Slimmer, Trimmer US Army Land Warrior System Moves Ahead

26-Oct-2009 14:17 EDT  |  Related Stories: Americas - USA, C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, GPS Infrastructure, General Dynamics, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, Signals Radio & Wireless, Soldier's Gear, Support & Maintenance

Slimmer and Trimmer
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General Dynamics C4 Systems received a contract, worth up to $50 million, to supply the US Army with engineering and logistics-support services for the Land Warrior [pdf] integrated modular fighting systems.

A couple of years ago, it looked like the Land Warrior program was dead due to soldiers’ concerns that the equipment was too heavy and complex. However, after trimming down the system from 17 pounds to 7.2 pounds, the Army is moving ahead with the program. “Infantry-21: Land Warrior’s Reviews – And Resurrection?” has more on the controversy.

The new contract enables General Dynamics’ field service engineers to deploy with all Land Warrior-equipped units and provide support for housing, repairing and shipping spare and replacement Land Warrior gear worldwide…

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Infantry-21: Land Warrior’s Reviews - And Resurrection?

22-Sep-2008 17:29 EDT  |  Related Stories: After-Action Reviews, Americas - USA, C4ISR, Electronics - General, General Dynamics, New Systems Tech, Soldier's Gear

Land Warrior
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In the Pentagon’s April 2007 Selected Acquisition Report, the US Army’s $4 billion “Infantry-21” program – Land Warrior – lists as terminated. Which is true; Federal Computing Weekly has more. Noah Shachtman at WIRED’s Danger Room added that the soldiers weren’t that crazy about it, anyway:

“But as Alpha kicks in doors, rounds up terror suspects and peals off automatic fire in deafening six-shot bursts, not one of the soldiers bothers to check his radio or look into the eyepiece to find his buddies on the electronic maps. “It’s just a bunch of stuff we don’t use, taking the place of useful stuff like guns,” says Sgt. James Young, who leads a team of four M-240 machine-gunners perched on a balcony during this training exercise at Fort Lewis, Wash. “It makes you a slower, heavier target.”

Land Warrior was deployed to Iraq anyway in a slimmed down version, with the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team’s 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division based in Fort Lewis, WA. Now, it appears that the program is set to return, in modified form…

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Infantry-21: Spanish Future Soldier Contract to EADS

28-Jul-2008 14:46 EDT  |  Related Stories: Contracts - Awards, EADS, Europe - Other, New Systems Tech, Partnerships & Consortia, R&D - Contracted, Soldier's Gear, Transformation

Spanish soldier: now
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In September 2006, EADS Defence & Security Systems Spain received a EUR 24.5 million contract for the system design and development of the “COMbatiente FUTuro” (COMFUT) program. EADS-DS Spain will lead a group of Spanish sub-contractors including Elint, Fedur, GMV, Iturri and Tecnobit in the first round. Their team will design and develop COMFUT, then provide the Spanish Army with prototypes to equip 3 suqads (36 soldiers) over a 3-year period ending in 2009. If the tests and evaluations go well, the Spanish Ministry of Defence could acquire up to 7,000 COMFUT sets in the future… but all of the standard caveats and issues re: the global “Future Soldier” trend still apply, and the EDA is raising new concerns about lack of interoperability between the various country projects.

DID is once again grateful to Spanish reader Pedro Lucio for his assistance in obtaining details regarding the COMFUT program’s history, components, areas of research, et. al. The latest news includes a contract to ITT…

Infantry-21: Switzerland’s IMESS

02-Dec-2007 16:12 EST  |  Related Stories: Contracts - Awards, EADS, Europe - France, Europe - Other, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Partnerships & Consortia, Soldier's Gear

Swiss militia
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A number of countries are currently developing “future soldier” kits that attempt to give soldiers the same kind of advanced technologies now going into vehicles, aircraft, et. al., including wearable computers, helmet displays, and more. As currently conceived, the wisdom and long-term effectiveness of many of these programs is a matter of debate that will only be resolved by performance in combat situations.

The IMESS effort may have an unfortunate acronym in English, but it sits firmly in the mainstream of these programs. The framework contract includes a first development phase, plus options for series productions worth more than EUR 120 million. A prototype phase will be finalized in September 2008, followed by an optional industrialization phase in 2009, and optional series production phases in 2010 and 2014, according to Swiss procurement bills RP 09 and RP 13. The optional phases are all subject to approval by the Swiss Parliament.

The Swiss project’s vendors are also mainstream…

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Bureaucracy $ = Battery $: QinetiQ Gets Contract to Fix This

23-Jan-2007 06:55 EST  |  Related Stories: Britain/U.K., Contracts - Awards, Other Corporation, Procurement Innovations, Soldier's Gear, Support Functions - Other

Carry that weight…
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DID has discussed the growing importance of batteries to modern troops in the field, and the escalating power requirements of the new “Infantry-21” future equipment sets. The British government has QinetiQ working on that problem.

Now a QinetiQ executive observes that “On a number of occasions the MOD has stated that it spends the same amount [of money] administering its various battery contracts as it does buying in product.” Looks like QinetiQ will be doing something about that, too, via a a 2-year, GBP 4 million (currently about $7.9 million) contract from the UK MoD’s Combat Support Equipment Integrated Project Team (CSEIPT) to manage the supply of commercially available batteries. The contract includes an option for an additional 2 years, subject to satisfactory performance against key performance indicators. See QinetiQ’s release for more details.

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Germany’s FuInfoSys C4I System

27-Dec-2006 06:46 EST  |  Related Stories: C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Europe - Other, IT - Networks & Bandwidth, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, Signals Radio & Wireless, Transformation

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Rheinmetall and KMW both issued releases recently, discussing contracts they’ve won as part of Germany’s FuInfoSys Heer (FuInfoSys H) program. DID has discussed FuInfoSys briefly in the context of the IdZ “Infantry-21” program. Now the working group awarded the “FuInfoSys Heer” (“Army Command Control and Information System”) contract will progressively equip some 1,500-1,600 armoured and non-armoured vehicles with the new technology by 2011…

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Infantry-21: Germany’s IdZ-ES

27-Nov-2006 08:10 EST  |  Related Stories: C4ISR, Contracts - Awards, Europe - Other, FOCUS Articles, New Systems Tech, Other Corporation, R&D - Contracted, Signals Radio & Wireless, Soldier's Gear, Transformation

Infanterist Der Zukunft
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The German Bundeswehr’s 21st century IdZ (Infanterist Der Zukunft, or “Infantryman Of The Future”) project, is part of a wider global trend in Western militaries.

EADS Defence Electronics leads the consortium of the “Projekthaus System Soldat,” and the high-tech items of equipment carried by the infantryman are all carefully tailored to the IdZ concept: the computer, sensors, helmet system with display and voice radio, navigation aids, body armor, and carrying system. Fully digitized, the IdZ modular communication equipment enables transmission of voice, data and video.

So, what is IdZ – Enhanced System (IdZ-ES), beyond “a comprehensive equipment concept for the individual soldier”? And how is it progressing? The latest news includes a trial by the Swedish Armed Forces…

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European R&D Aims at Interoperability for Software-Defined Radios

21-Nov-2006 09:31 EST  |  Related Stories: Contracts - Intent, Design Innovations, Europe - E.U., Interoperability, New Systems Tech, Signals Radio & Wireless, Transformation

Britain’s new FIST
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DID has covered the trend toward integrated high-tech infantry ensembles before, and also noted the European Defence Agency’s concerns re: lack of interoperability between the various national programs. As software-defined radios like the USA’s JTRS program and F@stnet gain traction, two things will happen: [1] They will be incorporated into “Infantry-21” programs; and [2] the interoperability imperative will begin to bite as advanced militaries find that they need to work together. Fortunately, a software-defined radio is essentially a computer with a radio interface; capability changes and enhancements can then be implemented with improved software, rather than requiring all-new hardware (good: costs, time; minuses: debugging, risk of poor interface design).

The EDA’s Steering Board recently welcomed a EUR 100 million (about $130 million) ad-hoc joint research project (ESSOR) by Finland, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden for joint work on Software Defined Radio (SDR). It is aimed at enhancing the interoperability of medium-term national SDR projects in Europe and with the U.S. and NATO. A related EDA study focuses on specific military SDR requirements for the longer-term, and the program is also seen as “promoting a European technological and industrial capacity of strategic importance.” The related WINTSEC project announced in October 2006 will study wireless interoperability for civil security purposes, where software-defined radios are also gaining traction.

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Packet Digital’s Battery Extension Tech Gets Research Funds

25-Oct-2006 09:05 EDT  |  Related Stories: Americas - USA, Contracts - Awards, Design Innovations, Fuel & Power, Industry & Trends, R&D - Contracted, Small Business, Soldier's Gear

Small business qualifier Packet Digital LLC in Fargo, ND received a $5.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for research and development into advanced power management for wireless systems. Packet Digital’s “On-Demand Power” technology is designed to increase the life of any military system powered by batteries; the company claims that their technology would allow soldiers to carry only one-half to one-fifth the amount of batteries they now require. Work will be performed in Fargo, ND and is expected to be complete by April 30, 2008. There were 11 bids solicited on June 23, 2006, and 2 bids were received by the Defense Microelectronics Activity in McClellan, CA (H94003-07-C-0702).

Packet Digital’s research is increasingly relevant given the proliferation of wireless systems and networks for field use, and the battery load and limitations corresponding to other powered devices have made battery improvements and substitutes a doubly urgent issue for advanced militaries around the world. DID’s “Infantry-21” coverage of Future Soldier Systems being fielded by several nations notes that these trends continue to pick up speed, further increasing the pressure to find solutions.

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EDA, National Defense Magazine Address “Future Soldier” System Trend & Issues

12-Oct-2006 07:05 EDT  |  Related Stories: C4ISR, Europe - E.U., Europe - Other, Industry & Trends, Interoperability, New Systems Tech, Soldier's Gear, Transformation

The global trend toward “future soldier” infantry ensembles has swept many countries up in its wake, but issues remain. National Defense Magazine examines some of them in a recent article, and the Steering Board of the European Defence Agency has added a few more.

We’ll begin with the EDA Steering Committee, which recently declared that:

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