While writing my article on the military's use of the UAV in combat, I remembered a news release a few years ago about a program that was starting to look at development of a new weapons, technology, communications system called the "Land Warrior" program. The funding for this program was dropped back in Febuary but is being brought back and funded again. SO I reearched it again and was amazed by what I had found, and how far the program has come.

The Land Warrior program was designed to develop equipment and communications capabilities for the individual soldier that would carry over to the commanders on the battle field. The idea was to develop equipment that would allow instant communication between all the soliders in a squad, platoon or larger element, and allow the commanders of that unit to be able to see where the soldiers were at all times. In addition the ability of the commanders to "see" what the individual soldier was actually seeing was also thought of.

So the military began to develop the Land Warrior individual soldier equipment. This inculded a new electronic sighting system which when mounted on a weapon system, fed a digital image to a small screen that could be flipped down over the soldiers eye. Also the same iamge could be fed to any of the soldiers chain of command. This allowed a soldier to point his weapon around a corner or over a object and see what was around or over the object without exposing his body or head to enemy fire. Like a remote hand held camera. This could feed images instantly right back to the command post and give live real time intel to the commanders on the battle field. Something that can make all the difference in the world or warfare. Remember the video cameras on the side of the "Space marines" heads in the movie "Aliens" Now its real.

Notice the gunsight system on the weapon and the small flip down screen in front of the soldiers right eye. All part of the new Land Warrior system. Then a close up of the flip down screen that a soldier can use to see what his weapon sees, or even what other soldiers are seeing through their sights.

The system is modular in concept and includes a computer, navigator (GPS system), and controller unit. Since the suite is modular, it was designed to better match the soldiers preference for mobility, moving the radio and batteries to the soldier's back, while the computer, navigator and controller unit (known as 'fusion') is mounted on the side, clearing more space for ammunition and grenades. Currently, over 200 individual land warrior units are operational in Iraq with the 42nd Brigade Combat Team (BCT). Yes they are being used now in war. Amazing isn't it. The commanding officers can see where every single soldier is on a screen map of the battle, and the soldeirs show up as a icon on the map. No more wondering where each soldier is.

Another part of the system was the XM29 or the OICW, Objective Individual Combat Weapon.

 This new weapon gives the soldier the ability to acquire targets and precisely detonate an air bursting 20mm projectile approximately 3 feet over the threat or alternatively on impact. These capabilities are required out to ranges 2-3 times the existing M16/M4/M203 system, or up to 10 football fields. This s in addition to the reguar 5.56mm mmunition that it can fire like a regular M16. The system provides both an integrated day and night battlefield sight capability allowing effective weapon usage 24 hours a day. Another amazing add on.

So in the future you may not have only UAV's and robots fighting, but armed with the lastest technology, soldiers may be better equipped and ready to fight on the battle field. These systems are already being used in the current Iraq War and are getting good reviews. No wonder we have the best equipped, most technologically advanced, and most fierce fighting force in the world!

BTW I want one of thse systems, but in paint ball mode, I would nevr lose!!