It really depends on the range at which the victim is shot at.
Applies to all helmets (and even BPJs) when talking about rifle calibre rounds.
That said, Patka is made of steel. ACH is made of Kevlar i.e. the stuff Soft Armor Panels (SAPs) on vests are made from. Kevlar invariably cannot stop rifle rounds. The most that ACH is advertised as being able to stop (regardless of range, angle etc.) are pistol calibres such as 9x19 and .45
To stop rifle rounds with any reasonable degree of confidence you need Steel or Ceramic plates which is what the Hard Armor Panels (HAPs) on vests are made from i.e. the front & back plate inserts. So between the two, Patka really is better at 'stopping' rifle-calibre rounds.
And this has implications in the personal & psychological factor too. Which is why I said that the decision to stick with Patkas is made at an individual level.
Very recently, a soldier died on LoC I believe and the AK round punched a hole in his Patka and you must've seen the picture on DFI too. Secondly, the area of coverage which Patka offers is very low and is easy to hit and not miss the target from behind or the sides. The probability of death by taking a bullet at the base of the skull is the same as the area Patka covers. What's worse is skull base injuries have a higher probability of making the person brain dead and not entirely killing them
There is no armor or piece of equipment in the world that can guarantee that your soldier will not die. Let me take the example of BPJs. They have hard armor inserts in front & back that can stop rifle rounds, but what about the sides? Can't rifle rounds penetrate from sides of torso and hit vital organs that way?
The point is, its always a balance between the level of protection on one side & the encumbrance & penalty on troop mobility on the other. With those limitations, the best anyone can do is to try & increase the CHANCES of you surviving.
And this is also why training & equipment choices also matter to such a great degree. Perhaps the highest degree - because the best way to ensure you survive a gunshot is to ensure you don't get shot at all i.e. you kill the enemy before he can kill you.
How fast your reflexes are, what's the level of training you fall to in a crisis, the presence or lack thereof of equipment that can help you acquire & dispatch targets quicker (like optics on weapon) - all these factor in and that's why they're important.
But in a firefight, there will invariably always be f@ck-ups.
The pic you posted above with the Applique armor, what is the added weight and cost difference?
It was a representative example. It depends on the model & level of protection offered by said Applique.
Look them up.
