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| A 3rd Battalion, 325th Infantry soldier rushes toward his next objective during a Land Warrior live fire assault on Shughart-Gordon MOUT facility at the Joint Readiness Training Center, Fort Polk, La. The event was part of the ongoing Joint Contingency Force Advanced Warfighting Experiment. (U.S. Army photo by Pvt. Travis Burnham) |
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U.S. Army Plans for Warriors of the Future
ABCNews.com
June 26, 2001
Guns that hit targets around corners, computerized helmets,
a grenade-launching pickup truck that foils pursuers with oil slicks
and smoke screens. The U.S. Army is investing in a host of new technologies
that might someday revolutionize American war fighting.
From what U.S. soldiers eat, to how they communicate and what types
of weapons they fire, the Army is hoping science and engineering can
make GIs better informed, more lethal and harder to injure and kill.
Some of the technologies can be quite exotic. Take, for instance,
the British-designed Objective Individual Combat Weapon, in the early
stages of development. It's a lightweight do-it-all weapon, intended
to replace M-16 rifles, M4 carbines and M203 grenade launchers.
It is said to "shoot around corners," because it is designed to fire
shells that can be primed to explode at a determined distance, such
as over an enemy ditch, or just past a wall.
Then there's the "Transdermal Nutrient Delivery System" which is being
designed to transmit essential vitamins and nutrients through the
skin by an osmotic process, similar to a nicotine patch, providing
soldiers nutrition in extreme circumstances. It's "pushing the limits
of existing food technology," according to the Army.
The armor-plated SmarTruck concept, developed at the Army's National
Automotive Center in conjunction with the private sector, might enable
the occupants to disorient the enemy with its headlights, fend off
attackers with electrified door handles, launch grenades and emit
smoke screens to obscure a pursuer's line of vision.
"It's a test bed to prove that all of these advanced technologies
can be integrated onto a commercial platform," says Rae Higgins, a
public affairs officer with the Army Tank-Automotive & Armaments
Command. "If it were ever to see the light of day, this would be something
that would have a role in complex and urban terrain, for anti-terrorist
missions perhaps."
It might also be attractive to other U.S. agencies, foreign governments,
and for commercial use to protect corporate executives traveling in
countries known for kidnapping schemes, she says. "A SmarTruck type
vehicle might offer them a level of protection that they don't have
right now."
Fighter of Tomorrow
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A depiction by the U.S. Army of what a soldier in 2025 might look
like if emerging technologies such as "chameleonic camouflage"
and "interactive textiles" come to fruition. A mock
weapon was developed for the warrior.(U.S. Army)
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It could be many years before any of those technologies might
be fielded, if they ever are. But one of the Army's more pressing
initiatives is the "Land Warrior" system, a new look for soldiers,
intended to integrate soldiers in the field into a networked, computerized
war fighting system.
The 79-pound uniform would include a new helmet assembly, more protective
clothing, an improved rifle, and a computer and radio, intended to
significantly improve communications, night vision, weaponry, and
armor protection, among other things.
But Land Warrior's most revolutionary aspect, perhaps, is its communications
system. Each soldier will be linked into a computer network, accessed
through a pop-up display attached to each helmet. The display would
provide a topographical map that indicates a soldier's position and
those of fellow fighters and suspected enemies, with the aid of global
positioning satellites. Troops would communicate quietly through headsets.
"We're going to be buying these systems for the infantry soldiers,
the medics, and the people who support the artillery units … the spotters
and the forward observers," says Jeff Witherel, an official with the
Camber Corp., a major contractor on the system.
In field training last summer with an 82nd Airborne platoon, he says,
the Land Warrior systems dynamics of warfighting changed for the better.
"This whole platoon became a proactive element, everybody got up and
moved at the same time, everybody knew what was going on, they all
reacted just like an office does on e-mail."
Currently in research and development, the Army is planning to begin
issuing some 37,000 sets to Rangers and infantry soldiers as early
as 2006, at a cost of $17,000 per soldier — $32,000 including storage,
training, maintenance and spare parts, according to Witherel. The
Marines and Navy SEALs also are looking at the system.
The Land Warrior package also includes a "daylight video sight" —
a camera attached the standard rifle that takes pictures displayed
over the local area wireless network, for others to see — a lightweight
thermal sight on the rifle for night and low-visibility vision, and
improved body armor, 35 percent lighter than current "flak jackets."
Other Technologies
One of the most radical concepts under consideration is the
Future Combat System. The Army currently aims to transform itself
into a lighter, more versatile, faster-reacting force. Reflecting
that goal, it is examining the concept of replacing today's heavy
tanks with a system of robots, advanced sensors, weapons and other
platforms linked by computers.
The Army also is developing a new protective mask, intended to reduce
breathing resistance and improve protection against toxic industrial
material and nuclear, biological and chemical threats.
Then there's the GAYL Blaster, which might be used for crowd control,
by emitting a disturbing noise that defies hearing protection.
And "advanced field-ration recipes and menu items" are being developed
to "cater to the diverse cultural and ethnic food preferences of the
21st Century soldier," according to an Army publication.
Lessons Learned
Much of what is being developed is motivated by previous
war-fighting experience in real combat. The Army's "Force Provider"
program, for instance, was conceived in 1991 as a response to inadequate
living conditions for U.S. soldiers during Operation Desert Shield
and Desert Storm. It provides "containerized, rapidly deployable 'cities,'"
for quick delivery to theaters of action.
The movable cities include "advanced" laundry, shower, latrine, kitchen
and billeting systems for 550 soldiers, according to the Army, are
able to operate in temperatures between 15 and 120 degrees Fahrenheit,
and also include religious, morale, welfare, and recreational facilities.
The Army has contracted for 36 to be built by 2003.
In response to lessons learned from an October 1993 Army firefight
with Somali militia in Mogadishu that left 18 Americans dead, the
Army jointly with the Marines has been developing new equipment, techniques
and tactics for urban area war-fighting, called the Military Operations
in Urban Terrain MOUT Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration.
The U.S. military traditionally has avoided fighting in cities for
a host of reasons. But it expects urban operations to become common
in the future. The technologies examined in the program, which is
winding down, were off-the-shelf, meaning they were already developed
by other entities for other purposes.
Among the most promising technologies were an M-16 rifle-launched
munition, developed in Israel, which is designed for gaining quick
entry into a building by blasting through a door or a window, and
joint protection: knee and elbow pads, an idea drawn from the rollerblading
industry.
"There was a lot of stuff out there applicable for the urban environment
force, so there was a lot of low-hanging fruit," says Carol Fitzgerald,
manager of the program. "You don't necessarily need a whole lot of
sophisticated technology to allow for mini-revolutions in military
affairs at the tactical level — to me that's a pretty significant
thing."
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Copyright 2001 ABCNEWS.com. All rights reserved.
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