Phew! It is abnormally hot and dry this summer in the Northern Hemisphere, 30 degree weather in Europe as well as in Northeast Asia. Even in airsoft, many are admonished to keep themselves cool under the sweltering heat or risk heat stroke. It would be really cool, if access to ice on the airsoft field is easy, especially during 24-48 hour milsim events.

For the U.S. Army, it may just become a reality soon. In early 2013, Time Magazine reported that the Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center in having remote basis having the capability to have bagged ice capability. Operations of soldiers usually take place in locations with extremely hot weather which they usually resolved by having a continuous supply of bottled water airlifted to the frontline troops, but even then, the water are hot rather than be refreshing and cold ones.

Soon, this will become a reality. Soldiers will have readily bagged-ice to use to cool their drinks as well as cool their overheating bodies ice packs. The Army are now evaluating the Containerized Ice Making System (CIMs) if it can meet the original requirements, which if it can successfully generate and bag 3,600 lbs. of potable ice per day and also store 1,200lbs of what it produces for future use.

In an Army.mil article Will Feather, a mechanical engineer with Product Manager — Force Sustainment Systems’ Food Service Equipment Team, or PM-FSS FSET, and CIMS lead project officer said,  “Ice is a valuable commodity on the battlefield. There is a cost and security benefit to the government if we can create an organic ice making capability that will enhance the Soldier’s day-to-day life by providing all the other support that ice creates, including cold drinks, medical applications, mortuary affairs uses, and increased morale.”

Photo: Containerized Ice Making System or CIMS (Credit: Jeffrey Sisto, U.S. Army)

The CIMS is a a tricon style, containerized ice plant that generates ice, bags the ice, able to seal the bags, and stores store up 1,200lbs internally. It has three modes; Ice Production, Cooling, and Sanitation and one can select which mode from a digital menu displayed on a control panel installed to the outside wall of the CIMS.

The CIMS can be easily transported and can help the U.S. Army generate savings rather than regularly transporting ice from the main base to the remote bases as they can organically generate ice on the spot rather than wait for the next resupply.

Two units of the CIMS were used at a Spring exercise in Fort Bragg, finally testing the system in field conditions. The Army plans to test the system further and will make a design decision next year.

Top Photo: Soldiers pass bags of ice from the Containerized Ice Making System, or CIMS, during a spring training exercise at Fort Bragg.(Credit: Jeffrey Sisto, U.S. Army)