Even if there was a decision process involved the AI wouldn't need to bother about most of the penalties. They outnumber us anyway and usually have better stats than our average merc. It doesn't hurt them much if they have 86 AP instead of 90 for example.

About the helmets - in my opinion the helmets that are bulky and provide the highest coverage should also have the biggest aiming penalty. This means that the penalty of Spectra and Dyneema should be reduced considerably (below SWAT Helmet).

Another point that I never understood was why do pants apply aiming penalties? Are we monkeys and aim with our legs? In my opinion aiming penalties should be removed completely from the pants. They should have stealth penalties and of course AP penalties but they shouldn't influence aiming.

Players that don't play Scifi have no chance to get Royal Jelly at all. Therefore I wouldn't make it compete with C-18. They should instead have similar properties with the Jelly being slightly better (because it's harder to get).