US military set to replace caffeine with ' electric shocks' to help soldiers

US military is reportedly conducting tests which involve substituting caffeine with mild electric shocks to help soldiers stay awake.

The researchers at the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base have been conducting tests that give healthy soldiers electrical stimulation treatments to keep them awake during long stretches of mind-numbing drone surveillance or data monitoring, the Verge reported.

Biomedical engineer Andy McKinley said that the test subjects performed twice as well at the end of the period than those who had received nothing, while caffeine had been unfruitful.

Lindsey McIntire said that stimulation avoided the jitters and other side effects caffeine can produce.

However, the researchers currently don't plan to apply the technology outside military use.