No matter what you think about the war’s rationale, you have to feel for the troops in harm’s way. Let’s hope Land Warrior works as advertised and doesn’t become another hardware fiasco that kills our people.
A high-tech collection of soldier gear, 15 years and half a billion dollars in the making, will finally make it into battle. The 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry has adopted the Land Warrior suite of wearable electronics, and will take it with them to Iraq when they deploy next year. It’s the first time a large group of infantrymen will be tied to the combat network that’s connecting so much of the military.
These days, the vasy majority of dismounted soldiers don’t even have radios — let alone the electronic mapping and messaging tools that have become commonplace in most Humvees. That’ll change, once the “Manchus” of the 4/9 Infantry don the Land Warrior ensemble.
Radios and GPS locators come standard. A helmet-mounted monocle lets the soldier know he and his buddies are on a satellite-powered map. That same monocle is connected to the weapon sight, so the infantryman can, in effect, shoot around corners.
I wonder how much weight this gear will add once you factor in body armor and batteries?
1 thing.
THIS is not a test situation.
If this stuff fails, or the mil. on the ground has NOT been trained to use it…WHO will suffer?
Love to take this stuff out on a Paintball mission.
Just cause you can see something at 300 yeards, in the dark, STILL dont mean you can hit it. OR know what it is before you shoot. Kids and dogs dont count..
would love a Stateside deployment…Take a Whole state and use it as a war ground, and test this stuff. Esp against fighters that use there sences.
31,
The Army does have a huge test range that is bigger than some states, and has tested this system extensively there.
Its nice to know that the american troops get all the shebang technology but I feel for the people in iraq, they are the ones who need the money and help, not the troops.
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