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He can see through walls, His Helmet is video-connected, and His rifle Has computer precision. We cHeck out tHe science (and explosive poWer) beHind tHe technology tHat’s making tHe future of the military into Halo come to life. by StinSon Carter illustration by kai lim want the soldier to think of himself as the $6 battalions. Today we fight with Small Tactical Units. Million Man,” says Colonel Douglas Tamilio, And the heart of the Small Tactical Unit is the single project manager of Soldier Weapons for the U.S. dismounted soldier. Army. In case you haven’t heard, the future of In Afghanistan, as in the combat zones of the fore warfare belongs to the soldier. The Civil War was fought seeable future, we will fight against highly mobile, by armies. World War II was fought by divisions. Viet highly adaptive enemies that blend seamlessly into nam was fought by platoons. Operation Desert Storm their environments, whether that’s a boulderstrewn was fought by brigades and the second Iraq war by mountainside or the densely populated urban jungle. enhanced coMbaT heLMeT Made from advanced plastics rather than Kevlar, the new ECH offers 35 percent more protection GeneraTion ii than current helmets. heLMeT SenSor The Gen II HS provides the wearer with analysis of explosions and any neTT Warrior other potential source This system is designed to provide of head trauma. vastly increased situational awareness on the battlefield, allowing combat leaders to track the locations and health ModuLar of their teams, who are viewing tactical LiGhTWeiGhT information via helmet-mounted Load-carryinG computer screens. equipMenT A very fancy-sound- ing backpack, the MOLLE (rhymes with Polly) is equipped with modular patch attachments, a plastic 72 oz. hydration bladder (the tube is coming over the soldier’s left shoulder) and a Tactical Assault Panel to protect the chest. SoLar phoTo- voLTaic ThreadS Photosensitive fibers woven into the soldier’s uniform that could convert solar radiation to electricity powering the Nett warrior system. Currently, the system runs on a chest-mounted battery pack. acTive caMofLaGe Woven optoelectric threads that change the appearance of XM25 Grenade Launcher the fabric to reflect The XM25 Individual Airburst changes in environ- bereTTa M9 Weapon System (IAWS) is a ment. Though still The Army’s computer-controlled, airburst hypothetical at this standard-issue 9 mm grenade launcher, dubbed the stage, it would allow sidearm allows for the Punisher. Several units are soldiers to blend right attachment of an already in use in Afghanistan; the into the background, Integrated Laser Army will field as many as Predator-style. White Light Pointer. possible in the next few years. inTercepTor body arMor The Army’s IBA is a lightweight, modular protective system that can stop bullets and fragments while aSeK SurivaL Knife SySTeM providing easy maneuverability. It Forged from carbon steel, with a consists of an outer vest, ballistic five-inch blade, this Natick-lab- plates, and attachable components tested survival knife is equipped for arms, groin, throat, and sides. with a Plexiglas breaker, hammer, saw teeth, serrations, spear holes, Knee and eLboW padS lanyard hole, and insulated guard. Lightweight and super-durable, the Army’s Kevlar KEPs provide dismounted soldiers with protection in case they find themselves on their knees (get your mind out of the gutter). JUNE 2011 MAXIM 73 Our enemies are no longer soldiers in uniform, and we won’t be able to defeat them with M1 tanks and F16s—we will have to fight them AWARENESS with small units of technologically superior war fighters: an army of Playing Hide and Seek With the $6 Million Men aided by robot scouts, aerial drones, and battery Person You Want to Kill powered devices able to see through walls; armed with incredibly deadly computerequipped, laserguided weaponry; protected with hightech, lightweight body armor; and connected with their Like being in a real-life first-per- fellow soldiers through solarpowered, satellitedriven intel net son-shooter game, soldiers will be able to see battle intel unfold live on their works. It’s Halo come to life, and it’s the future of warfare. helmet- or eyewear-mounted display. “We’ve been at war for 10 years,” says Marilyn Freeman, deputy To put it simply, “think Call of Duty when you assistant secretary of the Army for research and technology. “What press pause—this is what you’re going to have we learned? It’s all about the soldier.” Dr. Freeman has a $2 see,” says James Megliola, strategic outreach billion annual budget and oversees 16 research, development, and at Natick Labs, of the Army’s new Nett Warrior engineering centers (RDECs) throughout the U.S. with more than system. All soldiers in the future will have a 12,000 scientists and engineers. It is her job to make our soldiers as series of sensors feeding them constantly lethal as possible, and to make sure they get home in one piece. updated information. Says project manager Leading these efforts are a series of facilities that make Q’s lab in Colonel Will Riggins, “The system is about knowing where you are, where your the James Bond flicks look like Geppetto’s workshop inPinocchio. teammates are, and where the bad guys are. There’s the Soldier Systems Center in Natick, Massachusetts, where And then having access to information that everything from precision airdrop systems to sustainable shelters to you need at the right place at the right time.” fireproof uniforms to caffeinated chewing gum is developed. Or Portable sensors can monitor vital signs Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, where satellite networks run and detect the sources of enemy gunfire. Un- communi cations for soldiers in the field and engineers continue manned ground sensors can relay data from developing portable generators and batteries that run on sugar. Or in outside the base; small unmanned ground Fort Belvoir, Virginia, where scientists are creating highdef thermal vehicles that look like WALLE can act as scouts; and unmanned aerial vehicles—small optic sensors, unmanned mine detector robots that can locate enough to fit in a backpack, launch by hand, plastic IEDs with less than a needle’s worth of metal inside them, and fly like remotecontrol airplanes—can and optics that can make vehicles around you literally disappear. It watch from overhead. “Higher command may all sound like some cross between Batman, Robocop, and loves this,” says Megliola. “They can see what Captain America, but this reality is right around the corner. their soldiers are doing at any given time.” “You’re dominant when you’re inside a vehicle. We’re trying to But how does it work in a firefight? In theory ensure that every kid is dominant outside a vehicle,” says Brigadier this could prevent rogue units from taking General Peter Fuller of Program Executive Office Soldier at Fort matters into their own hands, a problem that surfaced in Afghanistan. “If you spot a Belvoir. And dominance, according to PEO Soldier, boils down to machine gun nest, you can plot the GPS awareness, survivability, and lethality. coordinates on a map and send them instant- ly over to your buddy who’s got a 40 mm grenade launcher. He can engage the target based on my intel even if he can’t see it.” UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES Small enough to fit in a backpack and launch by hand, these remote-control drones can send video and thermal imaging directly to the soldier on the ground. THERMAL WEAPON SIGHT Capable of recogniz- ing a target day or night, the infrared- equipped TWS will enable soldiers to take out insurgents from a distance of 1,100 meters. 74 MAXIM JUNE 2011 The flow of information will be up to 50 meters, which “Think Call of it look like? Well, you won’t custom-tailored for each man in means you don’t have to see it. It is a covert system the squad, optimizing his ability to walk up to the building and Duty when of two hidden cameras: one destroy the enemy. hold the bricksize device you press with a wide field of view In a multiplayer shooter game, you’re not against the wall; you can do that picks out any pass looking at the entire battlefield at any given it from across the street—and pause,” says ing face within range, and time, and you’re not seeing your teammates’ out of IED range. (Sadly, it software another with a narrow field ammo levels and vital stats; you only see can’t see through bras. Yet.) devel oper of view that zooms in, takes what is of immediate concern to you. This is a picture, creates a template similar to what the Army’s Consumer Unmanned hidden James Meg- of that face using points of Research/Cognitive Science Team is working cameras will work 24-7 liola. “That’s measurement between the on at Natick: flexible, rolebased displays in the enemy’s backyard what you’re eyes, nose, and mouth, and where the flow of data is specialized, the same to find high-value targets instantly checks that tem way one soldier might carry a grenade and help take them out. going to see plate against a database. If it launcher and another a light machine gun. In Jason Bourne’s world, CIA with this new gets a hit, so will the person In gaming the bad guys are clearly marked. agents can grab a picture in the picture. But in today’s war zones you can’t always tell from a security camera and system.” a Taliban from a goatherd.