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U.S. Soldiers Hate New High-Tech Gear

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the dead-batteries-take-on-a-whole-new-meaning dept.

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."

5 of 619 comments (clear)

  1. Yeah... by Clever7Devil · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    But does it run Linux?

    --
    "By the time they had diminished from 50 to 8, the other dwarves began to suspect 'Hungry.'" -Gary Larson
    1. Re:Yeah... by Zantetsuken · · Score: 1, Offtopic

      Sorry but I don't remember anything in the GPL or BSD licenses stating anything about denying specific parties from running software under said licenses due to being government military powers...

    2. Re:Yeah... by MrNormS · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      No, the licenses don't limit that, and I don't think they should. However, I don't support much of the military action that goes on in the world and using something developed for the good of computer users, people, everywhere to carry out acts that are arguably not so doesn't sit well for me. That said, they are free to use it within the constraints of the license and I don't have a reason to protest it. Just because I don't support it doesn't mean they can't do it, and protesting it is silly; protesting the war is more worthwhile.

  2. money by mashmorgan · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Wish the huge US military budget was spent in less aggressive roles. Seems always a shoot and kill policy. Never a sit down and talk about it first. Hell wish I was in the US cos I would like to shoot my neighbor for trespass a year ago, there gain were best buddies now. There again its monaey that makes the world go around..

  3. That's disappointing? by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    As if that wasn't disheartening enough for the future of tech at war,

    I think this is actually hugely encouraging:

    • We're finally getting a concrete reality check about the usefulness of such systems. This might, might be something that moves DoD people towards worrying about effectiveness first and foremost, rather than wanting to be Q from the James Bond books.

    • Let's be honest - does the world really need a more effective U.S. military right now? To the extend that the DoD is wasting money to its own detriment, perhaps that will clip the Bush administration's ambitions a little.

    • In the future, if we actually have a just war to wage, we'll potentially go into it with the knowledge that we don't have to spend 400-bazillion dollars to wage it. Sacrifice our sons and daughters, yes. Make them wear heavy, unhelpful equiment, no. This lets us wage war a little bit longer before the dollar collapses and we have to negotiate a truce.