Kevlar underwear, enhanced night-vision goggles¹ and portable solar panels: the US military is seeing a gear revolution, thanks to the lessons learned during 10 years of war in Afghanistan and Iraq.

凯夫拉尔纤维内衣裤、更先进的夜视镜、便携式太阳能电池板……美军装备正迎来更新换代，这还得益于十年来阿富汗和伊拉克战争的作战经验。

The M4 rifle remains² the basic firearm of the American GI, but the addition of many gizmos（新玩艺，小物件） now makes the soldier look more like Inspector³ Gadget⁴ than GI Joe: the typical gear kit⁵ includes 73 items, from clothes to weapons.

Program Executive Office Soldier, the military unit responsible for inventing and producing army equipment, says some items are designed to better protect soldiers on the ground, while others help them understand the terrain⁶（地形，地势） .

Since 2004, every soldier has been issued a bulletproof vest with extra protection panels.

But the increased use of improvised⁷ explosive devices (IEDs), responsible for more than half the deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan, has led to the development of new protective gear.

Over the next two months, "tens of thousands" of Kevlar outergarments to protect the pelvic（骨盆的） area will be sent to US soldiers in Afghanistan, according to Colonel William Cole, who is part of the PEO Soldier unit.

"It protects soldiers if they step on an anti-personnel IED. It can really mitigate⁸（减轻，缓和） their injuries," he told reporters.

The protective outergarment is worn over the soldier's fatigues⁹.

Soldiers in Afghanistan also will have a Kevlar undergarment, similar to a pair of biker shorts, which helps protect them against infections caused by dirt and stones kicked up in a blast.

"When you keep the wound area clean, you prevent follow-on infections," Cole said.

To combat the frequent traumatic（外伤的） brain injuries suffered by troops in both Afghanistan and Iraq, which doctors say often lead to cases of post-traumatic stress disorder¹⁰, helmets are being tricked out with sensors¹¹.

"When a soldier is caught in an IED event, we will be able to immediately download the data from his helmet to determine what kind of impact the helmet got to help the medical community correlate that to what kind of brain injury he might have," Cole said.

For night-time combat, modern armies have the upper hand over insurgents¹² thanks to night-vision goggles. The new-generation eyewear, which is just reaching the field, will allow troops to more easily detect enemy fighters.