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To begin any improvement plan for the soldier of the future, the Army first needed to set goals for what they wanted to attain. If these goals are reached, the Army leadership feels that they will be more than able to overmatch and defeat any known or imagined infantry force well into the next century. The goals are broken into five general areas:
• Lethality: The Army wishes to increase each soldier’s ability to detect, acquire, identify, locate, engage, and defeat enemy/ threat soldiers and their equipment at increased ranges. They would like to be able do this with greater accuracy and in all kinds of weather, regardless of visibility conditions.
• Command and Control (C2): Here the Army has set the goal to increase each leader’s ability to direct, coordinate, and control personnel, weapons, equipment, and information. To accomplish superior C2, the Army has also set goals on developing the procedures necessary to assimilate and disseminate information through the digitization of nearly every battlefield system. This will enable soldiers to completely dominate and win tomorrow’s “information war.”
• Survivability: In this key field, the Army has aimed to increase each soldier’s ability to protect himself or herself against the effects of enemy or threat weapons as well as environmental conditions through improved situational awareness, reduced signatures (infantry “stealth”), and improved physical protection systems.
• Sustainment: This goal calls for working towards a better capability to sustain soldiers in a tactical environment. From the Army’s point of view, not only does this lead to improvements in morale, but it also results in a dramatic increase in overall effectiveness and performance.
• Mobility: The Army of the future would like to move and deploy its soldiers around the battlefield more quickly than it currently is able to do. It must do this in order to fulfill all of its assigned missions. This element includes providing soldiers with improved situational awareness, navigation/location systems support, improved load-carrying gear, as well as a reduction in the weight of weapons, equipment, and supplies.
In addition to these five goals, the current modernization plan for the soldier of the future can be broken down into two more basic time-related categories. First there is the near-term project. This is what is known as the Soldier Enhancement Program or SEP. Back in 1990, Congress decided that the Army and Marine Corps should begin to focus their attention on enhancing the combat capabilities of individual dismounted soldiers through a program known as the Soldier and Marine Enhancement Program (SEP/MEP). The SEP/MEP program was intended to be a short-term study illustrating what can be done to improve the capabilities of the infantry soldiers in the near future.
SEP/MEP essentially stopped just short of any dramatic advances in ground combat. These dramatic advances would be reserved for the 21st Century Land Warrior Program, which will be discussed next. Congress directly funded the SEP/MEP program for three years. Through 1996, many important new technologies have been developed and are still being developed for the dismounted soldier of the future, including the beginnings of several important programs. Let’s take a look at some of the near-term projects which were worked on in the SEP program:
• Close Combat Optics (CCO): This system, which is currently just beginning to enter service, provides a non-magnified sighting device for the M16A2 rifle and M4 carbine. It basically provides an aiming dot on a lens seen by the infantryman. It reportedly can improve combat marksmanship dramatically, and will also allow a soldier to fire at a target with both eyes open in order to provide him with increased situation awareness.
• Monocular Night Vision Device: This system, which has not yet been funded for procurement, was funded for type classification during FY-95. This lightweight device is actually a monocular, third-generation image-intensification system which can be handheld or helmet-mounted. It can even be attached to a weapon such as an M16A2. The system has performance characteristics roughly equal to that of the AN/PVS- 7B night-vision goggles.
• Lightweight Leader Computer: The lightweight Leader Computer (LLS) is actually the precursor to the more powerful computers which may be carried by the soldier of the future. The LLC is a small, lightweight computer system which ties in with the computers of leaders up the chain of command in order to paint a more complete picture of the battlefield. The LLC can help plan for operations as well as the preparation and distribution of orders, reports, and alert messages. The system also possesses simple graphics capabilities, and provides an interface with SINCGARS for transmission of whatever data you’d like to transmit. As of now, the LLC has yet to be funded for production.
The above three systems are just a few of the new technologies which came about as a result of the near- term/quick-results study called SEP.
21st Century Land Warrior
The next step in developing the combat force of the future has now passed to what has become known as the 21st Century Land Warrior, or 21 CLW. The 21 CLW program is actually a vision of what the Army of the long- term future will (perhaps) look like, and begins tracking what the U.S. Army needs in order to get ready for tomorrow. Thus the 21 CLW is not a single program, but rather a series of high-tech initiatives which will (hopefully) produce usable technologies which will dramatically enhance the combat capabilities of tomorrow’s foot soldiers. Because the 21CLW is such a wide-ranging project, the Army realized that it had to be broken up into several projects in order to more clearly accomplish its goals. The 21CLW project is charged with the job of illustrating exactly what is, and what is not, feasible for the Army of the next century. The cornerstone of the 21CLW project is what has become known as the Army’s Generation II Soldier Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD). The goal of this project is to test the current limits of technology, in order to determine just how high-tech and combat- effective America’s Army can become in the 21st century. The preeminent part of the current Generation II soldier system is the Individual Soldier Computer/Radio (ISC/R) subsystem. This is essentially a mini-computer which provides data for all aspects of the future infantry soldier’s sensor and weapons packages. The particular packages which are controlled by this computer may include an advanced headgear system that will integrate the following information:
• Communications: This will include the ability to easily communicate between personnel, including messages from superiors and possibly information on enemy troop locations.
• Informational Displays: This will include pictures and diagrams on enemy weapon systems such as tanks, aircraft, and missiles in order to help alleviate IFF problems, and to aid intelligence- collection operations. Maps will also be easily accessed through this helmet display system, in order to help soldiers navigate the battlefield.
• Vision Amplifiers: The computer-controlled headgear will most probably include several types of advanced night-vision systems such as an FLIR or NVG-type system. High-power-magnification capabilities may increase the usefulness of this day-night/all-weather sensor.
All three of these systems are envisioned to be operated via headgear fitted to the helmets of soldiers of the future. Before these projects reach the troops, however, there are many technical difficulties to overcome, not the least of which is a reduction in the weight of battery packs to power these high-tech systems. There are other projects, however, besides the ISC/R system which may create an equally dramatic change in the way soldiers fight. These include the following:
• Objective Infantry Combat Weapon (OICW): The eventual replacement for the M-16 and the 40mm grenade launcher, probably using advanced composite materials and compact “telescoping caseless ammunition.” Prototypes may be demonstrated as early as 1998.
• Objective Crew Served Weapon (OCSW): The next weapon the Army is looking at would be used to replace such weapons as the M240G machine gun. The OCSW will be carried by two soldiers and
