High-tech cloth may help limit friendly fire

[unhappycamper]

High-tech cloth may help limit friendly fire
By James Hannah - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 20, 2008 7:40:32 EST

DAYTON, Ohio — When Taliban forces attacked a police checkpoint in central Afghanistan under dark of night in late 2006, Air Force Master Sgt. Andrew Martin called in air support and then slapped a high-tech clothlike device on his helmet for protection.

Fresh from labs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the device transmitted light from a powerful light-emitting diode that pulsed through a fiber-optic bundle, giving off infrared signals visible to pilots wearing night-vision goggles.

“The pilots were able to very quickly pick it up,” said Martin, who has since retired from the Air Force. “What didn’t happen was additional questions from the pilots asking me my location.”

The new technology — called the Target Recognition Operator Notification system — was designed to easily identify friendly forces and avoid casualties from friendly fire.

Martin liked the equipment so much he used it on about 35 missions over six months. He said it is better than strobe lights, which can be mistaken for machine-gun fire, or reflective tape, which is difficult to see from the air.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_hightechcloth_080220/

[Muttocracy]

1. interesting story - thanks for posting nt