The Department of National Defense (DND) will procure more than 47,000 units of ballistic helmets to improve the survivability of Philippine Army (PA) personnel during combat operations, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) disclosed Sunday, Aug. 15.
The DND is eyeing to purchase 47,584 units of force protective equipment (FPE) under the PA Ballistic Helmet Acquisition Project, according to Colonel Ramon Zagala, AFP spokesperson.
Zagala bared that ballistic helmets are important gears which provide protection to combat personnel against small arms fire and shrapnel.
He, however, noted that not all of the 104,000-strong Army personnel have helmets which put them at a greater risk of getting head injuries during combat operations.
"Hindi lahat mayroon eh. Force protection iyan so important ito kasi ang survivability ng bawat sundalo mag-i-increase if you have gears (Not all of them . These are for force protection so it's important because the survivability of every soldier increases if you have gears)," the AFP spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, there were some helmets which have degraded over time as they exceeded their shelf life.
"Ang helmet nating iba, 'di ba may shelf life 'yan, so kailangan na ring palitan (Some of our helmets need to be replaced because of their shelf life)," Zagala stated.
An advisory about the pre-bid conference for the PA Ballistic Helmet Acquisition Project was posted on the DND's website last July 6.
The project entails the procurement of 41,584 units of full cut type standard ballistic helmets and 6,000 units of high cut type Special Operations ballistic helmets, according to PH Defense Resource, an online page which discusses relevant defense and military-related issues.
The project is part of the second list of "Horizon" 1 phase of the Revised AFP Modernation Program (RAFPMP), it said, with a reported approved budget contract of P1,189,605,000.
The DND and AFP have yet to independently verify this information.