New gear protects air crews from weather - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

New gear protects air crews from weather

Beginning this summer, the Army will start outfitting helicopter and tank crews with new winter gear designed to protect them against cold, rain, sleet, snow and fire.

The Fire Resistant Environmental Ensemble is a high-tech, multilayered cold-weather clothing system that features essentials such as long underwear as well as wind-resistant and waterproof layers.

“This is a cold-weather and wet-weather system made specifically for aviators, although we are also going to issue it to our armored vehicle crewmen as well,” said Col. William Cole, project manager for Soldier Protection and Individual Equipment.

The 150,000 soldiers who serve in aviation and armor specialties are at greater risk of being exposed to fuel fires, a hazard associated with helicopters and armored vehicles.

In addition to being fire resistant, Cole said, all the items in the ensemble are static-free to comply with the aviation community’s strict standards of managing static electricity, a hazard that can ignite fuel.

The complete system features:

• Underwear.

• Lightweight long underwear.

• Midweight long underwear.

• A lightweight, wind-resistant outer layer.

• An intermediate, soft shell outer layer.

• A wet-weather outer layer.

• A balaclava, gloves, belt and wool socks.

Equipment officials said they hope to field in 2011 a new wireless communications device to go with the Air Warrior system. The Aircraft Wireless Intercom System would replace a 15-foot cable that allows crew members to communicate with one another when working outside the aircraft.

“That is going to be an improved capability and it’s going to improve safety,” said Col. Will Riggins, the head of Project Manager Soldier Warrior, describing how crewmembers have to be constantly vigilant that the cable doesn’t become entangled with anything.

Air Warrior, a collection of pilot survival gear the Army began fielding in 2004, features an array of sophisticated items such as a compact flotation collar for operations over water, a slim oxygen bottle for flying at altitudes higher than 10,000 feet and a Kevlar-like face shield to fully protect aviators from flying glass or shrapnel.

The system also includes a special water-cooled, micro-climate vest that’s worn beneath the ballistic vest so aviators can operate on long flights when temperatures inside the cockpit climb past 120 degrees. Chilled water from a special compressor on the helicopter is pumped through 131 feet of tubing that attaches to the vest, keeping the aviator’s core body temperature at a comfortable level.

Despite the success of the design, equipment officials are still trying to make refinements so aviators can move more easily in today’s cramped cockpits.

Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, who commands Program Executive Office Soldier, said he experienced first hand the need for such refinements when he took a ride in a CH-47F Chinook in January wearing the Air Warrior kit.

Fuller, who is 6 feet 4 inches tall, said he “had a hard time bringing the control stick all the way back.”

“I’m probably in the 95th percentile” as sizing goes, Fuller said. “There is not a lot of space in there when you wear all the kit. … We need to incentivize our contractors to reduce the bulk.”

Equipment officials will continue to make refinements, Riggins said, while the Army develops the next generation of aircrew kit known as Air Soldier. That system, which is planned for fielding in 2012, could save space by combining components such as the micro-climate system and the vest that also includes the aviator’s ballistic protection.

Air Soldier will provide an opportunity to rethink how separate components plug into the aircraft, Fuller said.

“Instead of having a bunch of cords all over the place … why shouldn’t I have my helmet plugged into my vest and my vest plugged into the aircraft?” Fuller said.