In ST Kinetics, a bunch of engineers are obsessed with helping soldiers lose weight – no, not their body weight, but what they carry. They understand that an army that is light and moves faster has the advantage. Over the years, some of their projects have already succeeded and the weight of personal equipment has come down. But the engineers want to do more. Here are some of their ideas in the works, with pics: 1. Body armour – Using composite material lighter than Kevlar without loss of protection. The new material is so light, it even floats! 2. Rifle – The SAR 21 is already state-of-art, but ST Kinetics is working on a new version, which is 20% shorter and 17.5% lighter. 3. Bullets – Why must bullet casings be made of brass? Ever noticed how light blanks are? Polymer casings can perform just as well, and reduce weight by 30%. 4. Screens, Battery packs & Cooling Suits – The modern combat soldier operates in a network and needs a mobile device and power on the go. ST Kinetics engineers have been able to use current mobile phones as the device – neat, right? Also, think smaller batteries that get charge by your own movements and body suits that cool you down. All these ideas, if workable, could bit by bit increase the speed, mobility and firepower of our SAF soldiers. Let’s all cheer our engineers on! - Ng Eng Hen Photos: ST Kinetics
Posted on: Tue, 07 Oct 2014 10:00:00 +0000