WASHINGTON
The Pentagon on Friday launched a new venture with giant American companies to develop flexible electronics and sensors that could be stretched and inserted into the skins of military assets and civilian appliances.
Billed as a revolution in the electronic industry, the technology will enable developers to have larger technologies in lighter weight and more flexible shapes.
Announced by Secretary of Defense Ash Carter in Silicon Valley, the consortium called the Flexible Hybrid Electronic Institute, will be led by California-based FlexTech Alliance.
The flexible hybrid electronics would be used particularly in medical monitoring devices and military assets such as warships and fighter jets, according to the Pentagon.
Devices constructed using the technology will be light and thin enough to fit into the curves of a human body or stretch across the shape of an object or structure while preserving the operational ability of the older technology.
The consortium is made up of 162 companies, universities and non-profit groups including Apple, Hewlett Packard, Boeing, General Motors, the Cleveland Clinic, Stanford and MIT.
"Given what we've already done, there's truly no limit to what we can achieve together," Carter said in announcing the new venture. "That's why I've been pushing the Pentagon to think outside our five-sided box, and invest in innovation here in Silicon Valley and in tech communities across the country. And now we're taking another step forward," he added.
Carter initially announced plans in April to launch the venture.
