More on Next-Generation Army Gear

An anonymous reader writes "The Army is funding development of new super suits. From the article: 'The Army's future soldier will resemble something out of a science fiction movie'. 'The new system has the ability for each soldier to be tied into tactical local and wide-area networks with an onboard computer that sits at the base of the soldier's back' and 'The helmet has sensors that register vibrations of the cranial cavity so [soldiers] don't have to have a microphone'. The article features several photos of the suits."

Comments

lots of choice quotes

[kisrael]

It's worth RTFA, because of some absolutely choice quotes:

"the 2020 model will remind you of an ominous creature out of a science fiction movie"

I love the use of "ominous"

"When you have a uniform with this new nanotechnology, it can absorb unlimited numbers of machine-gun rounds,"

Wouldn't that get kind of heavy?

"We are looking at potentially mounting a weapon directly to the uniform system and now the soldier becomes a walking gun platform."

Now THAT sounds like fun...

Re:What does this matter

[Moofie]

Aircraft cannot take and hold territory. They can only deny it to the enemy.

Read Clausewicz, then get back to me.

Asymmetric warfare, anyone?

[Engineer-Poet]

Build these things, train our soldiers on them, and nobody's gonna wanna fight us.

... on the conventional battlefield. Truck bombs in financial districts, airliners into skyscrapers and anthrax through the mail will be quite viable weapons no matter how much better our infantry gets.

Dressed to die

[demo9orgon]

Politicians, bullshit artists, college kids, and people who don't have to wear/live with the bullshit can't possibly appreciate just how stupid the "future warrior" plan is.

This whole "future" warrior schtick will complicate soldier's life (hauling 150lbs of crap everywhere you go, being accountable for it and its condition, and having to haul your wounded buddies ass out of 'the shit'), which is hard enough as it is. The Pentagon needs to leave the toys in the locker and make better decisions. The things I always thought about when I was 'humpin' around with my lpc's and m16 with alice on my back were something like this...

Light, effective weapons (caseless ammo, call-home capability, lightweight/composite tech, and imprinting to the soldier are do-able)

Miniturized/ruggedized commo which works with implanted chips (if you're a soldier, your ass is 0wn3d anyway) which give biotelemetry without bullshit readouts. Only the medic/commanders need to see what condition a soldier is in. They could even aggregate the data.

Limb-replacement tech...yes, regrow your amputated bits. Rehabilitiation tech needs to pull its sorry butt into the new century.

Immune system amping (be able to eat/drink just about anything), better treatments for bacterial infections and 'derm' tech which would give the soldier a patch that would help sustain their opitate/endorphin/adrenaline balances...combat the stress of combat. When people aren't going apeshit in-ranks casualties are significantly reduced (yes, a chemical-control cocktail). Got a buddy who has crapped himself after that last RPG took out the track behind yours? Just step on his neck and slap one of these patches on his ass and don't worry about him hosing everyone in a panic.

Good food.

The ability to eat anything would be helpful too.

Oh, and having the soldiers adapt to and understand the culture they're going to be fighting with/in. There's more than one way to win a war.

Yeah, as usual, compared to what would really make a difference (don't even go towards the "not fight in the first place" argument--humanity sucks) a bunch of neato armor bits and some computer stuff is really a very easy way out.

Cheers.