American soldiers will be able to get water from the air. Yesterday, December 23, the portal defenseworld.net reported that the Agency for advanced defense projects (DARPA) of the US Department of defense announced the signing of a contract with five participants in the Atmospheric Water Extraction (AWE) program.
DARPA announced its intention to provide American soldiers with water extraction systems from the air a year ago. The Agency has now selected six AWE participants. They were GE Research, Physical Sciences, Honeywell International Inc, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Texas at Austin, and U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.
AWE program logo
Image source: darpa.mil
"The AWE program participants will be able to use advanced modeling, innovative design and additive manufacturing methods to support the program, which in turn will help maintain alertness, to reduce the number of victims and the costs of transporting water, and improve the humanitarian situation and provide assistance in case of natural disasters", — said Dr. Seth Cohen, program Manager for AWE.
The AWE program has two directions. As part of the first, DARPA will look at the possibilities for individual devices that can generate enough drinking water for its owner, even in arid areas. The second direction is aimed at the development of installations placed on vehicles and capable of providing sufficient water for about 150 people each.