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The French army soon may benefit from a prototype command and control system for helicopters that allows low-flying aircraft to share data in a tactical network. The technology features detailed digital terrain maps that can be viewed in the cockpit or from a groundstation before a mission. Mission-planning information and text messaging also can be transmitted via this airborne system.

In keeping with its approach to incorporating blue-water-navy technologies for possible littoral uses, China is deploying a number of antisubmarine warfare systems to support potential conflicts against adversaries equipped with the most advanced submarines under the sea. As with most of China's military, these systems constitute a mix of legacy import technologies with indigenous developments.

High-resolution displays are allowing U.S. troops operating in Korea to view and share an uncluttered, near-real-time common operational picture of the region so they can monitor activity and respond to it faster than could an adversary. The images can be shared both horizontally and vertically with warfighters located throughout the command's area of responsibility, providing not only situational awareness but also situational understanding.

The German army is fielding technologies to enhance its soldiers' lethality, situational awareness, survivability and operational capability. The new kit consists of an easily upgraded, modular system of body armor, integrated communications and night-vision equipment. Each squad member is fitted with a personal radio and a handheld digital assistant that can receive imagery and tactical data via a local wireless network. The new equipment already has been tested operationally in Kosovo and Afghanistan.

Europe's armed forces are using virtual reality to develop and integrate new technologies. Consisting of several networked facilities operating as a single entity, this research and design capability allows defense firms and their customers to test how systems operate before funds are committed for acquisition and production. This virtual testing center uses sophisticated modeling and simulation functions to create operational and training methodologies.

The cost of linking legacy systems with new technologies entering service across Europe has caused a major international firm to shift its operational focus. Faced with shrinking defense budgets and nations locked into large multi-year procurement programs, the European Aeronautics Defence and Space Company (EADS), Paris, recently underwent an internal realignment. The company shifted away from being a platform and subsystem provider to becoming a primary systems integrator. This distinction is important because smaller budgets mean that European defense ministries can no longer afford to duplicate the efforts of other nations. Instead, they must leverage the expertise of multinational defense firms through shared integration programs.

Europe's armies and defense firms are working together to transform conventional ground forces into digitized, network-centric units. A major part of this effort seeks to connect legacy equipment to data and communications networks. The first of these advanced national brigades is scheduled to enter service by the end of the decade.

The home nation of the former Warsaw Pact is undergoing a multifaceted military revolution as it strives to provide significant contributions to Free World security. Shortly after leading the former Eastern bloc in joining NATO, Poland is facing multiple challenges to both modernize and transform its armed forces.

A recently developed individual navigation tool allows soldiers to know their precise location inside buildings or areas where global positioning satellite signals are jammed. By combining several technologies into a small, lightweight unit, the device would provide warfighters with a three-dimensional view of their position so they could retrace their path to exit an area. The equipment also could help civilian first responders such as fire, police and emergency personnel to find routes through damaged or smoke-filled buildings.

A family of advanced lightweight reconnaissance drones is enhancing the situational awareness of German army units in Afghanistan and Kosovo. Easily transported in ground vehicles, the aircraft feature an automated flight control and navigation system that does not require skilled pilots to operate and can be rapidly assembled. Designed for mobility and a minimal logistics trail, the aircraft can operate from forward areas without the need for a runway.