On future battlefields, the Army wants to have an all-seeing array of drones, robots and sensors that will be tied together over a common network. But the real challenge will be bringing all that digital information down to the lowest level: the individual soldier.
That's the idea behind a recent series of tests pairing Land Warrior, a controversial array of infantry gadgets the service has trialed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with the Common Controller device, a developmental system that functions something like a "universal remote" for different robotic devices.
The Common Controller controls the Class I Unmanned Aerial System (aka the "flying beer keg"), the Multifunctional Utility/Logistics Equipment vehicle (a robotic cart) and the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (a portable, tracked bot). It can also connect to Urban Unattended Ground Sensors (U-UGS), which are a fancy, networked version of the intrusion detection sensors you might find in your household alarm system. Problem is, this networked central controller works only at the battalion level and above. This new experiment -- called the Common Controller & Man packable Network Interoperability and Network Evaluation Experiment -- is supposed to bring sensor data from these unmanned systems to smaller units equipped with Land Warrior gear.
An example: In the experiment, a Common Controller operator sent out a robot to recce a building. The bot spotted someone exiting a vehicle that appeared to be loaded with explosives. The operator then snapped a pic of the suspect's image and sent it -- along with a text message -- to a Land Warrior-equipped platoon. The digital grunts then set up a checkpoint and snared the bad guy.
In real life, things probably won't be that simple. But the experiment did test the ability to pass information down to the individual soldier on the ground. Instead of just sucking up information from networked vehicles or robots into a tactical operations center, this kind of system has the potential to distribute it to individual troopers.
Lt. Col. James McNulty, product manager for the Common Controller team, said in an Army news release the experiment proved three things. "First, we were able to push data and imagery collected by networked sensors down to small unit leaders at the company and below level," he said. "Second, we connected platoons and companies together and finally we were able to send data and real-time information up into the network."
PHOTO: Wikimedia
See Also:
- Pentagon Chief Rips Heart Out of Army's 'Future'
- Army Launching 'Future Combat' P.R. Blitz
- Pentagon Chief: Why I Tore Up the Army's 'Future'
- Obama Requests Record Pentagon Budget, Kinda Sorta
- Iron Eagle Nominee: the Awesomely Bad 'Future Combat' Mini-Series
- Army May Scale Back Its 'Future'
- Pentagon Chief to Troops: We Ain't Google
