Information on the SSH-37 helmet is very scarce. According to some information, the SSH-37 may be a stamped steel helmet, but the thickness is too thin and was easily penetrated by bullets during testing, so the weight had to be increased.
In 1935, the Soviet army began to produce self-developed SSH-36 steel helmets to replace hybrid helmets. However, the SSH-36 helmet had problems such as insufficient protection, cumbersome manufacturing, and unstable center of gravity. The Soviet army quickly started the research and development of a new helmet.
In 1937-38, research and development institutions including the 13th Research Institute of the Soviet Army (hereinafter referred to as the 13th Institute) manufactured several trial helmets. At present, relevant information is very scarce. The known ones are the 13th Research Institute and the Reshva Metallurgical Plant ( The helmets produced by AK LMZ Factory) are commonly called ssh-37, ssh-38-1 and ssh-38-2 helmets in later generations. These helmets appear in very small quantities at Soviet-German battlefield sites.
ssh-37 steel helmet
Information on the SSH-37 helmet is very scarce. According to some information, the SSH-37 may be a stamped steel helmet, but the thickness is too thin and was easily penetrated by bullets during testing, so the weight had to be increased.
ssh-38 steel helmet
The ssh-38-1 helmet still retains some features of the ssh-36 helmet, such as the breathable reinforced ridge on the top and ear protection on both sides, but the shape of the helmet is closer to the German M38 paratrooper helmet. When collecting information, Russian scholars found that many documents at the time stated that It is a "landing helmet", so it is speculated that it may be a paratrooper helmet designed for the newly formed Soviet paratrooper force, but there is also some evidence that it may simply be an improved version of the SSH-36 steel helmet.
Type I-1 bulletproof steel
While helmets were being developed, bulletproof steel was also being developed simultaneously. Starting in the early 1930s, the Resiwa Metallurgical Plant gradually transformed from a backup helmet R&D and production plant to a main plant. But no suitable bulletproof steel was found. Beginning in 1934, engineers from the Reshva Metallurgical Plant, the 13th Institute and other teams developed more than 8 types of bulletproof steel from metallurgical plants across the Soviet Union, but all were unsuccessful. In 1939, Soviet metallurgical experts, the 13th Institute and the People's Commissariat of Ferrous Metallurgy proposed a bulletproof steel numbered I-1, and finally processed 1-1.2 mm I-1 through metallurgical factories in Perm and other places ( 36SGN steel) bulletproof steel plate. Rexiwa Metallurgical Plant used these steel materials to manufacture a batch of 1939-type steel helmets in 1939. After testing, the protective effect was good. This was the later SSH-39 steel helmet.
SSH-39 steel helmets are available in 3 sizes, weighing about 1.25 kilograms and 1.2 millimeters thick. The steel material used is I-1 silicon-manganese-nickel alloy steel (36SGN steel). Starting from June 1939, it was installed in batches by the Soviet Army and gradually replaced the SSH-36 helmet in production. The ssh-39 helmet has adopted two suspensions similar to the ssh-36 helmet. The first suspension is an eight-finger leather suspension similar to the German helmet, and the second is a cloth suspension.
Around 1950, a considerable number of surviving SSH-39 helmets were modified according to the standards of SSH-40 helmets. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, another batch of SSH-39 helmets were removed from the second-generation suspension and used to renovate SSH-36 helmets.
However, the second suspension adjustment capability of the SSH-39 helmet is limited and is not suitable for wearing a helmet with a cotton hat. This is not suitable for the large-scale extreme cold environment in the Soviet Union. Therefore, in December 1940, the Soviet army further improved the SSH-39 helmet and changed it to a three-piece leather suspension. The structure was similar to the previous M29 helmet suspension, and the adjustment ability was greatly improved. At the same time, the three hanging rivets on the top of the original SSH-39 steel helmet were changed to six lower rivets. This is the famous SSH-40 steel helmet. Therefore, the 39 and 40 helmets are also known as "three-rivet helmets" and "six-rivet helmets" in the Russian collecting community.
The SSH-40 steel helmet tried its best to maintain its quality during the Soviet-German war. In 1942, a batch of nickel-reduced steel labeled 36SG began to be used. The SSH-40 steel helmet was produced until 1960.