How long before the civilian disarmament complex declares that "No civilian needs to own assault rations?"
[Military.com] As the U.S. military prepares for future fights that may see units dispersed and on their own for extended periods of time, it needs new, lighter rations that will keep troops fueled for the mission.
The Army's Combat Feeding Directorate in Natick, Massachusetts is working on solving that problem now. Scientists are prototyping a "close combat assault ration'' containing an assortment of nutrient-dense energy bars that may augment the standard-issue meals, ready to eat -- MREs -- or even replace them.
"This is a ration that's designed to be extremely lightweight and compact," Lauren Oleksyk, team leader for Food Engineering, told Military.com in an interview earlier this month. "Some of the first prototypes will be field-tested in the near future. The bars that we're looking at for that ration are not necessarily full meal-replacement bars, but [we're] using a technology for drying and compression that would enable us to make a full meal-replacement bar if needed."
That moisture-reduction technology is good for a serious decrease in weight. In the lab, she said, Natick scientists have been able to reduce the weight of individual components by anywhere from 40-70%. The goal, she said, is to achieve an overall weight reduction of 40%, allowing troops to carry more food without increasing their combat load. A similar reduction in volume by compressing the packaging is also possible, she said.
| The problem then will be figuring out how to similarly dehydrate the matching water rations, but SCIENCE!! can accomplish anything, if only the scientists are beaten hard enough. |
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