Modern Textiles in Military Applications

Abstract

Military uniforms are facing a tough
challenge in the present context. Textile
fabrics have a variety of applications in
uniforms and tents. The challenges faced by
the designers to satisfy the various conflicting
requirements of textile materials within the
constraint of physiological requirements,
logistics, technological limitations, and cost.
Textile materials play an important role to
hide troops and equipment by blending with
the background. To improve the efficiency of
the military clothing supply chain, the defense
logistics agency established the apparel
research network (ARN). The importance of
high-tech textiles has gone up to a very high
level through research and development and
their applications in military products. The
main military nations in the world have
geared up their research programs towards
future combat and protective clothing as an
integrated system. This has increased the
importance of nanotechnology through the
applications at molecular levels in order to get
desired characteristics in the textile products
for military uses. Attempts are being made to
develop technical textiles incorporating
suitable smart material finishes for the
alleviation of the dangers associated with the
combat terrain.