Todays warfighter is very often called upon to operate in extremely cold environments, both in operational and training settings. These environments can range from operating or training in geographical or seasonally cold areas to performing a high altitude, high opening (HAHO) or high altitude, low opening (HALO) parachute jump in extremely cold ambient temperatures or to flying rotary wing aircraft, often with open doors, in extreme environments. To operate in these environments, warfighters need a scalable, performance heated apparel solution that will prevent heat loss around the body. Passive, insulated apparel items have proven to not be an option, largely due to the fact that they need so much insulation to be effective that the apparel items are too large and bulky and compromise warfighter comfort, mobility and dexterity. The US Army and other DOD branches have explored heated apparel items, such as heated gloves and heated shirts, on a number of occasions but no current solution exists to satisfy this market need. Challenges with current heated apparel solutions include poor heat, significant bulk, compromised mobility and dexterity and poor electromechanical reliability. To address this key market gap, Human Systems Integration, Inc. (HSI) (Walpole, MA) will continue it work in developing its Tactical HEated Apparel Technology (TacHEAT) platform that can be integrated into multiple apparel form factors.
