WASHINGTON, D.C. — United States Space Force announced Thursday the rollout of a new Advanced Combat Helmet variant for all Guardian personnel assigned to command center and orbital operations duties, describing the initiative as a critical step toward establishing a “credible tactical posture” for the service’s growing ground-based workforce.
The helmets are made of tin foil.
“Guardians operate in high-stakes environments every day,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Harmon, Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Capability and Resource Integration, during a Thursday press briefing at the Pentagon. “They deserve equipment that reflects the operational tempo and tactical identity of a combat-credible force. This helmet does that.”
The helmet, designated the ACH-SF1, is constructed from multiple layers of heavy-gauge aluminum foil formed around a standard polystyrene liner. It weighs approximately four ounces. It does not meet any ballistic protection standard currently recognized by the Department of Defense. It is not required to. Space Force command center personnel do not operate in ballistic threat environments. They operate in climate-controlled facilities in Colorado Springs, Schriever, and the Pentagon, where the primary overhead threat is fluorescent lighting.
The ACH-SF1 program was developed over eighteen months at a total acquisition cost of $2.3 million, a figure that several defense analysts noted could have purchased approximately 1,900 standard-issue ACH helmets of the kind worn by service members who deploy to locations with ground threats.
Space Force declined to comment on the comparison.
“This is about identity,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force LaShawn Williams during a separate briefing Thursday. “Every branch has its gear. Every branch has its look. For too long, Guardians have sat behind consoles in a branch that looks, to outside observers, like it does not have a tactical posture. The ACH-SF1 addresses that directly.”
The helmets are shiny. Under standard command center fluorescent lighting, the reflective surface has caused several reported incidents of temporary visual disruption in adjacent personnel. A mitigation working group has been established. One proposed solution involves a matte finish. Another involves reducing overhead lighting in affected bays. A third involves not wearing the helmets indoors.
The third option has been tabled pending further review.
Rollout of the ACH-SF1 is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of fiscal year 2026. All Guardian personnel assigned to Space Operations Command will receive one helmet. Wear policy is currently being drafted. A preliminary wear guidance document circulated last week specified that helmets would be required during “high-readiness periods, significant orbital events, and command-directed tactical posture declarations.” The document did not define any of those terms.
A Space Force spokesperson confirmed the wear guidance will be finalized before distribution begins.
The foil is domestically sourced.
