美軍裝備升級 纖維內衣褲護體

Kevlar underwear, enhanced night-vision goggles and portable solar panels: the US military is seeing a gear revolution, thanks to the lessons learned during 10 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq。

The M4 rifle remains the basic firearm of the American GI, but the addition of many gizmos now makes the soldier look more like Inspector Gadget than GI Joe: the typical gear kit includes 73 items, from clothes to weapons。

Program Executive Office Soldier, the military unit responsible for inventing and producing army equipment, says some items are designed to better protect soldiers on the ground, while others help them understand the terrain。

Since 2004, every soldier has been issued a bulletproof vest with extra protection panels。

But the increased use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs)， responsible for more than half the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan, has led to the development of new protective gear。

Over the next two months, "tens of thousands" of Kevlar outergarments to protect the pelvic area will be sent to US soldiers in Afghanistan, according to Colonel William Cole, who is part of the PEO Soldier unit。

"It protects soldiers if they step on an anti-personnel IED. It can really mitigate their injuries," he told reporters。

The protective outergarment is worn over the soldier's fatigues。

Soldiers in Afghanistan also will have a Kevlar undergarment, similar to a pair of biker shorts, which helps protect them against infections caused by dirt and stones kicked up in a blast。

"When you keep the wound area clean, you prevent follow-on infections," Cole said。

To combat the frequent traumatic brain injuries suffered by troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq, which doctors say often lead to cases of post-traumatic stress disorder, helmets are being tricked out with sensors。

"When a soldier is caught in an IED event, we will be able to immediately download the data from his helmet to determine what kind of impact the helmet got to help the medical community correlate that to what kind of brain injury he might have," Cole said。

For night-time combat, modern armies have the upper hand

over insurgents thanks to night-vision goggles. The new-generation eyewear, which is just reaching the field, will allow troops to more easily detect enemy fighters。凱夫拉爾纖維內衣褲、更先進的夜視鏡、便攜式太陽能電池板……美軍裝備正迎來更新換代，這還得益於十年來阿富汗和伊拉克戰爭的作戰經驗。

M4型步槍仍然是美軍步兵的基本作戰武器，但目前新增的諸多新式裝備使這些美國大兵看上去更像“神探加杰特”：從衣服到武器的全套裝備足足有73件。

負責設計、生產軍事裝備的單兵作戰系統執行辦公室稱，其中一些裝備可以更好地保護執行地面任務的士兵，另一些裝備則可以幫助士兵熟悉地形。

自2004年起，每位士兵就已配備有一個帶有額外保護墊的防彈背心。

但由於簡易爆炸裝置的使用愈發頻繁，美軍的防護裝備也在更新換代。在陣亡的駐阿美軍士兵中，愈半死於各種簡易炸彈。

單兵作戰系統執行辦公室上校威廉•科爾表示，未來兩個月內，駐阿美軍將配備數萬套凱夫拉爾纖維防護服，用來保護士兵下體。

他對記者說：“這種防護服可以保護踩上殺傷性簡易炸彈的士兵，減輕受傷程度。”

這種防護服穿在士兵的作戰服外面。

駐阿美軍還將配備凱夫拉爾纖維內衣褲，類似於一條單車短褲，可以幫助士兵阻擋爆炸時揚起的灰塵和沙礫的感染。

科爾說：“只要傷口清潔，就可以預防繼發感染。”

爲了應對駐阿富汗和伊拉克美軍頻繁遭受的腦外傷，士兵的頭盔上還將加裝傳感器。據醫生介紹，戰場上的腦外傷經常導致創傷後壓力失調。

科爾說：“當一名士兵遭到簡易爆炸裝置的襲擊，我們就可以立即從頭盔下載到數據，確定頭盔受到的撞擊類型，以幫助醫療人員瞭解士兵受到了何種腦外傷。”

在夜間戰鬥方面，由於有了夜視鏡，現代部隊比非正規軍具有作戰優勢。剛剛用於戰場的新一代夜視鏡將使美軍能夠更容易地探測到敵軍。