The Army's New Land Warrior Gear: Why Soldiers Don't Like It
After spending 15 years on R & D, the Pentagon is outfitting soldiers for a high-tech battlefield network designed to cut through the fog of war. Popular Mechanics tests out the high-tech package and discovers why America's wireless warriors think it will slow them down in Iraq.
Looking through the Land Warrior System’s flip-down eyepiece, shown here being used by a member of the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, from Fort Lewis, Wash., is equivalent to viewing a 17-in. computer monitor. Along with maps and other information, the eyepiece displays the view through the lens of a video camera mounted on a soldier’s M-4, enabling him to peer over walls in safety. The brigade, now deployed in Iraq, is the first unit to test the gear in combat.
There's a half-billion dollars invested in the gear hanging off the heads, chests and backs of the soldiers of Alpha company. Digital maps displayed on helmet-mounted eyepieces show the position of all the men in the unit as they surround a block of concrete buildings and launch their attacks. Instead of relying on the hand signals and shouted orders that most infantrymen use, Alpha company communicates via advanced, encrypted radio transmissions with a range of up to a kilometer. It's more information than any soldiers have ever had about their comrades and their surroundings.
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Peek performance: The Land Warrior System, a wearable package of computers and other high-tech gear, includes a digital sight that lets soldiers aim at enemies without exposing themselves to danger.
How it works:
HELMET SUBSYSTEM
The Kevlar Advanced Combat Helmet weighs approximately 3 pounds, half the weight of current models. An eyepiece
(A) bolted to the helmet acts as a full-color computer interface, displaying maps and images from the camera on the weapon. A boom mic
(B) and over-the-ear headphones
(C) allow troops to communicate.
SOLDIER CONTROL UNIT
A computer "mouse"
(D) shaped like a gun grip is strapped to the chest and used to toggle among screens in the eyepiece. It also is used to key the radio and send data to other soldiers.
WEAPON SUBSYSTEM
A laser rangefinder
(E) mounted on the rifle pinpoints enemy positions and sends their location coordinates across the network. The thermal sight
(F) provides night vision, and a digital camera
(G) lets soldiers send video clips to commanders.
CONTROLLER
A toggle switch (hidden by the soldier's left hand) is used to control the weapon's laser and video sights. It can also be used to operate the multiband radio.
EYEPIECE VIEWS
With the eyepiece, a soldier can access mission data and a video feed from the camera attached to the M-4. Land Warrior's boot screen
(1) looks much like one seen on so many consumer electronic devices. Land Warrior's GPS system creates maps
(2) that show friendly troops represented by blue icons, but there's a lag time for updating positions.
A drop-down menu
(3) here, superimposed over a daytime video feed from the rifle's camera provides mission updates and text-messaging
(4) capability.
The weapon's thermal sight allows soldiers to scout terrain and potential targets at any time of day
(5) or night
(6).
Soldiers tell PM that the system's weight and bulk make maneuvering difficult. On their backs, infantrymen carry a 12-hour battery
(H) to power Land Warrior; a CPU
(I) that runs the system; a GPS unit
(J) to create maps; and a multiband radio
(K) for voice and data communication.
By 2015, the Pentagon envisions a seamless communications network that connects Washington to the front lines in real time. Much of the technology exists today. Soldiers equipped with new radios as part of the Land Warrior System
(1) are linked to Stryker infantry vehicles
(2) to coordinate tank and helicopter support. Joint Node Networks
(3). truck-mounted communications equipment, offer network access to the platoons. Those networks also enable troops to send video clips directly to the Tactical Operations Center
(4). The center relays orders between Navy ships
(5) and aircraft
(6) from other branches of the military. Software known as the Command Post of the Future
(7) acts as a mobile hub to connect the battlefield and the Pentagon. Orders can be relayed to the Prophet mobile electronics array
(8 ), which jams enemy equipment, and to Future Combat Systems vehicles
(9) that will be deployed over the next decade. Upgraded military satellites
(10) will be launched by 2010 to form a new backbone for the system.
Davin Coburn (Illustration by Dogo)
