The U.S. Army is making a fashion statement in Afghanistan. Nomex coveralls sent to a group of combat support soldiers participating in Operation Enduring Freedom could be the beginning of affordable flash-flame protection for all soldiers.

Due to high cost, army aviators and tank crew members currently are the only service members authorized to wear flame-resistant clothing.

Soft, lightweight and air-permeable, the coveralls are made from a blend of 92% Nomex, 5% Kevlar — both flame-resistant fibers developed by DuPont — and 3% nylon. Under fire stress, the fiber chars instead of melts and gives durable flame protection for the life of the garment.

A number of sets of the new disposable garments were sent from the U.S. Army Soldier Systems Center, Natick, Mass., last summer in response to a request that included flame-resistant clothing. The sage green, commercially available coveralls were selected because of their ability to reduce burns from 88% to 8% at a three-second exposure on an instrumented mannequin when worn over a battle dress uniform, T-shirt and briefs.

“In upcoming battle environments, such as military operations in urban terrain, there's going to be more non-traditional threats, flame being one of them, especially for the infantry,” said Robert Kinney, chief of the Individual Protection Directorate. “We're going to see more and more interest, especially if they can get garments at a reasonable cost.”

Although well-liked, the clothing is too expensive to issue to every ground soldier. Until now, no requirements for flame-resistant military clothing existed, under the assumption that it would be too expensive to clothe every soldier in the high-tech fabric.

As a result, a team of Army researchers has been working on a five-year research and development program to establish flame and thermal performance requirements for military clothing systems, as well as demonstrate a flammability test methodology that simulates military flame and thermal hazards. The requirements eventually led industry to came up with an affordable protective clothing system for infantry personnel.

Previously, the assumption was that everything from the skin out had to be flame-resistant. Researchers are finding that's not necessarily the case. In an environmentally controlled chamber, the scientists used an instrumented mannequin equipped with 122 sensors that can determine the percentage of second-and third-degree body burns on everything except the hands and feet. In testing, it simulates the effects of flash fires soldiers may be exposed to in battle.

Based on these lab tests, it was found that depending on the application, only the outer layer of clothing needs to be flame resistant. It is primarily the insulation — the thickness of the material — that provides thermal protection. Each additional clothing layer adds insulation and increases protection time.

The military version of the coveralls will sport a camouflage pattern, openings to gain access to garments worn underneath, appropriate sizing, and an oil- and water-repellency treatment that also is believed to reduce pilling and enhance durability. Even at double the cost and worn over the battle dress uniform, the system will still be 40% less expensive than existing flame-protective clothing.

That would meet the team's final objective of developing a flame-protective clothing system that's 30% to 50% less expensive than existing Nomex-based systems.