“There is a clear demand and need for technological support that enhances the operational situational awareness of individual soldiers in combat,” says Øystein Wiggen, Senior Research Scientist at SINTEF.
Since the project’s launch in June 2024, Wiggen and his colleague Mariann Sandsund have collaborated with several of SINTEF’s health researchers across different disciplines. Their goal is to integrate and optimize smart textile technologies into the personal protective equipment of European soldiers.
This aligns perfectly with SINTEF’s long-standing research and development in SmartWear and the integration of technology in textiles and smart clothing.
Now, this expertise is being applied in ARMETISS, an EU-funded project where partners from across Europe are working together to provide soldiers with the best possible conditions. The project is part of SINTEF’s growing portfolio of defense initiatives.
“One of the major challenges is developing new and improved technology that is lighter, softer, and more comfortable to use, while also enhancing the soldier’s endurance,” Wiggen explains.
In addition to improving soldiers’ capabilities, comfort, and equipment longevity, the project is working on systems for data monitoring and communication.
These systems ensure optimal body temperature regulation in all conditions, physiological monitoring to safeguard soldiers’ health, and medical support when needed.
Technological Modules for the Soldier of the Future
ARMETISS is a strategic initiative to strengthen Europe’s technological sovereignty and defense cooperation.
The project focuses on six functional modules, each designed to address specific challenges in combat:
- Thermoregulation: Optimizing the body’s ability to adjust temperature using technology for both active heating and cooling, ensuring sustained combat readiness in all climatic conditions.
- Health Monitoring: Tracking physiological parameters to improve situational awareness of a soldier’s performance.
- Energy Management: Improving power and data distribution using small, efficient, and lightweight wiring to enhance soldier comfort and safety.
- Geopositioning: Textile-integrated positioning systems for navigation, even in areas where satellite navigation (GNSS) is unavailable.
- Monitoring of Protective Equipment: Real-time detection of damage to soldier equipment.
- Human-Machine Interfaces: Enhancing situational awareness and reducing soldier burden by providing ergonomic, intuitive controls.
A Major Collaboration of European Expertise
The project brings together 18 partners from eight European countries over a three-year period. One of its strengths lies in the interdisciplinary collaboration between industry, research institutions, and small and medium-sized enterprises.
Norway is represented by SINTEF, the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment (FFI), and NFM, the latter of which has been a leading player in protective equipment in Europe for decades.
To ensure that the solutions developed are functional and ready for operational use, ongoing dialogue and involvement with end users are prioritized. Here, the Norwegian contributions play a crucial role.
Together with representatives from the consortium and users from various defense branches across Europe, user and system requirements have been developed.
These form the basis for a comprehensive understanding of the complexity involved in designing soldier systems that utilize integrated, multifunctional smart textiles.
SINTEF has had a particular responsibility for describing physical and cognitive performance under various climatic conditions. Moving forward, the focus will be on testing, evaluating, and implementing these smart textile systems.
The goal is to deliver solutions that can be deployed by European defense forces in the near future.
“This consortium has a unique combination of theoretical and practical expertise, which is essential for addressing the challenges faced by future soldiers,” Wiggen concludes.
Here you can read the full report from the first year of the ARMETISS project.
