Delivering on our Commitments using Wearable Hazard Monitoring Technology

When warfighters are in the field, a multitude of factors impact their physical and cognitive abilities – threats in the environment, weather, how much food and water they’ve consumed – the list goes on. These factors can present additional obstacles that can hinder warfighters’ ability to maintain lethality and complete the mission.

Critical support from commanders or their teams can help the warfighter navigate their current state and identify mitigations to ensure that they maintain readiness and retain lethality. The challenge is that both warfighters and their support elements know only a fraction of the full operational view. For example, in the height of operations, they may not be aware of the impact the environment is having on their blood pressure or hydration levels.

The Defense Department (DOD) is developing and will deliver a game-changing product in delivering vital information directly from the warfighter to their commands in near-real time. Through a program called the Wearable All-hazard Remote-monitoring Program (WARP) led by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense’s (JPEO-CBRND) Joint Project Manager for CBRN Special Operations Forces (JPM CBRN SOF), the JPEO-CBRND will field the LifeLens Wearable Platform, developed by LifeLens Technologies Inc. The platform is a unique wearable system that delivers real-time, clinical-grade vitals, including heart rate, respiration rate, and core temperature directly from the warfighter to their command posts. This durable platform also performs contextual and environmental monitoring, tracking more than 400 metrics covering performance, fitness, recovery, sleep, and injury risk.

LifeLens’ Wearable Platform will be the first DOD-led physiological monitoring device to be fielded to the joint force. JPEO-CBRND leads the effort in partnership with interagency, industry, and academia, leveraging years of wearables research and assessments. The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense Programs (DASD(CBRND)) led several studies and programs, including the Office of the Secretary of Defense Physiological Monitoring Pilot, to understand how wearable technology could enhance warfighter defense. These projects culminated with the first validated DOD requirement to field a wearable technology. Mr. Dave Williamson, assistant program manager, remarked that it was “a combination of research and studies from previous DOD programs, strong partnerships, and ability to be bold and make decisions that drove the program forward to get to this spot.”

Williamson said market research and program data from the DASD(CBRND) studies enabled JPEO-CBRND to accelerate the fielding timeline. Williamson recounts a meeting where they told senior JPEO-CBRND leadership that they believed accelerated delivery of this commitment to the joint force could be achieved in two years. “We knew it was optimistic, but we also knew that we had a lot of resources to give us a strong start,” said Williamson.

The team received authority to execute as a Rapid Acquisition Effort in January 2024. The subcontract with LifeLens Technologies, Inc., through MRI Global, was in place six months later, the first operational test occurred in November 2024, and the program is on track to begin fielding later this calendar year.

Achieving the accelerated timeline meant taking advantage of every minute. After understanding research and assessments that evaluated various commercial wearable technologies, the team conducted their own market research to down select from nearly 400 different devices to find one that would work well for the CBRND requirement. After a few user and prototype assessments, the team focused on finding technology that would obtain the right metrics and be comfortable enough to be worn by warfighters in potentially austere environments.

“We were aggressive in determining what worked, and didn’t shy away from moving on from impractical solutions. We crossed off ring technologies because they aren’t practical in tactical environments, we eliminated watch technologies because they would be buried underneath personal protective equipment, and many of the other standard wearable devices just didn’t work - chest pucks, arm bands, you name it. Then we came across LifeLens which was a great fit,” said Williamson.

LifeLens Technologies, Inc. initially partnered with the DOD through a Defense Health Agency (DHA) program in 2019. Though the DHA program has since ended, JPEO-CBRND re-engaged with LifeLens to tailor its wearable platform to meet the current DOD requirements.

The LifeLens Wearable Platform has two main components: the on-body “hub,” a small electronic node packed with over 25 different sensors and attached to the skin by a transparent patch; and a “gateway,” a key-fob sized device. The gateway captures and shares the information taken from both the hub and from other sensors. Typically worn on the chest, the hub’s low profile remains comfortable and non-intrusive even under full operational gear.

Another advantage, LifeLens’ Wearable Platform works in Global Positioning System (GPS)-denied environments including inside buildings or underground, which means commands can keep track of warfighters’ locations and trace certain physiological data back to specific users. These data points are delivered in real time and are critical to warfighter survivability, as well as understanding the long-term impacts of CBRN exposure, blast injuries, and heat strain.

“Chemical warfare agent sensors, multi-gas sensors, radiological sensors, and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus pressure sensors are all connected to the wearable platform and fed into the radio network, allowing us to display everything into a common visualization software application. Commands receive all that raw unfiltered data, not just what the app or company allows us access to,” Williamson said.

The data pulled from the wearable platform is critical in the CBRN defense space. When a warfighter is first exposed to a CBRN agent, the signs can be subtle. Symptoms such as changes in breathing, sweat, or increased fatigue, could go unnoticed, but a wearable monitor can detect these changes, track the symptoms over time, and use that data to understand the effects of various CBRN materials on the human body. That understanding can help researchers make decisions on medicine and other protections that ensure the warfighter retain and remain lethal. In fact, access to the warfighters’ physiological data has already saved lives during training exercises.

Recently, at the 2025 Army Best Ranger Squad Competition, participants wore the LifeLens Wearable Platform so leaders could track their vitals in the grueling heat. One commander saw the vitals of a warfighter continuing to rise after he was at rest and sent him to be evaluated by medical support. He was diagnosed with early-stage rhabdomyolysis, a muscular condition that can lead to kidney failure, and was evacuated by ambulance for immediate medical attention. This serious condition could have ended the warfighter’s career if left undetected and untreated.

In another training exercise, a participant wearing a LifeLens Wearable Platform was being treated for an asthma attack when a LifeLens team member supporting the exercise observed severe cardiac arrhythmia and informed the medics. The medics credited the LifeLens team with saving the warfighter’s life. Noticing these symptoms, making the correct diagnosis, and addressing physical changes in real time is crucial to keeping warfighters safe and ready.

Delivering on its commitments to the joint force is one of the pillars of JPEO-CBRND's P.A.I.D. U.P. philosophy, and it aligns with and enables the DOD’s priorities to increase warfighter readiness and lethality by ensuring they get what they need quickly. Slated to begin fielding in the beginning of fiscal year 2026, JPEO-CBRND’s delivery of the LifeLens Wearable Platform to the warfighter demonstrates its pledge to accelerate acquisition timelines and provide safe and effective CBRN defense capabilities at speed and scale.