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."

Comments

Re:Yeah...

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Re:Just Like The M16

[Anonymous Coward]

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

Murphy's Laws of Combat

[rsmoody]

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.

WiFi!

[ShorePiper82]

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"?

Re:William Lind Article

[glwtta]

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

Profit!

[mgemmons]

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

Re:Just Like The M16

[phasm42]

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.

Re:Just Like The M16

[jandrese]

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.

Re:On the inevitability of this being used against

[vertinox]

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.

Re:Just Like The M16

[hayden_l]

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.

Re:Just Like The M16

[Matt Perry]

You could try firing it gangsta style.

Is that with your hands in the air like you just don't care?

Soldiers' actual comments

[commodoresloat]

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

Re:Just Like The M16

[hayden_l]

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.