Mk 7 helmet
The Mark 7 helmet is the current general issue combat helmet of the British Armed Forces supplied by NP Aerospace. Officially known as the "GS (General Service) Mark 7 combat helmet", it replaced the previous Mark 6A helmet and Mk 6 helmet, introduced in 2005 and 1982 respectively. The Mark 7 helmet was introduced in June 2009 as an UOR (urgent operational requirement). The new helmet offers the same ballistic protection as the Mk6A helmet, but its new shape allows a soldier to lie flat and shoot straight, without the rear rim digging into the body armour  and tipping the front rim over their eyes. The Mark 7 helmet weights , significantly less than its predecessor. It also has better chin strapping for stability and is produced in a new colour - tan, unlike the Mk 6A in black and Mk 6 in olive. It has been adopted for use in Afghanistan. The "mean penetration velocity" (V) for the Mk 7 it is about . This is the velocity at which half (50%) of projectiles are expected to penetrate and is a measure if the helmet's ballistic protection. The Mk 7 helmet was replaced by the Revision Military Batlskin  Cobra Plus helmet as part of the Virtus programme. In Ukraine in 2014, due to a lack of adequate protection for members of the Ukrainian Armed Forces participating in the War in Eastern Ukraine, hundreds of Mk 7 helmets were purchased in the UK and used by Ukrainian servicemen, together with the earlier Mk 6 and Mk 6A.