Hmmm....

'Militaries of several countries are known to have expressed interest in Modafinil as an alternative for amphetamine—the drug traditionally employed in sleep deprivation situations.

The French government indicated that the Foreign Legion used modafinil during certain covert operations. The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence has admitted conducting ongoing research into Modafinil and spent £300,000 on one investigation.

In the United States military, Modafinil has been approved for use on certain Air Force missions, and it is being investigated for other uses.

One study on helicopter pilots suggested that 600 mg of modafinil given in three doses can be used to keep pilots alert and maintain their accuracy at pre-deprivation levels for 40 hours without sleep.

However, significant levels of nausea and vertigo were observed.

Another study of fighter pilots showed that Modafinil given in three divided 100 mg doses sustained the flight control accuracy of sleep-deprived F-117 pilots to within about 27 percent of baseline levels for 37 hours, without any considerable side effects.

In an 88-hour sleep loss study of simulated military grounds operations, 400 mg/day doses were mildly helpful at maintaining alertness and performance of subjects compared to placebo, but the researchers concluded that this dose was not high enough to compensate for most of the effects of complete sleep loss.

Pharmacology

The exact mechanism of action of Modafinil is unclear, although numerous in vitro studies have shown it to increase the levels of various monoamines, namely; dopamine in the striatum and nucleus accumbens, noradrenalin in the hypothalamus and ventrolateral preoptic nucleus, and serotonin in the amygdala and frontal cortex.'