Navy develops smart bra for female pilots

Women are the next accessory to high-speed naval aviators.

The Navy will make a design decision in 2023 on a biosensing bra/undershirt that monitors the vital signs of flight crew. The compression garments were developed in collaboration with the Defense Innovation Unit and feature sensors that measure acceleration, heart rate, breathing, and heart rate. These garments might offer a new way for pilots to spot signs of trouble early in the cockpit, before they escalate into serious problems. “physiological episode,” for a medical emergency. Notably, the development process marks an attempt to adapt designs to female pilots in an airline that often treats their needs as an afterthought.

Dr. Bethany Shivers, a branch head at the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, presented the service’s plans to field smart undergarments at the December quarterly meeting of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services, or DACOWITS. According to a schematic she shared with the committee, the sports bra design will include a data recorder in the band — the location where a chest-strap heart rate sensor is worn. Honeywell’s special biosensing materials perform the functions as an electrocardiogram (electronic heart rate monitor), respiration monitor, and motion detector.

In 2023, the Navy will make a design decision on a biosensing bra/undershirt that monitors vital signs of flight crew. (Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services).

This remarkable fabric with built-in sensors can also detect, officials said, how successfully the wearer is performing anti-G straining maneuvers, or AGSMs — a physical exercise not unlike giving birth that is essential to improving tolerance of G-forces and preventing G-LOC, or loss of consciousness due to pulling G’s.

“The apparel includes two main components: the sensing garment and the recording module,” Shivers’ presentation stated.