As the Arctic heats up, military targets cold-weather tech

Melting Arctic ice is opening up that region as a military domain, with Russia and China increasing their presence in the Far North and the United States making plans to counter that presence.

But melting ice doesn’t mean it’s exactly warm up there, and the U.S. military, anticipating deployments to the Arctic, are looking for technologies that will work in extreme cold—down to 60 degrees below zero Fahrenheit.

The Rapid Reaction Technology Office in the Office of the Secretary of Defense has issued a Request for Information under its Thunderstorm Spiral 16-2 for technologies to take part in the planned Multi-Service Demonstration for Arctic Challenges project. The office’s Thunderstorm Technology Demonstration is an interagency effort to provide realistic environments for demonstrating new technologies, with Spiral 16-2 specifically focused on the Arctic.

Continue reading at http://defensesystems.com/articles/2015/09/14/dod-arctic-cold-weather-technology.aspx?s=ds_160915.