Balistyka Tactical Kilt Fold: Ukraine's Armoured Skirt, Gen 2
Ukrainian gear maker Balistyka has a second-generation armoured skirt that looks like samurai kit and is meant to stop shrapnel from shells and drones.
SUMO· the number puzzle
Dialo· learn languages by speaking
ediviewer· read EDI files like documents
giftdetect· the right gift in minutesA skirt for soldiers sounds like a joke until you see what it is for. Ukrainian military gear maker Balistyka has released the second generation of its Tactical Kilt Fold, a skirt-shaped piece of lower-body armour that looks a lot like samurai protection.
The company showed the new model last month. It uses five protective plates to wrap the pelvis, thighs, buttocks and groin through a full 360 degrees. The aim is to stop fragments thrown out by shell blasts and drone explosions.
What is new in the second-generation Tactical Kilt Fold?
The first version had a practical flaw: gaps could open between the plates when the wearer ran or bent a knee. For the second generation, Balistyka added elastic connectors between the plates, which it says reduces that gapping. The kilt has also been reworked so it can be combined with a standard tactical belt.
How heavy is it and how well does it protect?
Weight depends on size and runs from 3.9 to 4.3 kg. According to the company, each plate uses Level 1 protective material. The source does not say what that level means in practice, so treat it as the maker's own description rather than a tested result.
The design makes sense given the threats named by the company: small fragments from artillery rounds and exploding drones, which tend to hit low and from many directions. A skirt-style wrap covers areas a standard plate carrier leaves open, and the elastic joints are there so a soldier can still move. The material does not mention a price or when the kilt will be on sale.
Apps worth a look
SUMO: the number puzzleTap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.
Dialo: learn languages by speakingTalk to an AI conversation partner; every sentence comes back corrected and explained in your language. 9 languages, A1 to C2.
ediviewer: read EDI files like documentsOpen EDIFACT and X12 messages, see every segment explained, convert to JSON/XML, export PDF and Excel. Runs locally, no upload.
giftdetect: the right gift in minutesPick who it is for, the occasion and their personality. The search engine reads product descriptions from local shops and ranks what fits. Free, no sign-up.
More from this day
See all →
Doomsday 2026: the 1960 Science paper that predicted today
XDOWN STUD drone: a throwable attack drone, eight per backpack
Gemini now works in Apple CarPlay for hands-free chats on the road
