They really thought outside the box. I've seen some interesting recent concepts for reducing military resupply needs (like a system for water extraction from even desert air or from exhaust gas), but those ideas of the 1960s could technically do even more.
They really thought outside the box. I've seen some interesting recent concepts for reducing military resupply needs (like a system for water extraction from even desert air or from exhaust gas), but those ideas of the 1960s could technically do even more.
The Army actually has a requirement now for mobile Plasma arc power plant. That way they can power forward bases just by burning plastic trash and anything else they have around, saving a fair bit of trouble hauling in fuel. They also would no longer need to bury mountains of bottled water and similar dangerous to burn trash, which can be a big deal when people shoot at you any time you leave the base.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956