Brenda Marie Rivers
The U.S. Navy has released a request for information on fabrics that can support biosensing features for collecting the physiological data of aircrew, The Drive reported Thursday.
According to the RFI notice, Naval Air Systems Command is conducting market research into suitable fabric materials for the production of naval aviators’ health monitoring shirts. The Navy wants high elasticity garments to prevent melt or drip incidents that can pose serious risks to a pilot’s skin.
The report said the military service conducted research into flight-induced oxygen deprivation or hypoxia and began to equip pilots with physiological sensors in 2009.
The Navy provided sensor-fitted Garmin Fenix 3 watches to its F/A-18 Hornet and EA-18G Growler pilots in 2017. The watches are built to monitor air pressure change, altitude and heart rate.
In the same year, the Pentagon’s F-35 joint program office announced it would update the fighter jet’s onboard oxygen generation system to mitigate hypoxia and similar cases the same year.
NAVAIR will accept industry input through Jan. 15.
