Support: September 28, 2004

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The U.S. Navy has, like the other services, taken advantage of rapid advances in clothing technology to create a new, and much more useful, flight suit. Outdoor clothing, in particular, has been transformed over the last two decades, with the introduction of several new types of materials. The new navy flight suit uses these new, high tech, fabrics to create the MCPS (Multi-Climate Protection System). This a lightweight, four layer garment that provides protection from fire, wind, rain and cold. Not all layers have to be worn; it depends on the environment the pilot is operating in (tropical or arctic) The inner and outer layers can be worn as desired according to the environment. Pilots can wear a g-suit (an inflatable bodysuit that helps prevent blackout during tight turns) over all four layers of the MCPS. The fireproof angle is particularly appealing to pilots. The MCPS can protect skin for 60 seconds against a 12,000 degree flame. The other services will adopt MCPS, or a variant. Some MCPS suits were given to SOCOM (Special Operations Command) for evaluation, and the navy couldnt get them back from the users. The first MCPS suits are being issued now.