The Army Of The Future?

With this post I've decided to open a new category on the Military. See the category menu in the left-hand sidebar for links to all my categories. Previous posts will not be reclassified.

Global Security.org has an article about the new proposed high-tech Army of the next decade. It all sounds really cool, but it does raise concerns, I think, about the true security of our communications systems.

All these high tech toys and gadgets are going to be next to useless if we don't have a way to survive the loss of constant communication. The loss of UAVs can be countered by increased human scouting. It creates a more dangerous situation, but it is easily workable.

But what happens if a foot soldier's "mule" goes on the fritz and takes off at top speed heading every which way except where the soldier wants it to go? How do we deal with the soldier who loses half of his gear as he comes over the last ridge into the battle? What do we do when a ammo laden mule runs over a landmine and the resultant explosion takes out five or six guys?

I like the fact that the Army is thinking ahead and looking at all these cool toys that will make the soldier more effective and his life easier. The Objective Force Warrior suit sounds like it is a great, great idea. For what it's worth, I recoiled when I first read about commanders being able to monitor individual soldiers. In the civilian world, I would consider that to be an unacceptable invasion of privacy. Way over the line. But in a military environment, I think it may be one of the best aspects of this whole system. It gives the commander access to critical information about the actual physical capability to press on or if it would be wiser to rest to battle another day. It will no longer be discretion, but intelligence, that is the better part of valor.

Heck, I even like the idea of the exoskeletons and think that we might be fast approaching a point at which the are not only workable (I think that technologically we're already there), but also affordable. Personally, I think that they would be a much better way to go than using a remote control mule.

For some reason, I just feel like the Army hasn't thought through the whole mule concept yet. I think it is placing too much dependence, in too critical a spot, to justify the risks. If a soldier's mule goes haywire and takes off like a Radio Shack remote control car on Christmas day, it will reduce the effectiveness and morale of the soldier - maybe substantially.

And how do we ensure that enemy soldiers can't hijack the mule? Losing a UAV via a remote control hijacking is one thing. They are usually unarmed and simpe. But if we lose a mule, we could be losing ammunition, weapons, food, basic necessities: all the things an enemy army would just love to capture from an American soldier. Send the mule back packed with lots of cheap explosives and...well you get the picture. The mule seems to be too critical and too dependent on constant secure communication to be truly safe and effective.

I don't think that it's time to start trying to get the infantry guys used to carrying the lighter load just yet.