Adept Armor has launched the Nova Titanium combat helmet, a high-cut ballistic helmet drawn from a single continuous shell of the company’s proprietary 260LC toughened titanium.

At 920 grams (2 pounds) and all-in in size L/XL (shell, pads, retention, and standard hardware included), Nova Titanium delivers the protection and durability of a metal helmet at a weight previously reserved for premium composite helmets, and within an ounce of a non-ballistic bump helmet.

Challenging The Premium Polyethylene Helmet Category

The launch marks a deliberate challenge to the premium polyethylene (PE) helmet category, which has defined lightweight ballistic head protection for the better part of a decade.

Adept’s argument is direct: a formed titanium shell can match the weight of the lightest elite PE helmets while beating them on backface deformation, damage tolerance, environmental durability, and service life at a fraction of the price.

Nova Titanium is the titanium evolution of Adept’s established NovaSteel metal-helmet line and is fully compatible with the entire NovaSteel accessory ecosystem.

The core achievement is weight.

Historically, a metal ballistic helmet has meant a heavy one. 260LC, Adept's proprietary titanium armor alloy, was engineered to combine two properties that normally pull against each other, helmet-scale formability and ballistic toughness, allowing a continuous combat-profile shell to be drawn from solid titanium with no resin matrix holding the ballistic structure together.

Adept said that at 920 grams all-in (L/XL), Nova Titanium sits at or below the published complete-system weights of the lightest premium PE helmets.

In short: near-bump-helmet weight, with real rated 9mm protection, at the weight of helmets costing three to four times as much. The helmet ships in M and L/XL in a high-cut profile sized to clear modern hearing protection.

Capabilities of the Nova Titanium

Nova Titanium is rated to stop 9mm FMJ at 400 m/s, or 1,312 ft/s, with low backface deformation.

NIJ 0106.01, the only NIJ standard written specifically for ballistic helmets, contains no “Level IIIA”; helmets marketed as “NIJ IIIA” generally borrow terminology from body armor standards or material-level test conventions.

Adepte said most premium PE helmets publish their actual 9mm data at 364–365 m/s (1,195 ft/s) under modified military protocols, sometimes with relaxed deformation allowances of up to 29mm. Nova Titanium’s 400 m/s rating is roughly 10% higher in velocity and about 21% higher in projectile energy than that published test point, with BFD usually in the single digits.

Continuous Protective Coverage

Because the shell is solid metal, not a resin stack, Nova Titanium offers continuous protective coverage to the rim; no unprotected edge band, no composite-style weak zone where the ballistic material can fold over upon impact.

Titanium does not delaminate: a strike may leave a visible mark, but it does not create an invisible laminate failure plane, so damage can be seen and evaluated in the field, and multi-hit durability holds up.

That same metal construction gives the shell an indefinite service life.

Where premium composite helmets carry a five-year clock, resin ages, laminates can hide post-impact damage, and shells generally aren't certified past five years, titanium does not rust, delaminate, or degrade under ordinary UV, solvents, sweat, rain, seawater, or temperature swings. Pads and soft goods are replaceable wear items; the shell endures for decades. For procurement buyers, that reframes the helmet as a total-cost-of-ownership decision rather than a recurring replacement line item.

NovaSteel Accessory Ecosystem

Nova Titanium is built around the complete NovaSteel accessory ecosystem, so every module carries across the line: the Combat Circlet (NVG shroud and rails mounted through existing retention holes; no new holes drilled), the Ballistic Mandible and Gen 2 flip mandible and face shield sets, the helmet tail for nape protection, NVG shroud and rails, and a forthcoming blast liner. Accessories bought for a NovaSteel helmet transfer directly to Nova Titanium.

Where premium PE ballistic helmets typically retail for $1,400 to $2,100, Nova Titanium is $390, roughly a quarter to a fifth of premium PE pricing. Adept's position is that the high cost of lightweight ballistic head protection has been a primary barrier keeping helmets off the heads of the officers and operators most likely to need them.

"For years, buyers have been handed a false choice," said Jake Ganor, founder of Adept Armor. "Either a light helmet that's expensive, soft-shelled, and expires in five years, or a tough metal helmet that's heavier than the most modern composite options. Nova Titanium refuses that trade: A true metal helmet, drawn from one continuous titanium shell, that weighs what the best composite helmets weigh, deforms less under a hit, covers edge to edge, and doesn't carry a best-before date. This is by far the lightest metal helmet we've ever built, at a price that finally puts hard-shell head protection within the reach of the people."

Nova Titanium arrives as law enforcement head protection is being rethought. The DEA-FBI Ballistic Helmet Protocol of 2024 reframed the police helmet as a complete system built around pistol-caliber threats, exposing the real barriers to wider adoption: weight, price, backface deformation, and service life. Nova Titanium is engineered to address all four at once and to serve military, tactical, and prepared-civilian users for whom the same trade-offs apply.

The Nova Titanium Combat Helmet is now available worldwide to commercial, law enforcement, military, and tactical buyers. An independent ballistic resistance test report is available on request.

Nova Titanium Combat Helmet specifications include:

• Weight: 920 g (2.0 pounds) all in, size L/XL
• Shell Material: 260LC proprietary toughened titanium armor alloy
• Ballistic Rating: 9mm FMJ at 400 m/s (1,312 ft/s), low backface deformation
• Cut: High-cut, headset-compatible, accessory-ready
• Coverage: Full edge-to-edge metal protection to the rim
• Size: M and L/XL
• Color: Black, Green, Raw Titanium
• Service Life: Indefinite titanium shell service life; pads and soft goods replaceable
• Compatibility: Full NovaSteel accessory ecosystem: Combat Circlet, ballistic mandible, Gen 2 flip mandible and face shield sets, helmet tail, NVG shroud, rails, and blast liner. Future titanium accessories forthcoming.