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U.S. Soldiers Hate New High-Tech Gear

mattnyc99 writes "Land Warrior, the Army's wireless equipment package featuring helmet cams, GPS, laser range-finders and a host of other state-of-the-art electronics, is finally ready for deployment on a global battlefield network in Iraq after 15 years of R&D at the Pentagon. But in a report for Popular Mechanics, Noah Shachtman not only tries on the new digital armor—he talks to troops who don't like it at all. As if that wasn't disheartening enough for the future of tech at war, the real Land Warrior system doesn't even match up to its copycat gear in Ghost Recon 2."

17 of 619 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Yeah... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Actually.... yes, it does run Linux.

  2. Much worse than Ghost Recon 2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    And what's worse is the Land Warrior system uses the system BF 2142 added to deliver in-battle ads even during firefights! No wonder the grunts hate it.

  3. Re:Just Like The M16 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Doesn't it kind of scare you how much people on Slashdot know about assault weapons?

  4. Murphy's Laws of Combat by rsmoody · · Score: 4, Funny

    20. Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.
    ...
    35. The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.
    ...
    37. Interchangeable parts aren't.
    ...
    43. The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.

    My own: Any unneeded component of a weapon will be quickly removed and thrown in the nearest ditch.

    --
    45 5F E1 04 22 CA 29 C4 93 3F 95 05 2B 79 2A B2
  5. WiFi! by ShorePiper82 · · Score: 5, Funny

    So what happens when the insurgents are in a building with a high power antenna and net stumbler and pick up 16 access point SSIDs named "Linksys Soldier"?

    1. Re:WiFi! by zymurgyboy · · Score: 3, Funny

      If they were wandering through my neighborhood, I'd log into them with the default admin password and do them them kind favor of putting them all on separate channels so they don't step on each others' signals. SOP, right?

      --
      If you never make mistakes, it's probably because you're not doing anything.
  6. Re:Just Like The M16 by Oktober+Sunset · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yea, but it's all thru counter strike, if they actually saw a real one, they would cry.

  7. Re:William Lind Article by glwtta · · Score: 4, Funny

    What they need to do is develop phasers and matching skintight pajamas, so they can go directly to Next Generation tactics.

    --
    sic transit gloria mundi
  8. Profit! by mgemmons · · Score: 5, Funny

    1. Shoot US soldier
    2. Don his high-tech gear
    3. Turn on map locator showing his whole squad
    4. Profit!

  9. Re:Just Like The M16 by phasm42 · · Score: 4, Funny

    And lets not forget that you can't fire the AK47 from prone position cause the mag is too long
    You could try firing it gangsta style.
    --
    "No one likes working in a hamster wheel, and your shop smells of cedar shavings from here." - TaleSpinner
  10. Re:Huh? by couchslug · · Score: 3, Funny

    "Bitching about newly issued equipment is army tradition."

    As is issuing bitchworthy new equipment!

    --
    "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
  11. Re:Just Like The M16 by jandrese · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've often thought that Gangsta Rap singers have done the inner cities load of good by teaching urban punks that holding the gun sideways is "cool". That has to have gone a long way in reducing shooting fatalities in the hood by making it impossible to aim the gun properly. Plus, it should increase the number of incapacitating but non-fatal arm/shoulder wounds and save lives.

    --

    I read the internet for the articles.
  12. Re:On the inevitability of this being used against by vertinox · · Score: 4, Funny

    So, what happens when the smart other side captures one of our soldiers?

    1. Someone in a bunker monitoring the soldiers head cam pushes a button.
    2. Solider explodes.
    3. Word 2007 automatically prints a mail merge form to soldier's family expressing condolences.

    --
    "I am the king of the Romans, and am superior to rules of grammar!"
    -Sigismund, Holy Roman Emperor (1368-1437)
  13. Re:Just Like The M16 by hayden_l · · Score: 5, Funny

    While I technically don't need 600 cyclic rounds per minute to kill a human either, the extra firepower would come in handy when I need to stop a rampaging herd of deer.

  14. Re:Just Like The M16 by Matt+Perry · · Score: 5, Funny

    You could try firing it gangsta style.
    Is that with your hands in the air like you just don't care?
    --
    Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
  15. Soldiers' actual comments by commodoresloat · · Score: 4, Funny

    One soldier picked up the helmet cam and said "What? No wireless?" Another said "this thing has less space than a nomad!"

  16. Re:Just Like The M16 by hayden_l · · Score: 5, Funny

    I've never trusted those deer. They're always twitching their heads around and looking over their shoulders all paranoid like. If they weren't up to something, why are they so nervous? Just never sat right with me.