Military Fashioning High-Tech Combat Suits
The Army’s Soldier Systems Center is the focus of research to build more sophisticated yet comfortable uniforms, body armor, and other protective systems for troops to wear on the battlefield, and the center’s Maurice N. Larrivee attributes much of the current excitement in his field to nanotechnology and smart textiles.
Such breakthroughs allow minute electronics to be weaved into textiles without significantly increasing weight or bulk, and should enable the materials to automatically react to external stimuli or to carry out preprogrammed responses.
Larrivee foresees innovations such as self-repairing suits and interactive flame retardant uniforms coming from such research. His laboratory is also developing uniforms featuring battery-powered undershirts that supply heat and ventilation, as well as voice-controlled weapons worn on the wrist.
Larrivee adds that Navy SEALs are currently using wet suits enhanced with an interactive polymer that keeps them warm in cold water and maximizes comfort in warm environments.
The Soldier Systems Center’s fire-resistant uniform initiative involves embedding uniforms with smart inner and outer layers, with the outer layer moving toward the flame and possibly dispensing a protective foam while the inner layer keeps heat away from the wearer’s body by creating space between the fabric and the skin.
Larrivee says ground combat troops will eventually be outfitted with flame retardant uniforms because urban fighting will be a more common strategy in future combat. He predicts that, “The soldier of the future, about 10 to 15 years from now, is going to be as lethal as an army tank.”
Abstracted by the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center(NLECTC) from United Press International (04/11/03); Haskell, David D.
