High-Tech Military Wear
Consulting firm Arthur D. Little won a $1.4-million contract this week to develop the next generation of high-tech ideas for what the 21st century warrior should wear into battle.
The Army’s idea of a smart outfit has nothing to do with lines or style and everything to do with increasing a soldier’s ability to kill and survive in all types of combat and climate, said Linda Pensotti, who is managing the program for the Cambridge, Mass.-based consultant.
“It’s more than just a uniform,” she said. “This is the ultimate in” wearable computers.
The firm’s work will build, at least in part, on the Land Warrior, a high-tech system developed by another contractor that is being field-tested by the Army.
The Land Warrior’s assault helmet can stop a 9-millimeter round and transmit digital radio signals. A helmet-mounted eyepiece allows a soldier to see video and thermal images.
A computer rests inside silicon gel in a sealed metal pack that the soldier carries on his back.
The Army expects to equip an infantry regiment or brigade with the Land Warrior equipment by 2004.
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