Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"July 19, 2002
Return
to the "POINTER VIEW"
July
19, 2002
Land Warrior
Cadets receive presentation about next generation integrating soldier system
Story and photos by Spc. Eric Bartelt
Asst. Editor
The future of the Army got a sneak peek at the Army of tomorrow July 11 and 12 at Camp Buckner as the 3rd Class cadets received a presentation on the Land Warrior System during Cadet Field Training.
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Cadets 2nd
Class Eric Cosmini (left) and John Skidmore display the Land |
The Land Warrior System, developed by Product Management Soldiers Systems, is the futuristic battlefield advancement.
"Land Warrior integrates several components that enhance the dismounted combat soldier’s lethality, survivability, mobility, command-control communications, situational awareness and sustainability," said Mark Hanna, PMSS support contractor.
Components of the Land Warrior System consist of the Interceptor Body Armor, thermal weapons sight, target pointer/light aiming infrared, modular night vision device and modular lightweight load carrying equipment. It also features a helmet mounted display feeding into a Global Positioning System that determines the soldier’s position and objectives.
Parts of the Land Warrior System, such as the Interceptor Body Armor, are being used in Afghanistan, but the soldier system as a whole won’t be used until 2004.
"The basic definition of a soldier system includes everything that the soldier wears or carries on the battlefield," Hanna said. "What we’ve done, which is probably the key piece, is integrate electronic components into the soldier system to give soldiers special capabilities to look on a map and see where they and all the other soldiers in the squad or platoon are located."
Even though the system won’t be used on the battlefield until 2004, Hanna said it was deemed imperative to give a heads up to these cadets on the uses of Land Warrior.
"Our theme is soldier system modernization, and what we’re trying to do is educate the cadets on what we’re doing to modernize and better the soldier system," Hanna said. "We want to explain to them what they’re going to see when they come into the Army in the 2005 time frame."
The Land Warrior program started in 1992 when a couple of Army science studies recommended that more attention needed to be spent on the individual soldier as a system. This in turn would implement the revolutionary computers, communications and informational technology right down to the individual soldiers and infantry units, Hanna explained.
Land Warrior is in constant development, and the 0.6 version will be replaced by the 1.0 version before it hits the battlefield.
"The 1.0 version is what we’re going to field, but we’ve been fielding the 0.6 version for two years and it has improved the effectiveness of the infantry units in an exercise environment," Hanna said. "We talked about the 1.0 system and the improvements that have been made based on what we’ve learned from soldiers using the 0.6 system at exercises and taking advantage of technology advances. The advanced Warfighting Experiment at the Joint Readiness Training Center put the system through the rigors and it’s the most realistic experiment we have done."
Hanna explained that Land Warrior has proved in JRTC experiments that units are able to move more efficiently, especially at night, and react more quickly to a change of mission or a changing situation. Leaders can give orders using voice communications, queuing off a common map display that every soldier sees allowing them to increase operation tempo and have a much quicker command-and-control.
"There are challenges to the system that mostly involves the weight and power of the system itself," Hanna said. "Body armor has been made lighter, yet it’s more effective and it has received rave reviews in Afghanistan."
The 1.0 system, which may run about $15,000 per system, is put through the full spectrum of requirements that are required of the soldier as well.
"If you think about the equipment it’s replacing that price is not that expensive," said Maj. James Smith, assistant program manager for power. "Let’s face it, if that’s what it takes to increase the capability of the soldier, that’s great. Since soldiers have to operate in 120 degrees or at –120 degrees or be able to operate while submerged underwater, so does Land Warrior. Soldiers have to operate at night, in the snow, rain, dust, you name it -- we expect our soldiers to fight in those conditions, therefore, the system has to work in those conditions too."
Only special operations and infantry units will initially use Land Warrior, but as time goes on all soldiers who move during a combat mission such as combat engineers and medics will have it.
Land Warrior made a positive impact on the cadets who saw it for the first time.
"The Land Warrior System incorporates everything we need as soldiers -- it takes us to the level the rest of our equipment is at and makes the soldier more lethal and keeps causalities down," said Cadet 2nd Class Eric Cosmini, a Land Warrior equipment demonstrator.
The cadets have a couple of systems here and a computer program that teaches them about Land Warrior through a video game -- all this exposure puts them a step ahead of everyone.
"I was talking to a soldier (from Task Force 3-327th) the other day and he hadn’t even heard of it, so we are really ahead of the game at West Point," Cosmini said.