Army scientists have developed a method to shrink down a soldier’s portable rations to one-third their normal size, which troops say could yield big benefits.
The new vacuum microwave dryer technology can compress the normally bulky Meals, Ready-to-Eat, better known as MREs, into tiny food bars. Not only are some of these bars more nutritious, their smaller size could save both time and space for companies on the move.
“Probably a good idea. Speaking as a quartermaster officer, it will probably reduce overall mass of MRE bulk shipment and may reduce the unfortunate tendency of air-filled MRE elements to ‘pop’ when dropped with force,” Capt. Nick Smith, an Army reservist, told the Washington Examiner.
The smaller meals could also be a space-saver for individual soldiers, whose gear can weigh well over 100 pounds fully loaded.
“An MRE takes up a lot of space in your rucksack. A day’s worth (3 meals) gets quite large,” Army Maj. Crispin Burke told the Washington Examiner. “So to store them, you have to go through the process of opening the MRE, taking out the components, and arranging them in your rucksack. It’s time consuming.”
The microwave vacuum technology, developed by the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development, and Engineering Center, can shrink a meal in as few as 80 minutes.
“A complete meal in a bar, that’s my goal,” senior food technologist Tom Yang told Stars and Stripes.
A prototype Close Combat Assault Ration, which would give small, isolated units three times the calories of a standard MRE in a smaller, lighter kit, includes vacuum-packed delicacies like a tart cherry nut bar, a cheddar cheese bar, a mocha dessert, miniature strawberries, and trail mix.
Future packs will include the famous MRE pizza, the most prized of military rations.
Retired Army Lt. Gen. Thomas Spoehr said the new technology “sounds very promising,” but he cautioned troops not to get too ahead of themselves.
“Nobody, however, should be under any illusion that infantrymen or special operators will then carry lighter packs — they will instead inevitably then opt to carry more ammo, batteries, and water. It’s almost like a law of physics,” Spoehr told the Washington Examiner.
At the very least, one soldier said, the new tech could reduce “the faintly delicious metallic taste” some MREs develop.
