Update: SF units to get latest Land Warrior kit

[Soldat_Américain]

SF units to get latest Land Warrior kit



By Matthew Cox (mcox@atpco.com?subject=Question%20from%20ArmyTimes.com%20reader) - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Nov 9, 2009 5:44:29 EST
Special Forces units will soon receive the Army’s latest version of Land Warrior gear.


Beginning next fall, equipment officials plan to outfit a Special Forces battalion with the service’s wearable command-and-control kit designed to help small units see through the fog of war.


Equipment officials do not know yet which SF battalion will get the high-tech equipment.


Land Warrior, which allows combat leaders to track the locations of their men and view maps and other tactical information through a tiny, helmet-mounted computer screen, is currently in Afghanistan with 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/army_landwarrior_110909w/

[oldsoak]

Do we know how this is working out ?
Reason why I ask is that there is such a thing as information overload. Sometimes its best to get information in bite sizes ( no pun intended ) that people can cope with when sh*t hits the fan. How do you decide who gets what info ? Would there be a temptation to micro manage if a commander gets a G*ds eye view ? How do you cope with that ? OOI How does dots on a screen relay into "squad pinned down under heavy enemy fire and taking casualties " better than a radio does ?
Quite curious ! :-)

[Soldat_Américain]

There's a Brigade field testing the current module, the first one was tested in Iraq 4/9th Infantry and it helped a lot there. However this is a different environment, should be good though.

[Jaeger07]

The final brick in the puzzle of Net-centric warfare. Every generals wet dream.

All the guys i know that went to Krigsskolen (Norwegian equivalent to West-Point) wrote their final paper on this stuff.

Going to be cool to see how its implemented :)

Assuring to see that the US still is ahead of the rest of the world. p-)
One could give you guys a lot of criticism about a lot of things, but you do know how to wage war... p-)

[Van Gogh]

i just wish we'd stop playing games with these guys and force them into submission.

[Roy Batty]

i just wish we'd stop playing games with these guys and force them into submission.

What guys?????? :|



Oldsoak hit the nail on the head. Fromation Commander's dont need to see what Pte. Bloggins is doing or seeing. Thats what Plt leaders and NCMs and the ASIC are for.

[Rakki]

I'd expect the system to offer filters so you can filter out stuff you don't need to see - be it below your level or above your level.

A lot of thought is being invested into interface design... by the RTS gaming industry :)

[Jaeger07]

What guys?????? :|



Oldsoak hit the nail on the head. Fromation Commander's dont need to see what Pte. Bloggins is doing or seeing. Thats what Plt leaders and NCMs and the ASIC are for.

from the article:


This will be a new use for Land Warrior,” Riggins said. “We have fielded it to team leader and above [in infantry units]. With Special Forces, because of the unique way they operate, we will be fielding it to each member” of the 12-man teams.

Not everyone will have the system, only team leaders. SOF is another story. Sounds smart IMO. As a platoon leader i would love to have more overview and better comm.

[KittyWolf]

Special Forces get all the cool stuffs.

[Ratamacue]

Special Forces get all the cool stuffs.Land Warrior has been in testing with the grunts well before this.

[oldsoak]

The battery manufacturers must be rubbing their hands.
Imagine the new individual loadout - rifle, 2 frag, 1 smoke, 500rds and 75 AA batteries....

[2495]

The battery manufacturers must be rubbing their hands.
Imagine the new individual loadout - rifle, 2 frag, 1 smoke, 500rds and 75 AA batteries....

A-Tack did an article about mini nuclear batteries a while back... bet there going to cost like $3 million apiece and the US Forces will need 100,000 for all the LW systems if it goes live....

Wars a racket and I'm off to invest in Duracell.p-)

[dacanadianbomb]

Oldsoak hit the nail on the head. Fromation Commander's dont need to see what Pte. Bloggins is doing or seeing. Thats what Plt leaders and NCMs and the ASIC are for.

Picture this , NCO tells his trooper to setup on a rooftop , overlooking X, and then suddenly he gets told to order his guy to Y rooftop instead, because a desk sitting superior has a ground level view from a troopers camera or something like that,and thinks he knows it better.
I can sooooo see that happening. And the NCO is saying to himself "FML!"

[Sabre]

There is such a thing as information overload, that's true. But there is also an issue with 'underload', if there is such a word!

Just look at UK forces prior to (shudder...) bowman. BATCO anyone?

Having more information at a platoon/higher command level can only be helpful.

How many times have people here had inexperienced/poor officers constantly on the net asking for sitreps? The current level of comms/battlespace awareness doesn't prohibit this, only good officer/command training does. Having more info doesn't mean that this will be more prevalent.

This system wont tell the P/C that pte bloggs is monging it, scratching his arse and not watching his arcs, only the 2i/c will see that, and that's his job to correct. Nor will the system tell the p/c that the best route out/in for 1 section is half right through a drainage ditch, or that the ideal supporting fire position is 20m up the ditch, near a low wall... only the i/c will see that, and that's his job. It's not going to take people's local command away anymore than the current map/radio/imagination combo will. If anything, it ought to enhance autonomy rather than hinder it.

Giving more information higher up will never replace on the ground knowledge and opinion. That is the crux of modern western infantry tactics and should never be altered.

[welshmann]

There is such a thing as information overload, that's true. But there is also an issue with 'underload', if there is such a word!

Just look at UK forces prior to (shudder...) bowman. BATCO anyone?



Please dont use words like that! i have not touched a sliding ruler since

[oldsoak]

@Sabre
- in jockanese no less !
...say again after Whisky Xray niner ? :lol:

Its not what goes up the chain thats the problem, its what comes DOWN. Its the temptation to assume because you "see" more, you "know" more and therefore should control things "better". At some point you have to leave section and platoon commanders the autonomy to adapt and overcome to whats going on. Conditions are often very hard to visualise when you are shown moving dots on an OS map background.
Yes, it will stop sitrep radio chatter, but I'm not sure you wont get company Co's attempting to "suggest" options to a platoon commander who is running around trying to assess the "real" options given that somewhere out there is a GL and he's rather good and its not shown on the magic screen.

[Royal]

When I found that I could do SOCs in BATCO in a rover going x-country at 40 while reading a map and directing the driver I knew that I had it just about wrapped up.

You sprogs have no idea p-)

[Roy Batty]

BATCO? Jebus. Settle down Grandpa, you're lible to blow out a hip.


p-)

[SilentType]

Got news for our guys have information overload without Land Warrior. If anything Land Warrior help manage that information so the NCO or Officer carrying it can concentrate on important things.

Think of it like the difference between a civilian having to carry an entire brief case full of stuff he's got to dig through while taking phone call on his cell phone to that of a streamlined I-Phone.

Not to mention that the GPS equipment may actually help prevent blue on blue deaths.

Good stuff. Either you're embracing the future or you're fighting it and those who fight it lose every time.

[Ratamacue]

Good stuff. Either you're embracing the future or you're fighting it and those who fight it lose every time.That is the way I see it. Land Warrior is certainly not the end-all-be-all, but it is an important step into the continuing development of computerized/net-centric warfare, and the US Military is bounds ahead of just about anyone else. Think of Land Warrior as being the progenitor of technology to come, much like how the Mark I eventually spawned the T-34 and beyond.