Summary
Future Systems
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Extract
Computer soldiers byte in.
It was not uncommon at defence exhibitions in the 1980s to see futuristic mockups of what the infantry soldier would look like in 1995, 2000 and 2005. None of these 'starship trooper' concepts have appeared and the programme dates have slipped to 2010, 2015 and 2020, and no doubt these dates will continue to slip. Nevertheless, an evolutionary improvement in the capability of the individual soldier is gaining momentum in many armies.
The need to get mature technology into the hands of troops as rapidly as possible has led the directors of the numerous soldier modernisation projects underway in Nato and for other armies. The need to lighten the soldier's load while improving lethality, survivability, C4I, mobility and sustainability--the five key areas of soldier modernization programmes--is a truly demanding challenge. Historically, soldier equipment has been bought as separate items--boots, body armour, radios, weapons or helmets. Moreover, integration was a term rarely used to describe this equipment. Most of these items were considered relatively 'low tech'. Yet as soldiers faced an increasingly challenging range of peace support operations and warfighting missions throughout the 1990s the view was acce...See the full content of this document
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