Future Soldier
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Future Soldier is the overall name given to a multi-nation military project by the United States and its allies launched in the late 1990s.
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[edit] Set-Up
Superiority to enemy ground forces will be achieved by equipping the average ground-based combat soldier with an integrated set of high-technology uniforms and equipment. These will be linked to an array of real-time and archived battlefield information resources. Soldiers will require not only enhanced versions of existing equipment (rifle, pistol, knife, helmet, armour, clothing), but also new forms of equipment that will become possible as new types & combinations of technologies become viable for battlefield deployment (such as exoskeletons, micro robot vehicles, surgery-enhanced vision, invisibility shrouds, and other such technology.
[edit] Requirements for Success
Vital to the success of the project will be the psychological and tactical preparation of ground combat soldiers for using their new capabilities. Various Future Soldier programs are heavily funded and underway around the world, including Land 125 (Australia), African Warrior (South Africa), Félin (France), IdZ (Germany), Soldato Futuro (Italy), Combatiente Futuro (Spain), Soldier Modernisation Program (SMP) (Netherlands), NORMANS (Norway), Soldado do Futuro (Portugal), Black Robes (Russia), Advanced Combat Man System (Singapore), IMESS (Switzerland), MARKUS (Sweden), ANOG(Israel), FIST (UK), BEST (Belgium) and Land Warrior (USA).
[edit] Rumors
An analogous program is claimed to be underway in Russia, and its name may translate as "Project Wolf" or simply "Soldier 2000." Reports of this are met with considerable skepticism, due to budgetary problems in the Russian military.
[edit] Success
Some of the early Future Soldier equipment was tested in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Land Warrior is currently being assessed for possible deployment to Iraq in 2007. Other more long-term goals relating to exoskeletons, active camouflage and cybernetic enhancements of individual soldiers is unlikely to be achieved for some decades to come due to the relative immaturity of such technology.
