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Exeter
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11.01.2006 19:29:47
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Униформа;
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Вот статейка про это из свежего JDW
Видимо, она и цитировалась, уважаемый СОР.
JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY - JANUARY 11, 2006
US Army tests liquid cooling vests
SCOTT R GOURLEY JDW Correspondent
California
US Army Humvee crews in Iraq and Kuwait have started testing 500 new liquid-filled cooling vests. The initiative is designed to help identify near- and long-term solutions to mitigate soldier heat stress in tactical vehicles.
The vests represent the co-ordinated efforts of a 'Cool the Force' integrated product team (IPT).
According to Tank-Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) representatives, the development of the cooling vests and related research into soldier cooling technologies were conducted by the Natick Soldier Center. TARDEC took advantage of Natick's work to integrate the vests into Humvees.
"TARDEC got a tasking from the PM [product manager] for light tactical vehicles to see if supplemental cooling was necessary for the Humvee," explained Art Adlam, Associate Director in TARDEC's Engineering Business Group. "They had put add-on armour kits on a number of the Humvees and also air conditioning to provide cooling for the crew.
"In the 'closed in' Humvee, the air conditioner did reasonably well, but once you put a soldier up in the machine gun ring and start trying to 'cool the desert' with that vehicle air conditioner, you start falling way short," he said.
Initial time constraints called for some systems to be in Iraq by mid-2004 to perform initial user evaluations.
"Working with Natick and also with the Program Executive Office - Soldier [PEO Soldier], we identified both the military systems and commercial systems that were already available," Adlam said.
Initial design evaluations included an 'ice-pack vest' used by the US Navy, solar blankets, an air vest system derived from the NBC system used on the M1-series Abrams main battle tank, a liquid vest system and an ice-based liquid vest system.
Ten air-cooled vest units (each with four vests plus connectors) and 10 liquid-cooled vest units (each with cooling unit plus four vests) were deployed in August 2004 for initial evaluation in Iraq. Both designs employed 'quick release' systems to allow personnel immediate tactical dismount.
Adlam noted that the field feedback led to a decision to purchase "a limited quantity [500] of the liquid vests for further field evaluation".
The vests utilise the vehicle air conditioner to chill water that is pumped into a microclimate cooling garment. The system consists of a heat exchanger, flow control assembly and microclimate cooling garment. The flow control assembly has a pump, valve and manifold that distributes the fluid flow to four people.
"Since the approach has proven itself and the soldiers like it, we're in the process of working with the PM and the 'soldier schools' to develop an operational need statement that would allow us to go into full production," said Adlam.
Noting that the initial liquid-cooled vests were produced under a Natick contract with Foster-Miller, Adlam emphasised that any full production requirement would be based on "a competitive performance specification".
In addition, other army organisations are also working on vehicle crew cooling issues. One example involves PEO Soldier efforts to develop individual cooling for the Cupola Protective Ensemble (CPE). Developed to provide increased ballistic protection for the gunner in the vehicle cupola, the CPE is derived from heavy and bulky explosive blast suits.
"They made a decision to put some of those systems over in Iraq, also for evaluation. And they worked with us to look at what some of the integration issues would be with the Humvee," Adlam said.
One of those integration issues involved the use of common quick-disconnects between the two cooling designs.
"While this was going on, a number of other things were also going on," Adlam continued. "The programme manager for the M9 ACE [Armoured Combat Earthmover] decided that those crews needed a cooling solution. And they opted to go with the 'Air Warrior' approach because they didn't have a large density of vehicles and [the Air Warrior aviator cooling system] was something they could integrate right away into the ACE vehicle and solve their problem with minimal engineering and integration issues. So that system is already being installed in the M9 ACEs there in Iraq."
He added: "Our driving factor in the Humvee solution was what we could do right away and what we could do affordably because of the number of Humvees that we have to apply that on."
While awaiting the results of field evaluations on the 500 systems now in theatre, TARDEC engineers are continuing to study individual cooling designs. Identified activities range from TARDEC efforts to establish new co-operative research and development agreements (CRADA) to a contract that the National Automotive Center (NAC) has in place with a company providing cooling vests used by auto racing drivers.
The Humvee was the first vehicle selected for the vest cooling evaluation because of its high vehicle density in US inventories. Subsequent individual cooling priorities for the IPT have been assigned to: the Heavy Equipment Transporter (HET), Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), Palletized Load System (PLS), M939, FMTV, M35 and M809.
С уважением, Exeter