The Pentagon has been thinking about a computerized and technically equipped soldier since the 80s. But the military department was forced to abandon the Land Warrior project, because the corresponding equipment weighed almost 40 kg, and the batteries that powered the soldier were enough for only 4 hours. And so, Future Force Warrior became the son of, first of all, nanotechnology. He is armed with an assault rifle capable of firing not only cartridges, but also mini-missiles of 15 mm caliber, equipped with a thermal guidance system so as never to miss a target. The new prototype can also generate electrical discharges to immobilize the enemy. The soldier has glasses. For viewing over long distances, up to several kilometers, they are used as binoculars. If you have to look at something up close, the glasses begin to act like the Mantis system, copied from insects, which allows you to combine visual, infrared and thermal images into one image, which allows you to answer the main question: "What is behind this door?" Naturally, the soldier can lower the mini-monitor to the eye, which allows viewing the object from different angles. And if the Mantis system is not enough to prevent a threat, electronic sensors that signal explosives or the presence of a person come into action, and super microphones that can hear the conversation at a distance of 50 meters.
As for the enemy, the soldier is equipped with equipment that informs about the temperature, heart rate, and the location of the soldier himself. In addition, there are nanomaterials that, like an air cushion on a car, are activated when a soldier is struck: it becomes stiff, like steel, from which bullets bounce. The same nanomaterials can become nanomuscles, increasing the strength of a soldier by 25-30%.
Ezoskeleton
The Pentagon is thinking about how to protect and at the same time increase the strength of the soldier. All equipment must be mounted on some kind of frame, and he must control this equipment not electronically, but through sensors connected to his muscles in order to ensure natural movement. The final result shouldn't be too different from the Star Wars imperial soldiers. A soldier should carry 100 kg of weight as much as 3 kg. Plus to this - "bionic boots" to move as fast as a bicycle and jump several meters. And also climb walls. In other words, like Spider-Man.
Pills
But you can also improve a soldier of flesh and blood. With the help of something similar to steroids in athletes. These are pills that strengthen muscles and increase energy, blocking fatigue and sleep. If the pills are intimidating, you might think of a helmet with sensors that register fatigue (for example, through the pace of movement of the eyelids) and act with the help of "magnetic transcranial stimulation", in other words, through magnetic waves that stimulate brain activity. What if a soldier is injured? Vaccines come into play that, after the initial shock, limit or relieve pain. Healing-accelerating technology can also be applied: infrared rays for faster healing of damaged tissue (like Dr. McCoy and Star Trek). If the army is just like that, then it will have destructive power. But, as Singer notes, there are broader strategic opportunities.
It will become easier to conduct covert or quick operations. And, most importantly, fewer soldiers will be required. Smaller numbers, which means a more compact logistic support apparatus. There are two problems - conscription of sufficient numbers of troops and the cost of operations - and they are very acute in America today, trapped in the Iraqi adventure. Is this the future of hostilities? Singer notes the moral and political risks of such a super-technological leap in military capabilities, but also stresses that greater complexity entails greater likelihood of error. From the defoliants in Vietnam to the "Persian Gulf Syndrome", the history of the Pentagon has had many setbacks. Soldiers know this better than anyone else, who is familiar with the sci-fi version of Murphy's Law or Rogue's Law, which is based on the assertion that if something went wrong, the worst will happen at the worst possible moment. Therefore, when the Pentagon experimented with its first ezoskeleton, during the Vietnam era, it turned out that the greatest pressure on the soldiers was the desire to get rid of it as soon as possible.
Objective Tiger from Creative Technologies Inc. on Vimeo.
