Teledyne FLIR will develop personal chemical detectors for the US military. According to Teledyne FLIR, the device will detect chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial chemicals, flammable gases and low or high oxygen levels, which may indicate an explosive environment.
Chemical weapons are now banned in most countries of the world by the "Chemical Weapons Convention". It is not mass-produced, but some countries still have stocks. Russia destroyed the last kilogram of chemical warfare agents in 2017, and the United States plans to do so by 2023. Although chemical weapons are strictly protected, every year the risk of environmental disaster in the areas of their storage increases. In addition, experts believe that substances from warehouses can illegally enter other countries and be used in local conflicts.
Existing chemical detectors are large and heavy. They are designed to protect units, not individual soldiers. Therefore, in missions such as foot patrols, they are useless.
The American company Teledyne FLIR will develop personal chemical detectors for the military. She signed a five-year contract with the Pentagon. The device will detect not only chemical warfare agents, but also toxic industrial chemicals and flammable gases. The detector will also show a low or high level of oxygen, which may indicate an explosive environment.
Combat toxic substances are divided into several types: skin-abscesses, general poisonous, suffocating, psychochemical, irritating and nerve-paralytic. Among the latter, one of the most famous is "Novichok". You can read about its properties and the possibilities of synthesis in our material .
Vasilisa Chernyavtseva