Super Fabric to Protect Soldiers From Chemical and Biological Agents

To be fair, that phrase is a bit of an understatement for something FLIR Systems has been tasked with making. Sure, they are fabrics, and they are meant to go into protective suits, boots, gloves, and eye protection gear, but there’s something particularly special about them: they can withstand and even fight anything from chlorine to the Ebola virus.

The technology is called Personalized Protective Biosystems (PPB), and it is developed by FLIR thanks to a five-year, $11.2 million contract awarded by DARPA. It should be deployed on the so-called Integrated Soldier Protective System (ISPS).

The exact details of this new type of fabric, as well as the entire list of chemical and biological agents it can fight, are not yet public. The only thing FLIR says about this is that the fabric will embed all the needed “catalysts and chemistries.”

Three layers will make up the material. The outer one, water-resistant, is where the chemical-biological agent repellant will be located. The middle layer is meant to mitigate, through sorbents, catalysts, and antimicrobials, the agents that manage to get through the first one. Last, the layer closest to the body is the one responsible for allowing perspiration.

Once ready years from now, this solution could help protect both soldiers on the battlefield and healthcare workers. The suits made using these fabrics should be, according to FLIR, lighter and easier to use than the Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) currently being fielded.

It will take FLIR five years to come up with a suite of prototype protective fabrics and garments, and should they pass the subsequent tests, the American Department of Defense might begin using them.