Gandhinagar: Defence Research and Development Organisation’s (DRDO) Defence Materials and Stores Research and Development Establishment (DMSRDE) have displayed a newly developed NBC Mark V suit that would enhance protection in the event of an NBC attack at the ongoing Defence-expo 2022 at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
Ajay Kumar Gohil, a scientist in DRDO talking to ETV Bharat said that "Considering the ever-present threat of nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) warfare DRDO has developed the suit. The newly developed suit is made of activated carbon spheres (ACS) — this is the heart of the suit, sandwiched between the woven and non-woven fabric of polyester in camouflage color, giving it strength. ACS provides protection against chemical, biological, and nuke radiation hazards for 48 hours, while the Mark IV suit does the same only for 18-20 hours. This is a major upgrade."
Apart from that DRDO also has displayed a first-aid kit that has an auto-injector that can be used to inject the drug inside the human body while wearing NBC suit.
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DRDO sources added, “The conventional NBC suit with powdered active carbon as the absorbent has many drawbacks, like low handling of heat stress, mechanical strength, protection, etc. The ACS-coated fabric has advantages, including resistance to wear and tear, an effective protective barrier, more air permeability for physical comfort, and a lightweight structure, ”they added,
“Every country has different climatic conditions, which we have to consider as a parameter while making new versions. The Mark IV suit was developed in 2007-08 — this time, we focused on increasing the comfort level.” According to DRDO, other salient features of the suit are that it is excellent against chemical agent protection, has oil and water repellency, fire retardant, gives physical comfort, is anti-static, and has high resistance and stability.
Presently, the Indian Army’s special forces and other paramilitary forces use the NBC Mark IV suit, which weighs around three kilograms. The fifth version is a marked 0.5 kgs less than its predecessor, enhancing motility.
