Science Fiction Soldier

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Science Fiction Soldier
by James Hall, Senior Associate Editor

December 12, 2002

"Leaning Left"

James Hall Some of the ideas are as simple as replacing brass shell casings with lightweight carbon composite material, saving a soldier kilos of weight to carry. Other ideas---armored suits with artificial muscles, uniforms that keep out nerve gases and bacterial toxins, armored vehicles that can repair themselves, and robots that take the point or lag behind carrying supplies---seem the stuff of science fiction. But at the 23rd Army Science Conference, held here in Orlando this past week, no idea looks far-fetched to a US Army seeking technological solutions to conflict in a post-Cold War world.

This conference was attended by more than 1200 military personnel, scientists, academics, and businessmen from the defense industry, an increase from 500 attendees two years ago, reflecting the US military's current push for technological solutions to new military problems. The conference focused on concepts and technologies which are a decade or more away from practical application by the military. A close look at the topics raised by the papers presented and the concepts on exhibit reveals a new vision of a military very different from the massed forces of the last century.

Under the influence of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, the history of large armies that dominated the wars of the 20th Century is slowly being supplanted in the Pentagon by the idea of a new force structure which uses small, highly mobile, techno-savvy units to fight a series of small brush wars that might spring up anywhere and anytime, and which might feature what we now euphemistically refer to as "weapons of mass destruction."

This vision is of a US Army that is well-trained, high-tech, light on its feet and powerful, an army capable of dealing with a variety of conflicts that include biological, chemical, and radiological weapons. Some of the attendees built or designed small robots, like the one called Point Man, which is capable of moving out ahead of troops and finding the enemy or traversing dangerous tunnels to locate and deal with guerillas. Others have designed light armored vehicles equipped with heavy guns able to move fast and hit with power. Still others have created uniforms that can function in the heat of combat but still keep out chemical and biological weapons.

Along with mobility and firepower, communication is likely to be a key in future warfare. Some of the concepts developed for the conference included helmets and uniforms equipped with communications gear and GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) instruments. Medical monitors embedded in clothes would give doctors and medics a wounded soldier's vital signs for battlefield medicine. Infrared identifying marks would help soldiers using night vision equipment identify friend from foe.

Many of the conference papers dealt with effects of weapons of mass destruction. There were papers suggesting antidotes for various nerve gases and vaccines for weaponized diseases. Papers suggesting treatment regimes for radiological weapons. And there were concept medical kits and sensors to quickly detect and identify biological and chemical weapons.

There were additional papers on smart munitions (which like smart bombs find their own way to a target), nanotechnology, cyber-warfare, new engines and fuels, advanced materials, even on making better batteries, which are the key to longer-lived, more powerful field equipment.

All this technology requires intensive training in order to be used effectively. The conference also featured a number of training simulators that give soldiers a variety of simulated hands-on training with various weapons systems and equipment.

Technology's success in reducing military casualties in Desert Storm, Kosovo, and Desert Shield has been melded to a new Department of Defense strategy, championed by Rumsfeld and his staff, to create a smaller, faster, smarter military prepared to deal with the kind of regional conflicts that have arisen since the end of the Cold War. The 23rd Army Science Conference gives us an uncertain glimpse into the future nature of those conflicts, proving that the difference between science fiction and military fact isn't so great, after all. ***

Homepage, 23rd Army Science Conference

James Hall
Orlando, Florida, USA

Photo of the author courtesy of staff files