"Objective Force Warrior" Program (OFW)

Starship Troopers or Imperial Storm Troopers anyone?
This will and is becoming the wave of the future fighting man........

Good information.....what you folks think?
"New Protection Ahead in Helmets, Body Armor"
Link:
www.defenselink.mil...

"Objective Force Warrior"
Link:
www.natick.army.mil...
(Good informative link with good links)

and a related article:
"Army, Marines Rushing Body Armor to Troops in Combat Zones"
Link:
www.defense.gov...

Guess it won't be long before we start seeing full body armor and mechs, eh?

regards
seekerof

I'm having vivid flashbacks to the introduction of Elementals to the Inner Sphere. Needless to say, I am delighted. Maybe mechs aren't really that far away, or at least exosuits.

Mechs are still impractical...without MAJOR advances in making them move really quickly... Tanks, and/or aircraft would quickly make scrap metal out of them...

Mech ARE impractical without an Outer Sphere level of technology. Then, they be putting the hurting on things. At any rate, you could say that about anything. "Oh, Tank und aircraft would make mincemeat of infantry...infantry and tanks would make mincemat of aircraft..." ect. Suport, people, support!

DE

Originally posted by DeusEx
Mech ARE impractical without an Outer Sphere level of technology. Then, they be putting the hurting on things. At any rate, you could say that about anything. "Oh, Tank und aircraft would make mincemeat of infantry...infantry and tanks would make mincemat of aircraft..." ect. Suport, people, support!

DE

DaRAGE would make mincemeat of DeusEx

Given the right weapon, anything can make mince meat out of anything.

Exactly. I've watched a Firemoth turn a Direwolf to scrap metal, and a Nova take on two Riflemen IIC and win. It's just a matter of odds.

DE

The US must keep pushing the boundaries of military superiority in order to survive.

Mechs the size of MechWarriors or Veritechs are impractical for a number of reasons, among them ground pressure and surface area to mass ratio, as well as sheer mechanical complexity for no obvious gain. Modern warfare demands a gun that has sensors and is mobile, with armour protection, little more. The ability to kick, stomp and pick things up adds needless weight and power requirements.
Personal body armour equipped with jump jets and something like the APUs in Matrix: Revolutions would be a good idea, though.

I like the way they throw around the term "invincible." I expect they think they only be fighting wild and woolly terrorists armed with AKs in the future. Which means at the first sign of casualties or decent opposition they'll panic and run.

What? No proposals from Stark Enterprises? Oh yeah that's right -- Tony gave up munitions not long after his "accident" in 'Nam....



Seriously though, this does start us down the path toward Storm Troopers, Starship Troopers (Mobile Infantry?), Iron Man, Elementals, Cyclones, and (possibly)Battlemechs. I agree with Lampyridae that Battlemechs would be very cost-ineffective and an engineering nightmare however.

But uh..... someone let me know where I can get my hands on a VR-041 Saber when it rolls off the assembly line, please?

Just found this related article:
"Body armor could be a technological hero of war in Iraq"
Link:
www.csmonitor.com...

Excerpt:
"Forget JDAMs and MOABs, satellites and stealth bombers. For the American GI on the ground in Iraq, the true technological marvel may be four-pound ceramic plates slipped into flak jackets.
Capable of stopping most bullets, the body armor worn by virtually all of the Army and Marine combat troops in Iraq is being credited with saving many lives. Soldiers shot at close range are walking away with no more than sore backs and broken ribs.

While the newest smart bombs and electronic wizardry usually get more attention, unheralded improvements in soldiers' gear are improving performance and safety on the battlefield. The new body armor, in particular, may help dramatically reduce casualties in the frequent firefights troops are facing on the road to Baghdad.

In addition to the lighter and more protective body armor, US soldiers and marines now wear more comfortable, stronger helmets and boots, as well as kneepads."




regards
seekerof

Yup, looks like the StormTrooper type outift might be not that far off. It stands to reason that as this stuff gets stronger and lighter that eventually they will make entire suits out of the stuff.

Bad news, if not a bit hilarious, for the OFW program.....
Seems that the XM-8 is part of this program.
As such, just ran across this......read the title carefully:
WEAPONS OF THE WORLD: XM-8 Melts During Tests

April 14, 2004: The U.S. Army has asked Congress for an extra $26 million to buy 7,000 XM-8 rifles next year. These weapons would be used to equip to infantry brigades and thus give the rifle a wide scale test. The money requested would also pay for the staff needed to monitor the testing. The rifle has already undergone thousands of hours of user testing and there have been some recommendations, all minor. The buttons on the sight are to be rearranged, to make the sight easier to use. There were also complaints about battery life for the sight, and a new battery is being obtained that will boost battery life from 200 to 400 hours. A more serious problem arose when the hand guard began to melt when several hundred rounds were fired in a few minutes.

Makes me wonder if everything is leading to this:





seekerof

Originally posted by DeusEx
Exactly. I've watched a Firemoth turn a Direwolf to scrap metal, and a Nova take on two Riflemen IIC and win. It's just a matter of odds.

DE

What the hell are you talking about? What is Outer Sphere technology? And what the hell happened to that guy's head?!?!

DC

[Edited on 15-4-2004 by DeltaChaos]

If only they were real. Make an inner sphere kid's day and kill a clanny.

This will probably be one of the armys biggest research projects in the coming years. As it has been said, the US public does not tolerate KIA's very well, so expect to see better and better body armor as new materials are developed.

Also, for all this talk about battle mechs - i doubt it. Exosuits are already in developement though - so in about 15-20 years expect to see the reinvention of a difference in Heavy and light GI's. These exosuits will allow the wearer to carry much more heavy armor and thus provide more survivability.

Also, once they get the OICW up and running, i'd say our GI's will be at quite an advantage.

man pretty soon we wont gille gille suits
looks nice though sorta reminds u of tiberian sun doesnt it

I thought some of this stuff might be relevent.....

"Most of the stuff that the Army has today is to fight in open fields and forest; but we expect more warfare in bad terrain, like in the mountains or even on urban streets, and this is suited for that," Machrone told Good Morning America. "It's a great advancement in survivability."

"The uniform will be reasonably lightweight � even with its built in water purifying system. You can actually pour dirty ground water, even sweat or urine into this system," he said. "It will purify it and rehydrate the soldier," he said.

"The technology is advanced to where the surface of suit is a chameleon," Machrone said. "If a soldier is leaning against a marble wall, the suit changes coloration to that, or if a soldier is lying on a black tarmac, it changes to that."

Perhaps the most striking scenario for future soldiers is a development that could eliminate their need to eat or rest: the food patch. It works much like the nicotine patch used by smokers trying to quit.

Chocolate bars which make soldiers 'invisible' on the battlefield could be available by 2025.

abcnews.go.com... 0314High_tech_soldier.html
news.bbc.co.uk...
www.ananova.com...
www.techtv.com...

dude ! i want 1 !
please buy me 1 for my birthday!