Air Force fields new bladder relief units for pilots

WASHINGTON (CNN) - Where do fighter pilots traveling faster than the speed of sound go when they really need to "go"?

Until recently, the answer has been into a bag.

But it's not a great solution. "Piddle packs" - heavy-duty bags containing absorbent sponges - have been blamed for at least two crashes over the years, and they're not always tidy.

A few years ago, after enduring years of complaints from pilots, the Air Force let it be known that it was looking for an answer.

A small medical equipment development company in Milton, Vermont answered the call.

"The DoD put out a list of projects they needed solutions for," said Mark Harvie, president of Omni Medical Solutions. "Bladder relief for pilots was one of the items on the list and we were looking for a new project," he said.

That project turned into the Advanced Mission Extender Device, known in military jargon as the AMXD.