[Jatke]

A look through the US Army's new NVGs.

[Pete]

So Atomic was far ahead of its time. Outlined soldiers are finally becoming a reality on the battle field. Next will be a redesign of US military doctrine to get sergeants shot first and armour move zigzagging on good roads.

[Schmal_Turm]

I was always of the opinion that the armour zigzagging on the roads was designed to (supposedly) avoid unseen debris, and to make the side of the tank available for a kill shot.

[sample]

[KG_Brandenburg]

[Jatke]

Way.

[JFFulcrum]

Such computerized stuff always looks good in playgrounds with media coverage...in real battlefield there will be a lot of questions like: battery life, dust sustainability, EMI compatibility in dense orders, general durability and so on. Land Warrior program was sunk after direct confrontation with harsh reality (computers just froze during extreme Afghan cold nights), but taxpayers cash still must flow to right direction of military's suppliers.

[mooxe]

Ahh yes, the dieing screams of a dinosaur.

There is no progress without change.

[JFFulcrum]

Well, Russian army tried some 'hi-tech' equipment in Syria - with conclusion that such devices are not ready for real war. For example, 'Uran Nine' autonomous armored vehicle was blinded after first usual dust storm - dust and sand filled the sensors housings. Piloted vehicles are prone to this as well - but their crew able to fix it in a minute by hand-cleaning. For robot such is not an option, so became useless until was reached by service team. Just an example of 'kids with big stars' misunderstandings. Boston Dynamics robots are marching in a lab for 15 years, but still on a long way to frontline deployment.

Local, well-planned operations of special units with extreme need for overwhelming superiority over enemy are different stories, and such toys may be useful for it. Like in Bin Laden raid was useful experimental stealth helicopters to overcome Pakistan army defenses (but not without sad technical issues even there).

[mooxe]

Sounds like regular trial and error to me. After decades of war in the Middle East and elsewhere, I would have assumed sensors would have been protected from dust and sand?

How do the Mars rovers handle dust and sand?

[JFFulcrum]

[mooxe]

Yeah its Mars. But there's sensors, and dust. Like I said though, its trial and error.

Nobody wants to carry dead weight. But what is dead weight? If a soldier can understand the life saving or life killing value of the technology he carries, its not dead weight.

[KG_Brandenburg]