Land-Warrior Follow-On Planned for '04.

Army researchers are seeking funds to develop next-generation infantry equipment that would be 45 percent lighter and significantly more efficient than the current "land-warrior" system. The project, if approved, would involve a three-year technology demonstration beginning in 2004.

Land-warrior was conceived as an effort to modernize the infantry force by turning dismounted soldiers into high-tech killing machines. It is a modular system that provides soldiers with night-vision capabilities, advanced computers and radios, enhanced personal protection, and a sophisticated new rifle.

But land-warrior, which has been in development for five years, has not yet been fielded to any Army units, and has been plagued by delays. The deadline for having a full Army unit equipped with land-warrior has slipped from 2004 to 2007. The Army, which so far has spent between $2 billion to $3 billion on land-warrior, plans to produce 34,000 systems. The Army requested $528 million for the program in the 2002-2007 budget. Current projections indicate that each land-warrior system would cost at least $10,000, without including the new rifle.

A soldier equipped with the land-warrior system would be carrying 92 pounds of gear and would have enough battery life to last through a 12-hour mission. But as the Army looks to become more mobile, faster, and more easily adaptable to new combat challenges, the infantry will need lighter equipment that consumes less power and lasts longer, explained Donald J. Wajda, director of technology and program integration at the U.S. Army Soldier and Biological Chemical Command, in Natick, Mass.

"We are looking to reduce weight and power requirements," Wajda said in an interview. "There are issues with putting more and more equipment on soldier's shoulders.

"We are looking at the next generation of soldier systems, the lightweight, low-power warrior," Wajda said. So far, it is only a proposal and has not been approved or funded by the Army. It would begin as a technology demonstration in 2004, and would be transitioned to a program manager in 2007. He could not provide specific cost estimates for the project, but said it would be a "significant investment."

The "lightweight, low-power" soldier envisioned at Natick would carry no more than 51 pounds and would have less than 3 pounds of batteries for a 72-hour mission.

The 92 pounds that land-warrior carries constitute the basic "fighting load," explained Wajda. That is the bare essentials a soldier needs to complete a mission, such as ammunition, communications equipment, water, ballistic vest, helmet, clothing and satellite receiver. The "fighting load" is what Wajda believes can be slashed to 51 pounds, assuming that more advanced technology will be available later this decade.

A review team will be selected by the office of the secretary of the Army this year to evaluate the merits of the low-weight, low-power warrior project, said Wajda. "We'll have a panel of experts, who will assess whether our vision for this ATD (advanced technology demonstration) and the technologies that it should include are sufficient to warrant the investment in such a program."

For "funding purposes," said Wajda, "we are considered a competing program to land-warrior. This is a complete departure from the land-warrior system, as we see it right now." It has a new uniform, new load-carrying systems, new electronics. The existing legacy systems "would be integrated," he added. The ultimate goal, he stressed, is "to really reduce weight rather than take a gradual approach."

Asked whether potential funding shortfalls in land-warrior would affect the Army's decision to support the ATD, Wajda asserted: "It's never simple."

He believes the two programs "are totally separate." The lightweight low-power warrior ATD will be "a new design, a new technology. It's not an iterative process to take land-warrior to the next phase. ... There probably will be some legacy pieces that we will have to interface with, but for the most part, we are looking at new systems."

But Wajda cautioned against confusing the lightweight warrior ATD with the so-called "Future Soldier 2025," which is a conceptual mock-up of what a soldier might look like in 2025, based on the application of new technologies. During last year's Army annual convention, there was a live model of the future soldier of 2025, wearing a tight-fitting black ninja suit. Army officials explained that there is no such program in place. The "ninja warrior" is only a notional system, said Wajda.

"The Future Warrior 2025 is way beyond what we would address in the lightweight warrior ATD program," he said. If the effort moves forward as planned, systems could be fielded as early as 2012, to coincide with the scheduled debut of the Army's new vehicle, the future combat system. (related story p. 33)

"The only way to achieve some of the lightweight concepts is to look at novel ways of designing the system," said Wajda. One of the main elements is the uniform. Land-warrior is based on the standard battle-dress uniform and has other protective pieces such as a wet-weather parka and cold-weather garments.

Under the lightweight warrior ATD, the goal would be to integrate those various protective garments into a single uniform. The basic combat uniform, wet-weather protection, and chemical/biological protective gear would be blended into a single piece of attire.

It will not change drastically in appearance from the current uniform, Wajda said, and it won't be as form-fitting as the ninja suit. "But it's going to be a little sleeker than the battle-dress uniform," he said. "The more you integrate, the more you can save weight."

Land-warrior, for example, requires cables to connect the soldier's portable computer to the helmet. In the so-called integrated uniform for the lightweight warrior, the cables would be "embedded into the uniform, into conductive textiles," said Wajda. "We would be looking at interfaces with footwear and handwear, not only for basic protection but chemical/biological protection.

"So we'll have some fairly good seals between the gloves and the uniform," he said. The neck area will be protected with "integrated helmet neckwear."

In land-warrior, cables not only add weight but also pose a snagging hazard. One alternative to the cables would be radio-frequency signals. The downside is that wireless communications systems increase the power demands significantly, Wajda explained.

"We are looking at embedding conductive textile material into the uniform itself. Then, you would have couplings for the helmet around the neck area, around the hand area, wherever they are necessary to connect the different components," said Wajda. "That is where you would be using conductive textiles." A personal antenna also would be embedded into the uniform to try to reduce the soldier's profile. Because this advanced uniform would be too expensive and cumbersome to wear in garrison, another standard garment would be developed for that purpose.

Lightweight batteries are a top priority in this program, he said. The most power-intensive pieces of equipment are the computer, the thermal weapon sight, the integrated communications controller and the video processor.

The batteries planned for land-warrior weigh about 5 pounds and last 12 hours. Wajda wants to bring the weight down to less than 3 pounds and make them last 72 hours. That may not be possible with today's technology, he said. "Many experts believe that we are reaching the theoretical limits of what chemical batteries can provide."

But according to one propulsion systems expert, getting 72 hours of operation out of 3 pounds of batteries is not entirely unrealistic. A soldier could get 12 hours of performance out of 2 pounds of non-rechargeable batteries, but to get the same energy from a rechargeable battery, it would take about 5 pounds, said S. Paul Dev, president of D-STAR Engineering Corp., in Shelton, Conn.

Non-rechargeable batteries, however, are expensive and cause disposal problems, Dev said in an interview. A soldier with a land-warrior system, for example, would be throwing away $100 with each used battery. They also introduce an environmental hazard, he added, which is the reason batteries should be recycled.

Running a 72-hour mission with 3 pounds of batteries could be achieved, said Dev, by increasing the energy density of the power source. That power source can be a battery or a small portable generator set, a hydrogen fuel cell or a source based on diesel fuel. Fuel cells currently are "very quiet," said Dev, but they use hydrogen fuel and are not light enough to make them attractive to the Army. One desirable alternative, he said, would be an advanced fuel cell that can use the Army's standard diesel fuel, called JP-8.

The other part of the power equation, Dev explained, is managing the power needs of the soldier. That can be accomplished with more capable computers, more advanced networks, or with night-vision goggles that consume less power, said Dev.

D-STAR currently is developing a small generator-set fueled by JP-8 diesel. It can generate about 50 watts of power, said Dev. It is designed to allow a soldier, for example, to perform a mission potentially with only one battery, which would be recharged by the generator as the energy is consumed. That means the soldier only would have to carry one rechargeable battery, one generator set and a pouch of fuel, Dev said. The caveat for the soldier using this equipment would be not to recharge the batteries in areas close to the enemy, because the noise immediately would give away his or her location.

Wajda believes the Army's future combat vehicle program should develop a troop-carrier version with a "plug-in capability" for battery recharge and communications for the dismounted soldier.

Rifle Weight

One of the heaviest pieces of equipment for land-warrior is the new rifle, the sophisticated "objective individual combat weapon," or OICW, which currently is in development and is designed to replace the M-16 rifle and the M-4 carbine. It is a dual-barrel modular weapon that can fire both 5.56 mm kinetic energy rounds and 20 mm high-energy air-bursting munitions. These rounds can be programmed to burst at a specified location, even if the enemy is hiding and cannot be seen by the shooter.

The Army plans to field OICW by 2007. But it has yet to achieve the desired weight for the weapon. It currently weighs 18 pounds, which the Army wants to reduce to 14 pounds.

"OICW is one of the big weight issues," said Wajda. One way to lighten the load would be to have certain soldiers carry only the kinetic-energy module, and not the high-explosive module. That would help cut down on the weight, "but the trade off is the lethality," said Wajda. "When you start taking away some of those things to reduce weight, you lose out on some of the obvious benefits."

One option would be to measure the weight of a whole squad, rather than each soldier's weight, "and how you might vary what each individual might have. ... It may be that some will be outfitted with a full OICW and not carry other things, while others may have lesser modules of OICW".

To achieve the 51-pound goal for the entire lightweight warrior system, the program requirements cannot possibly be the same as land-warrior's, Wajda said.

Based on the work done at Natick so far, the low-weight, low-power warrior still is 14 pounds too heavy. "With the concepts we are looking at right now, we only get down to 65 pounds--and that includes a modularized OCIW," he said. "If you start adding into the new system the objective requirements of land-warrior, we are not going to get any kind of weight reduction, at least from what we can see right now."

Another weight contributor is body armor, which follows the weapons load and the electronics gear as the third heaviest piece of soldier equipment. The weight of the body armor, explained Wajda, can be adjusted based on how much protection is desired. But to get the maximum protection currently available against shrapnel, handgun rounds and assault rifle rounds, a soldier must wear more than 16 pounds of body armor.

"Because it's one of the big weight drivers, we have a couple of programs looking at traditional materials to try to enhance the properties ... to get the desired ballistic protection at a reduced weight," he said. New materials in development today would allow the Army to reduce the weight of the soft armor probably by 3.5 pounds, and the plate, by 2 pounds--for a total reduction of 5.5 pounds, said Wajda. But that lighter armor would offer only fragmentation and handgun protection. "The objective requirement, however, is for [assault rifle] bullet protection, and that is a huge increase in weight and performance," he said. "The helmet also is a huge issue, because of the weight limitation on what you can put on someone's head without creating fatigue."

The reason that body armor must be heavier to stop rifle rounds is because these bullets strike at much higher speed, hitting with much higher kinetic energy than a handgun round, explained Robert Lee, chief ballistic engineer at Specialty Defense Systems, in Dunmore, Penn.

The company is working on the so-called "interceptor" body armor system, designed to replace the existing personal armor system ground troops (PASGT) vests. The "interceptor" body armor will be fielded to the Marine Corps and also is under consideration by the Army, said Patrick Murphy, the company's marketing manager.

The PASGT vest, designed to protect against shrapnel and fragmentation, weighs 9 pounds. The interceptor is a modular system. The outer tactical vest, without plates, weighs 8.4 pounds and protects against fragmentation and 9 mm rounds. When the plates, which can withstand hits from 7.62 mm ball rounds, are added, the total weight is 16.4 pounds.

Murphy conceded that a 16-pound vest "tends, over a period of time, to get uncomfortable." One way to make armor vests more comfortable, he said, is to change the distribution of the plates and the design of the vest. But only the emergence of more advanced, lighter materials can help reduce the weight of the plates significantly, he said.

"Advancements in fiber technology have provided the vehicle to produce lighter and more comfortable armor. The question of how light we can design our vests is always a topic of discussion. Each time we set a benchmark that we think is the limit, we surpass it because a better fiber becomes available," said Tom Dragone director of ballistic engineering, Armor Holdings Inc., in Jacksonville, Fla.

According to Dan McNeil, the company's director of marketing, the new fiber technology also will result in lighter military products. Many armor plates are made with composites, using the same high-tech fiber that is being developed for soft armor, he said. By incorporating these fibers with other materials, the weight of a plate, with rifle protection, could be reduced to 3 pounds, McNeil said.

Among those items whose weight cannot be lowered for the low-weight, low-power warrior program are food and water, said Wajda. The land-warrior carries about 7.2 pounds of food and water, and there is not much that can be done to lighten that, he said. "Even freeze-dried water needs water added to it." There are programs under way at Natick, however, to develop semi-dehydrated food items that don't necessarily have to be reconstituted with water.

Mini Body Sensors Alert Commanders of combat Wounds

As the Army lays out its strategy for modemizing combat vehicles and weapons for future wars, it also must focus on improving casualty-treatment technologies, said Maj. Robert M. Wildzunas, who works at the Army's Medical Research Materiel Command, in Fort Detrick, Md.

Statistics show that 5 percent of combat casualties die immediately from their wounds. The upshot is that the Army could benefit from improved medical care, said Wildzunas, during a conference of the Association of the U.S. Army. Currently, he said, "combat casualty care is constrained by logistics, manpower and a hostile operational environment."

Since World War II, 50 percent of combat deaths have been caused by hemorrhage and 33 percent by brain injury, Wildzunas said. "Half of those could have been saved with timely, appropriate care."

The treatment of battlefield casualties is hampered by long evacuation waiting times, he asserted. That is a problem, given that 86 percent of combat deaths occur within 30 minutes of being wounded. For that reason, said Wildzunas, "the ability to rapidly locate, diagnose and render appropriate treatment is critical."

The Army's goal is to be able to treat casualties for 72 hours without resupply and for 96 hours without air evacuation, said Col. John F. Glenn, deputy for research and development at the Medical Research Materiel Command. But to achieve that goal, he said, the Army needs more advanced technologies for emergency treatment, so casualties can be stabilized before and during evacuations.

The combat casualty-car research program at Fort Detrick currently is addressing several areas:

* Products and methods that will reduce the number of battlefield deaths due to hemorrhage.

* Advanced, non-invasive physiological sensors for detecting penetrating or blunt trauma.

* Techniques or technologies to improve the acquisition and availability of blood and reduce the logistical requirements to care for battlefield casualties.

* Surgical techniques, equipment and implants to address extremity/musculoskeletal injuries.

* Treatment strategies for brain and spinal cord injuries.

* Diagnostics to help the medic determine which casualties need immediate resuscitation.

One significant breakthrough in combat medicine is the ability for medics or commanders to receive real-time data from a suite of miniature bio-sensors placed on the soldier's uniform, said Col. John R Obusek, who works on these technologies at the Army Research Institute for Environmental Medicine, in Natick, Mass.

A physiological status monitoring system, now in development, will provide information on both a soldier's current performance capacity and on his or her ability to sustain performance for an extended period. "This information will be useful to commanders and medical personnel," said Obusek.

He cautioned that these are non-invasive wear-and-forget sensors that will be part of the clothing, or will be applied like Band-Aids. "The system will be transparent to wear and will not interfere with the soldier's physical requirements," he said. The system will generate more than just basic data such as heart rate or body temperature, he added. It will provide "relevant information," such as whether a soldier is suffering ballistic trauma or whether he or she is experiencing heat stress. Access to that type of real-time data, said Obusek, would shorten the medic's response time.

How, where, and in what form the information will be distributed remains to be determined, however, he said. "Many of the sensors are commercially available today, although they require significant modifications to perform intelligently."

The system is being tested with a prototype Sensor suite, said Obusek. The Army wants to develop two versions, for mounted and dismounted soldiers. The system is scheduled to become operational in 2003, when it would be incorporated into the land-warrior program. A so-called "warrior medic" system would include a miniature intravenous pump, acoustic monitors, micro impulse radar and a ceramic oxygen generator. The sensor suites would be able to detect wounds and relate physiological information on each wounded soldier to the medic's computer.

Wildzunas, meanwhile, had a word of caution for the Army, as it prepares to design a new vehicle, the future combat system (FCS).

He recalled that when the Army replaced the UH-1 Huey with the UH-60 Blackhawk for medevac operations, problems ensued because the UH-60 could not carry standard NATO lift equipment and was unable to perform basic duties in evacuating combat casualties. "For the FCS, we must not forget lessons learned from those previous modernization efforts," Wildzunas said.

In the end, he said, medical conversion kits solved the problem, but the UH-60 still "suffered from an interior design that lacks sufficient access to patients." Thus, the Army acquired a redesigned model, the UH-60Q, which provided a more functional and patient-friendly environment he said.

The FCS, he stressed, should "provide seamless medical evacuation, combat health support command and control, rapid casualty location, emergency service, capability to provide treatment and operate in a chemical/biological environment."

When the FCS medical variant is fielded, in about 12 to 15 years, it will replace the M577 A2 battalion aid station and the M113 A283 armored vehicle as the ground evacuation platform, said Wildzunas. To simplify the logistics supply, he recommended the. Army adopt freeze-dried blood packages, which would be mixed with water. The Service recently sent 6,000 blood units to Bosnia, which created "significant storage demands," he said. "Freeze-dried blood will improve logistics, Just add water."