The US Department Of Defense Has To Spend A Lot Of Money On Costume Design Competition.

The US Department of defense plans to give us $250 thousand (about 1 million 664 thousand and 700 yuan) to reward the players who entered the finals and semi-finals.

However, the competition launched in August 25th has nothing to do with military operations. The topic is "biochemical protection."

Challenge. "

According to the military, the protective uniform provided by the army is heavy and heavy, which severely limits the agility and maneuverability of the US soldiers when they move.

Therefore, they open the design project to the public, hoping to find a plan that can enhance the sensitivity and sensitivity of the uniform.

The organizers, who represent the soldiers, also hope that the uniform can control the temperature - the soldiers wrapped in the whole body will feel very stuffy for a long time.

If the design of the competition can consider the connection between parts, it will be much better. For example, gas masks and helmets, gloves, boots and

。

In addition to fashion designers, materials science researchers, entrepreneurs and even students are potential candidates for this competition.

The judges who are responsible for the selection tasks also span a number of areas, such as Matthew Trexler, director of technology development of Under Armour, the US sports equipment brand, and a member of the US Army Research Lab.

In addition, Douglas Bryce, executive director of the United States biochemical defense joint project, Mark Sunderland, Professor of fabric engineering at Philadelphia University, and David Strum, President of the US arms supplier Velocity Systems, will also be responsible for selecting design options.

According to the rules of the competition, the three candidates who enter the final will win a prize of 50 thousand -15 dollars, and each semifinals will get 25 thousand dollars.

In addition, the Ministry of defense has set up five participation awards, with a sum of $5000.

In fact, the uniform of the US Army from 1775 to today's camouflage clothing is expensive, but no matter how useful it is to the design, there are few very satisfying "works".

In 2004, the camouflage uniform developed by the Ministry of defense for investment of $5 billion was criticized less than half concealed.

In 2010 and 2015, the camouflage pattern was updated, but it was always "ugly".

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2004 combat clothing

The uniform worn by the US forces in Afghanistan in 2011.

Up-to-date camouflage suit

In addition to fashion, the US government has recently increased its focus on advanced technology and encouraged private enterprises to join in.

In April this year, the US Department of defense jointly announced with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) the establishment of the eighth national manufacturing innovation network (NNMI), the The manufacturing Advanced Functional Fabrics of America (AFFOA), specializing in the revolutionary fiber and fabric manufacturing research center.

Its public private cooperation fund will reach US $315 million and will be led by the Ministry of defense and managed by MIT.

AFFOA uses the community of entrepreneurs and innovators in the technological textiles manufacturing industry in the northwest, as well as the national innovation ecosystem to consolidate fiber and fabric manufacturing in the manufacturing sector of the United States.

The alliance includes 89 industrial, academic and non-profit members, such as fashion group VF, New Balance, Nike, North Face, and Microsoft, Intel and other technology companies.

These technologies

A wide range of applications can be used to make fire-fighting clothes that are not affected by blazing flames. They can copy the sensing ability of a smart watch into a lightweight fiber or remove it easily when an injured soldier needs to use an antibacterial bandage.

Perhaps, as the senior official of the US Department of Defense said, "for the US Army, the importance of the textile industry is second only to iron and steel".