the channel’s latest video, its crew tested a variety of helmets against 9x19mm Parabellum and 7.62x25mm Tokarev rounds fired at a distance of about 5m.
The 9mm is the world’s most ubiquitous pistol ammunition and the 7.62mm Tokarev is used in Chinese People’s Liberation Army submachine guns.
Some of the Taiwanese helmets were supplied by Democratic Progressive Party New Taipei City Councilor Lin Ping-yu (林秉宥), according to the video.
Although 9mm fire did not penetrate the EMBH-105 helmet, it did exhibit a 27.4mm deep deformation, one of the test’s worst against that caliber.
The Taiwanese helmet sustained severe deformation after being struck by the more powerful 7.62mm Tokarev cartridges, which formed a deep gouge at the point of impact and destroyed much of the helmet’s outer material.
The tests suggest that the Taiwanese helmet offers significantly less protection than the others utilized in the demonstration except the Russian 6B47, which possesses a superior impact-absorbing liner, the video narrator says.
The EMBH-105’s outer layer also produced a significant amount of small fragments that peppered the ballistic gelatin placed under the helmet for the demonstration, suggesting they could have caused small lacerations to the head, the video showed.
The Ministry of National Defense on Monday said that the helmet’s performance was within design parameters and that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s ballistic research laboratory had previously conducted tests.
An improved helmet is being developed to enhance protection against concussion and spinal injuries, the ministry said, adding that the project is expected to be completed before the end of this year.
Additional reporting by CNA
The first two F-16V Bock 70 jets purchased from the US are expected to arrive in Taiwan around Double Ten National Day, which is on Oct. 10, a military source said yesterday. Of the 66 F-16V Block 70 jets purchased from the US, the first completed production in March, the source said, adding that since then three jets have been produced per month. Although there were reports of engine defects, the issue has been resolved, they said. After the jets arrive in Taiwan, they must first pass testing by the air force before they would officially become Taiwan’s property, they said. The air force
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
STRIKE: Some travel agencies in Taiwan said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group tours to the country were proceeding as planned A planned strike by airport personnel in South Korea has not affected group tours to the country from Taiwan, travel agencies said yesterday. They added that they were closely monitoring the situation. Personnel at 15 airports, including Seoul’s Incheon and Gimpo airports, are to go on strike. They announced at a news conference on Tuesday that the strike would begin on Friday next week and continue until the Mid-Autumn Festival next month. Some travel agencies in Taiwan, including Cola Tour, Lion Travel, SET Tour and ezTravel, said that they were aware of the situation in South Korea, and that group
RSS