Army Technologies
Next-generation capabilities send message: “Resistance is futile.”
Future U.S. Army warfighters are more likely to resemble adversaries from an Arnold Schwarzenegger or Star Trek movie than GI Joe. The service is fully engaged in its effort to rebuild soldiers’ uniforms from the skin out to increase lethality and survivability and at the same time lighten their load. The work complements radical design changes to platforms such as tanks and unmanned vehicles.
It’s not about outgunning the opposition–the first shot wins.
The U.S. Army is changing its combat philosophy to resemble more closely those of the other services. Instead of being the armored force that can absorb whatever an enemy hurls at it and respond in kind, the transformed Army will rely on advanced technologies to prevent an enemy from inflicting harm on U.S. forces. This new approach could include eluding adversaries and their weaponry, or striking first before the foe can bring its weapons to bear.
The Stryker, part of the U.S. Army's transformation efforts, will support future joint warfighting concepts. Last year, the vehicle was used as part of the Army's involvement in the joint experiment Millennium Challenge.
U.S. Army and Joint Forces Command explore new concepts.
A soldier with the 159th Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, sets up an antenna for communications between range control and helicopters in Iraq. U.S. Army signal units will be adapting new configurations while concurrently adopting new technologies over the next few years.
Change is in the airwaves.
A revolution quietly erupted in October. On the University of Chicago campus, more than 80 innovators came together to discuss their ideas about how to solve some of the military’s most vexing problems. Not blind to the chain-of-command bureaucracy in which they operate, these pragmatic dreamers passionately moved forward in spite of it, because the Defense Entrepreneurs Forum (DEF) conference provided a place for in-person networking and commiserating, brainstorming and bracing one another up.
Current and former military leaders are used to following orders. “Take that hill,” or “Secure that village,” followed by “Yes, sir!” (or ma’am). It is what they’ve done all of their lives. Now, the order is “Reduce that budget,” so of course their response has been “Yes, Congress!” But as the military responds to this order to crunch the numbers, it is now explaining to political leaders that there is an unexpected role reversal they must accept. So, U.S. representatives and senators better pay close attention to what they’re saying.