When a soldier is out in the field he or she has to carry everything with them on their person. Extra weight needs to be removed whenever possible to allow the soldier to be more mobile and able to travel longer distances without becoming tired, or move quickly in a hostile situation.
Modern equipment consists of a number of electronic gadgets that all require power, and therefore multiple batteries. But a new e-textile is set to revolutionize soldier uniforms and in the process lighten their load by a few kilograms.
Intelligent Textiles has developed an electrically conducting yarn that can be woven directly into a garment. It allows power to be fed around the body without any cables being required. This offers two big advantages: the soldier no longer needs to carry any cables and several batteries can be replaced with just one larger unit.
As the fabric has the conducting yarn throughout, ripping it does not stop the flow of juice. And with only one battery being required it can be located in a position that makes it easier to carry while at the same time rendering the devices that rely on it much lighter. It also means there’s only one battery to charge, or one battery to quickly swap out for another.
The new yarn has been developed with funding from the Centre of Defence Enterprise (CDE) and has already been field tested working in the shirt, helmet, gloves, and backpack a soldier wears. It should open up the possibility for complete computer systems to be integrated directly into uniforms and a fabric keyboard is currently in development to aid that. The yarn may be targeted at carrying power, but where power can flow so can data, making it even more useful.
The first to benefit from the new uniforms will be British soldiers. Intelligent Textiles is working with global defense company BAE Systems to enhance uniforms further. We should expect to see them being worn by soldiers no later than 2015.
Read more at BBC News