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| Science | |
| Assault rations... | |
| 2020-10-29 | |
| 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.
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| Posted by:M. Murcek |
| #18 Mr. Soleimani, I was bringing the car around for our trip and I found a box which says, "Taco Bell" on it. Would you like to try something to eat? Sure, let me have..hmmm..the Chalupa. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-10-29 19:28 |
| #17 As long as you can put a can of Spam in a sock, we'll always have assault rations. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2020-10-29 19:11 |
| #16 Solved - stillsuits. |
| Posted by: KBK 2020-10-29 18:00 |
| #15 "Well we have a device that can extract water from dirt and air." " You don't seem to happy about it." , " Well It weighs 12 pounds and requires a 24 pound lithium ion battery pack." |
| Posted by: Phinetch Wherese4624 2020-10-29 17:58 |
| #14 The US Army only uses freeze dried for "arctic" rations -- the idea being that MREs might freeze and burst their containers -- and "assault" ration packs. This looks like an even more extreme version of the assault pack, and the "compressing the packaging" sounds like they're seeing what people actually in the field discard and repack. |
| Posted by: Rob Crawford 2020-10-29 17:51 |
| #13 Road Wheels and putting the beef stew can on the valve cover of the 1/4 ton for 2 minutes to melt the congealed fat at the top of the can? Seriously, 3 days and the constipation will be almost as uncomfortable as the first download of class one that finally happens |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2020-10-29 15:59 |
| #12 During the Civil War the Union troops had "dessicated vegetables". They called the desecrated vegetables. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2020-10-29 14:31 |
| #11 No more beans and dicks. |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2020-10-29 14:29 |
| #10 No more Ham and Limas... |
| Posted by: crazyhorse 2020-10-29 13:31 |
| #9 Like Nguard said, nice if you have a ready source of potable water - which I'm sure they'll find when in a spread out and on your own scenario. But yeah, reinvent hardtack, brilliant. I can hear it now, "Do you have any idea how much more water they will have to bring in order to eat, nevermind digest this food." "Just have them dip it in their coffee then." |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2020-10-29 13:14 |
| #8 Hmm, the high fiber side effects mentioned above could have weapons value. Also, powdered booze, why not? |
| Posted by: M. Murcek 2020-10-29 11:30 |
| #7 I'll drink to that, Deacon! |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2020-10-29 10:20 |
| #6 Dehydrated booze! |
| Posted by: Deacon Blues 2020-10-29 09:22 |
#5 Dimmit, sorry.
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| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-10-29 08:27 |
| #4 That would be the SOTD Merc, if i had electricity for my laptop. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2020-10-29 08:25 |
| #3 obviously, the next step is dehydrated water..... |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2020-10-29 07:55 |
| #2 Unexpectedly constipation hinders assault troop capability... Although if you mixed in dried fruit you'd probably have the opposite problem... |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2020-10-29 05:24 |
| #1 Sounds like they have re-invented de-hydrated food. Next up: re-discover that any weight savings will be taken by the additional water that will have to be carried. |
| Posted by: Nguard 2020-10-29 01:55 |