Land Warrior Is Dead
FCW – Looks like it –
With one line item among hundreds of pages of budget documents released Feb. 5, the Army revealed that it is eliminating the $2 billion, 10-year-old Land Warrior program, even as a lone brigade of soldiers prepares to take the system on its first-ever field deployment to Iraq.
Until yesterday, Land Warrior was the military’s vision for bringing network-centric warfare to level of the individual warfighter. But the system designed to connect every soldier the network was disconnected from any future funding.
Land Warrior, under its latest configuration, includes an advanced combat helmet with an optical display attachment, a modified M-4 rifle, digital imaging equipment, a lithium-ion battery with a 12-hour life span, a voice and data radio, a Global Positioning System, a computer subsystem, a multifunction laser, and a control card for identity management.
There is still an effort to “connect the dots” on the battlefield, but seeing as how NCW is irrelevant in facing current and future threats this is probably the right move. (Wish it was for the right reasons.)
-Shlok
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