The US Army are working on helmets for their soldiers which will include inbuilt air conditioning in an attempt to keep them cooler.
The futuristic looking respirator is said to be far lighter and more comfortable to wear than its previous counterparts with the added benefit of having a cooling airflow circulating around the soldiers head.
The team at Edgewood Chemical Biological Centre in the States started designing concepts for the headgear in 2013. The new helmet includes an air purifying respirator built from a hose which is connected into the helmet, a blower unit, and a battery pack to drive the blower, which can be attached to the soldiers back or hip.
As well as keeping the soldiers cool, the new headgear will provide soldiers with both chemical and biological protection through the respirator.
The development team at Edgewood are now planning on taking the technology one step further by making the helmet more intelligent. The next plan for the new equipment behind the headgear is to automate the running of the internal fans in the head gear with built in sensors.
There’s no indication of when this new headgear will be released to the army – but if it’s a success we hope its something the UK army might consider rolling out to our own army.
Source: US Army