The Hellbender UL helmet from Galvion is designed to maximise future proofing and minimise weight.

Galvion unveils Hellbender UL – an ultra-lightweight head system built for the whole force

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Galvion has launched the Hellbender UL ahead of EnforceTac 2026, targeting force-wide adoption with a helmet that delivers SF-grade weight savings. The launch comes as forces look at helmets as a system that must integrate different technologies like sensors and drones.

By Calibre Defence, published February 2026.

Galvion has unveiled the Batlskin Hellbender™ UL (Ultra-Light) ahead of the EnforceTac 2026 conference in Nürnberg, Germany. The company is positioning the new helmet as a force-wide solution for armies seeking to modernise their head systems without fragmenting their logistics and sustainment chains. 

The launch comes less than six months after Galvion announced a USD 130 million contract with the United States Marine Corps, which selected a variant of the Hellbender platform for its Integrated Helmet System programme — a deal that validates the platform’s credentials at scale and gives the UL variant a credible operational lineage from day one.

The Hellbender UL is engineered around an advanced manufacturing process that Galvion says achieves higher ballistic performance at reduced weight — a combination that has historically forced procurement teams to make painful trade-offs. The helmet is available in four sizes and two cuts, including a Mid/Full cut designed to maximise both coverage and communications integration, the February 18 press release states. A low-profile, rattle-free shroud, integrated cable channels, and ballistic hardware come as standard, with compatibility maintained across face shields, night-vision devices, and chemical and biological protective masks.

Comfort and endurance under extended wear is a key differentiator for infantry. They tend to carry a helmet for significantly longer periods than special forces or police units. The Hellbender UL addresses this through Galvion’s Apex™ liner system, which combines full-coverage impact protection with a highly adjustable fit architecture. The company’s approach also reflects an increasingly common view in procurement circles that head systems must be evaluated on whole-life cost rather than acquisition price alone. In a nutshell, a helmet that can be maintained, upgraded, and refurbished across its service life offers considerably better value than one that cannot.

Hellbender UL: Integration and the upgrade path

The most significant aspect of the Hellbender UL may not be what it does today, but what it is designed to do tomorrow. The helmet is built around a scalable foundation capable of supporting Galvion’s Cortex™ advanced computing and digital capabilities. This positions it as a ready platform for the human-machine interfaces that modern armed forces are rapidly moving towards. 

Jonathan Blanshay, Executive Chairman of Galvion, framed the launch in precisely those terms: “The Hellbender UL is an ultra-lightweight platform aligned with the evolving needs of NATO and European forces, particularly those who require a full cut system. This helmet is designed for forces that expect their equipment to evolve with them, without compromise.”

Galvion notes that any nation now procuring new helmets must factor in the upgrade path to a fully integrated smart head system when selecting a product and partner — not merely the capability on offer at point of purchase. That framing is a direct pitch to procurement authorities who have, in previous generations, bought helmets as a relatively static protective item. The argument is that in an era of rapid technological change, the choice of platform locks in — or forecloses — future capability.

European production and regional supply chains

The Galvion facility in Gdansk, Poland. Credit: Galvion

Galvion has opened a new production and support facility in Poland. Credit: Galvion

Galvion’s pitch to European customers is underpinned by an established regional manufacturing footprint. The company has invested in a European Production Hub in Poland — already active in delivering against an NSPA framework contract for 250,000 Caiman® helmets. Galvion also intends to extend that model to the Hellbender UL. 

For procurement authorities increasingly focused on supply chain resilience and European defence industrial self-sufficiency, that matters. A helmet produced in Poland is considerably easier to sustain in a conflict scenario than one dependent on transatlantic shipping.

Calibre comment: Hellbender UL and emerging demands

The Hellbender UL is a well-timed product. European armies are under sustained pressure to modernise and defence budgets are increasing. At the same time, the war in Ukraine has made it impossible to argue that soldier systems can be deprioritised. Increasingly there is a need to maximise situational awareness. Both to improve responses to drones, and to better integrate drone outputs into a helmet’s output. The Cortex interface with ATAK, for example, could provide valuable data down to the unit and individual level. This provides multiple avenues for advanced sharing of situational awareness across a force.

Galvion will be exhibiting the Hellbender UL and its wider range of head systems and power and data solutions at EnforceTac 2026, Booth 9-556, Nürnberg, 23–25 February.

The lead image shows the Hellbender UL. Credit: Galvion.

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