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Romanian Helmet Model 1973 (in Romanian: Casca model 1973) - Romanian steel helmet used by the army of Romania, introduced in 1973 in the Army of the Socialist Republic of Romania.

History
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Socialist Republic of Romania (despite being a Soviet satellite state) wanted to operate more independently from the USSR which caused tension between Moscow and Romania. This complicated relationship between Romania and the USSR further worsened after the Sino-Soviet split and when Nicolae Ceaușescu became head of the Romanian party and throughout the 1960s and 70s, Romania stressed its distance from Moscow. This resulted in a need to restructure the army and therefore its helmet needed a replacement.

The Army of the Socialist Republic of Romania had been using copies of the Soviet SSh-40 since 1952 (completely replacing the Dutch-based M39) therefore, it seemed logical to adopt a “new” helmet to further distance the “look” of the army from the other armies of the Warsaw Pact and USSR. This was first done in the years ‘68 - ‘70 by reintroducing the M39 back into service repainted in dark green, but these attempts were largely unsuccessful. Therefore, it became a necessity to produce a new helmet based on the M39, becoming the helmet model 1973 presumably adopted in 1973. Some M73 was produced by the Fabricii Metaloglobus in Bucharest from 1973-1989.

After the fall of the Socialist Republic of Romania in 1989, the M73 was gradually phased out of front-line service being replaced with the Israeli-made OR-201 but it is still being used as a training helmet by the Romanian Armed Forces.

Design
The Romanian M73 is influenced by the earlier Romanian M39 (which itself was a copy of the Netherlands M34) The M73 has a smaller and less flared skirt compared to the M39 and has a raw edge instead of the rolled edge of the M39. The rivets of the M73 are also smaller than those found on the M39.

Both helmets have similar liners, though the M73 has four large leather tongues backed by fleece that cover the entire interior of the helmet, instead of the four leather flaps with six smaller tongues of the M39 backed by pieces of felt, covering only part of the interior. The adjustable nape strap at the back of the M39 is retained but enlarged becoming more of a flap. The hole at the rear of the skirt used for attaching the helmet to a backpack, is also a feature retained from the M39. Unique is the Adjustable 4-point chin strap with a double D-ring to secure it not seen on the M39 or M34.

Airborne variant
M73 Airborne is a Paratrooper helmet variant of the standard M73 helmet. The first version of the airborne helmet was the Helmet Model 1 which has the same shell as the standard M73 but with an attached large leather sleeve guard covering the entire neck, fully enclosing the head for better protection when opening the parachute. The Model 1 was used until the mid-80s.

The second and more numerous variant is Model 2. The shell of Model 2 is an M73 shell cut down to the inner lining fixing rivets, the original liner is retained with an attached leather ear and neck guard replacing the four-point chin strap. For added shock-absorbing the helmet has additional padding along the periphery of the helmet and on the sides of the ear guards, are cups designed for the use of headphones. (The ear and neck guards of Model 2 are very reminiscent of those found on the Polish Hełm wz. 63.) Most M73 airborne helmets feature a camouflage netting.

M73 Airborne helmets were produced from 1978-89 and are still in limited use today with the Romanian Armed Forces being gradually replaced with the Future Assault Shell Technology helmet and Schuberth GmbH M100 Ballistic Helmet.

Users

 * Socialist Republic of Romania - the M73 was used as the primary infantry helmet of the Socialist Republic of Romania and by Romanian paratroopers from 1973 until 1989.
 * 🇷🇴 Romania - the M73 is still in limited use as a training helmet, by Romanian paratroopers and special forces soldiers.