Through a lens,
safely
Straits Times, The
(Singapore)
Review
November 12, 2007
Author: Robert Karniol, Defence Writer
A NEW-FOUND sense of style pervades the gritty battlefields of
Afghanistan and Iraq, but there is more to this trend than meets
the eye.
Imagery from these conflicts invariably has troops sporting sleek
sunglasses, their sinister opaqueness evoking cold efficiency. In
fact, this eyewear melds form with function to provide
high-technology protection of growing sophistication.
'The United States Army previously provided protective eyewear to
some soldiers, but it was found that they often did not wear it
because it just wasn't particularly attractive. It wasn't cool,'
said Ms Linda Watson, senior vice-president for marketing and
communications at US-based Revision Eyewear Ltd.
Much has since changed.
Revision, with its manufacturing facility in the small Vermont town
of Essex Junction, is among a handful of suppliers in this
specialised market. There are just seven companies that meet
rigorous US military standards, with four of these dominant: ESS,
Oakley, Wiley X and Revision. Others include Rudy Project in Italy
and the German company UVEX.
Military eyewear normally involves a range of eyeglasses and
goggles, often with interchangeable lenses. Opaque lenses are used
in bright sunlight, for example, and clear ones are used at night
or in darkened interiors. The more sophisticated eyewear also
accommodates corrective lenses clipped inside the frame for those
with vision impairment.
The Canadian Army recently expanded this range with the
introduction of a helmet-mounted visor. All members of the Canadian
Land Forces have been equipped with Revision's Sawfly ballistic
eyewear since 2003, and selective personnel are now getting
helmet-mounted visors for an additional layer of protection. The
aim is to provide eye and facial protection up to the level of body
armour and helmets for those in particularly vulnerable positions,
such as turret gunners.
Whatever the style, military eyewear is geared to address two core
requirements: ballistic protection and environmental protection.
The former refers to projectiles, including shrapnel and bullets.
The latter includes ultraviolet light, sun glare, wind, dust and
rain.
They must also be scratch-resistant and provide clear and
distortion-free vision without obstruction, together with a
comfortable fit. And, more recently, there has been a new emphasis
on cool design.
Ballistic protection is provided by the eyewear's polycarbonate
lens, made from a type of advanced plastic. In tests conducted by
the US Army in September, Revision's Sawfly eyewear resisted
penetration from shotgun, hand grenade and improvised explosive
device (IED) blasts at a range of 5m. Products from other suppliers
also have similar characteristics.
Ms Watson said that the market for military eyewear has mushroomed
since 2000. 'Part of the reason is the type of warfare now going
on. IEDs and close-quarters combat have combined to heighten
interest,' she explained.
Incentives include the human cost, particularly as eye injuries in
combat and in training alike are often preventable, and the
financial cost. The latter can include workdays lost to injury and
lifelong disability payments for those more seriously hurt.
In addition, eye injuries have become more prevalent in warfare. US
military data indicates that ocular injuries as a percentage of
total war injuries increased from 2 per cent and 2.8 per cent in
World War II and the Korean conflict, respectively, to 7 per cent
in the Vietnam War. The rate had grown to 13 per cent for the Gulf
War of 1990-91.
This has prompted a growing range of military forces to consider
ballistic eye protection. Aside from the US and Canadian armies,
Revision's client list includes the United Kingdom and Belgian
defence ministries. Singapore's Special Operations Force, part of
the commando battalion, ordered Revision eyewear in 2005.
US marines sport ESS eyewear while Oakley is popular with the US
Special Operations Command. Elsewhere, the Australian Army is due
soon to select a ballistic eyewear supplier.
This growing market has spurred a flurry of research and
development activity. Aside from the Canadian Army's helmet-
mounted visor, the next generation of military eyewear should
feature variable light transition products which allow a lens to
change its opaqueness to account for shifts in light intensity.
Such eyewear will also allow for a smoother transition between
bright exteriors and dark interiors.
Another innovation in development involves incorporating head-up
display systems in military goggles, which will allow for the
remote transmission of data and imagery directly to the
wearer.
Then there is the issue of protection against lasers. Laser
technology has become intrinsic to a range of weapons, particularly
in the area of precision guidance, but exposure to laser beams can
cause blindness.
To address this specific issue, the United Nations Convention on
Certain Conventional Weapons, or Inhumane Weapons Convention, was
revised in 1995 to include Protocol IV on Blinding Laser Weapons.
This outlaws laser weapons whose primary purpose is to cause
blindness, but there are two inherent flaws in the regime.
Protocol IV came into effect on July 30, 1998, but has so far been
signed by just 87 countries. In this region, the list of
nonsignatories includes Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar,
Singapore and Thailand - six out of the 10 Asean members - with
neighbouring Timor Leste and Papua New Guinea equally
negligent.
The second problem centres on lasers whose primary purpose may
involve guidance or other functions. Though permitted under
Protocol IV, these can also cause blindness through improper
exposure.
The challenge in developing protection against laser-induced
blindness on the battlefield lies in the fact that lasers emit
beams of varying wavelengths. Several companies now produce
laser-protection lenses, made by mixing a dye additive with the
pigment when moulding the lens, but these are of limited
effectiveness. Most protect against just one transmitted wavelength
while some work against two or three.
This narrow capability is hardly sufficient and efforts are under
way to improve the range of coverage.
'Dielectric stacks represent a new technology now being worked on
as an alternative,' Ms Watson said.
'This could result in the commercialised introduction of a new type
of protective eyewear in the relatively near-term future.'
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Copyright, 2007, Singapore Press Holdings Limited
