Some military units reported minor injuries to para troopers while using airborne helmets last year, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said on Friday. He said this in Lok Sabha while replying to a question on whether airborne helmets procured for special forces malfunctioned resulting in injuries to troops.

The contract for procurement of ballistic helmets at a cost of Rs 170.81 crores was signed in December, 2016.

Bhatt said necessary proceedings have been initiated in the matter to take suitable action as per laid down policy.

"While conducting para jumps, some of the units reported minor injuries to para troopers while using the airborne helmets during the year 2022," Bhatt said.

"The item was trial evaluated in the year 2016 by Integrated Headquarters of Ministry of Defence (MoD) Army and ballistic testing of samples was done at Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory (TBRL), Chandigarh," he added.

The minister said airborne helmets, based on technical specifications obtained after trials, were duly inspected by the Authority Holding Sealed Particulars (AHSP) that is Controllerate of Quality Assurance (General Stores), Kanpur.

Bhatt said the procurement was undertaken post clearance by the AHSP. "The airborne helmets were found suitable for induction after being trial evaluated by the Indian Army. The contract for procurement of ballistic helmets at a cost of Rs 170.81 crores was signed in December, 2016," he said.