Thaindian News

Jodhpur, July 8 (IANS) India will soon provide its soldiers a jacket that will help them beat the summer heat in the Rajasthan desert.

The jacket or cool vest, designed and developed by a Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) lab here, helps the soldiers to bear the desert temperatures that shoot up to over 50 degree Celsius, defence ministry spokesperson Colonel S.D. Goswami told IANS.

The summer heat in the desert “adversely affects” the performance of the soldiers deployed in Rajasthan along the border with Pakistan.

Among the health problems faced by soldiers on active duty due to over exposure to summer heat includes exhaustion, cramps, rashes, stroke and at times even death.

“The cool vest or jacket absorbs body’s excessive heat, thus cooling the soft tissue and blood, as it circulates throughout the cardiovascular system. The body remains calmer, metabolic activity may slow, and less body fluid is lost, maintaining suitable electrolyte balance needed for proper muscle function and optimum physical performance,” Goswami said.

“The vest’s pockets are packed with micro-encapsulated and gelled special phase change material that absorb body and environmental heat to provide comfort to human body in extreme heat condition.

“The comfort duration of this vest is about two to two-and-half hours after which the jacket has to be recharged for two to three hours in deep freezer or normal refrigerator,” he added.

The cost of the cool vest is Rs.2,000.

“The Border Security Force has already carried out a user-trial of the jacket and we have received a positive report from them,” said a defence lab official.

The vest will also make a difference for soldiers carrying out operational training, the crew of battle tanks and armoured personnel carriers, soldiers on guard duties and other professional duties in extreme climatic conditions.