The UK General Service Respirator
Abstract
Since the introduction of the current UK NBC respirator, the S10, in the 1980s, military equipment, operations and the NBC threat have all changed. The direction and nature of the threat are now more uncertain, and there is increased emphasis on biological agents. In response to these changes, the UK is procuring a new General Service Respirator (GSR). This paper describes the concept development of the GSR at Dstl Porton Down to increase protection while increasing equipment compatibility and decreasing the user burden. Protection was considered in terms of air management, face seals, filters, exhale valves and dead spaces. User burden issues mainly concerned physiological load (respiratory resistance, carbon dioxide build-up and heat and sweating), perceptual-motor impairment (mainly vision and speech); psychological effects (eg isolation, motivation, mood), and ergonomics (sizing, ease of use, maintenance). Equipment compatibility issues involved iterative design and testing to improve the interface between the respirator and equipment, mostly optical equipment, weapons and communications systems. Dstl successfully met the main requirements, but it is not possible to find a complete solution for every problem and everybody, as all the factors impact on one another, and different user groups have different requirements.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 18, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA452235
Entities
People
- Anthony Wetherell
Organizations
- Defence Science and Technology Laboratory