Many countries, including the United States, have their own programs for developing soldier devices. But they can take two or three years to come to fruition, and the cost goes up the longer it takes.
By the time a system is ready to roll out, some of it may have been rendered obsolete by new technology.
Engineers at Harris Corp. in Melbourne, Fla., believe the solution is to design systems whose parts can be updated as technology advances.
“You don’t have to go through a three-year development to have all of the components,” said Paul Zweers, director of international product line management for Harris RF Communications in Rochester, N.Y.
The system combines several devices into one.
Harris RF’s 7800s Leader Radio incorporates both a computer and a GPS system. Instead of carrying three devices, cables and wires, a soldier wearing FalconFighter carries just one. It takes three to four pounds off the weight of the system.
“I think the common soldier sometimes has up to 130 pounds of gear, which is unbelievable when you think about it,” Zweers said. “Every pound counts.”
The U.S. Army in 2007 suspended its Land Warrior program, partly because of soldier complaints about the overall weight of its suit. The program, though, has given way to the ground soldier system and the recently named Nett Warrior, which is slated to be ready for the battlefield by 2013.
The Army named the forthcoming system, which promises to be lighter than Land Warrior, after World War II Medal of Honor recipient Col. Robert B. Nett. In December 1944, Nett killed seven enemy soldiers with his rifle and bayonet while leading his company in an assault on a Japanese battalion.
Nett served in the Army from 1940 to 1978. He died in 2008.