Fort Belvoir, Va. Much like the skin is the body’s first line of protection, a warfighter’s uniform acts in a similar way against chemical and biological threats. However, the research, development and production of uniforms to equip more than two million troops does not come at a small cost. To address this issue, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency’s Joint Science and Technology Office, in collaboration with the Edgewood Chemical Biological Center, is seeking a new technology to assess individual protection ensembles to improve warfighter safety more cost effectively, a tenet of DoD’s Better Buying Power 3.0 (BBP 3.0) initiative.
In 2004 the U.S. Army moved from its woodland and desert battle dress uniform to a digital pattern. A decade later, the Army is investing in another uniform to improve warfighter safety. Although these specific uniforms do not protect warfighters against chemical and biological threats, fabrication of such a uniform is underway, an expensive but important investment.
JSTO efforts will enhance the Individual Protection System Performance Model (IP SPM) software, reducing development costs of uniforms that protect the warfighter from chemical and biological threats. The new IP SPM V2.0 software allows researchers to model the garment’s performance including the toxicology risk and the thermal burden to a warfighter under a variety of operational conditions prior to fabrication.
Other benefits of the IP SPM V2.0 include extending the toxicological analysis for additional chemical and biological threats and non-traditional agents. The enhanced system also validates models by comparing them to enhanced test and evaluation data.
The IP SPM V2.0 software further supports BBP 3.0 by controlling lifecycle costs by reducing the need for impractical live agent testing against all prototypes.
The IP SPM V2.0 allows researchers to use advanced physics-based modeling capabilities to model thermal effects, aerosol transport, joint expeditionary collective protection integration and advanced materials and closures, physiological effects and parametric sensitivity analysis.
One of the software’s most effective capabilities is that it can model where an agent will collect in a suit over the exposure time. This helps predict the toxicological effect of the agent on the warfighter. Also, since the suit models the thermal burden to the warfighter, it allows researchers to predict how a warfighter’s performance will change over time.
The IP SPM V2.0 project will continue to add new requirements to meet the new Uniform Integrated Protective Ensemble initial capabilities document. The collaborative JSTO/ECBC effort will continue to be instrumental in developing innovative personnel protective equipment for the warfighter to protect against chemical and biological threats for years to come.
POC: Michael Roberts; michael.a.roberts212.civ@mail.mi
Date Taken: | 05.24.2016 |
Date Posted: | 05.24.2016 10:06 |
Story ID: | 198888 |
Location: | FORT BELVOIR , VA, US |
Web Views: | 248 |
Downloads: | 0 |
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