Buy Cheap Stylus 300 Digital

Soldiers rate the best new combat gear ArmyTimes.com

13.11.11

TsAF6wq91LYAAGGzhEwAAAAU [REDIRECT_PROXY_ADDR] => 10.189.254.17 [REDIRECT_PHP_DOCROOT] => /gmti/www/atpco/armytimes/ [REDIRECT_STATUS] => 200 [UNIQUE_ID] => TsAF6wq91LYAAGGzhEwAAAAU [PROXY_ADDR] => 72.232.213.74 [PHP_DOCROOT] => /gmti/www/atpco/armytimes/ [HTTP_USER_AGENT] => Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.8.1.9) Gecko/20071025 Firefox/2.0.0.9 [HTTP_HOST] => www.armytimes.com [HTTP_ACCEPT] => */* [HTTP_X_FORWARDED_FOR] => 72.232.213.74 [PATH] => /command:/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/bin:/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/usr/X11R6/bin [SERVER_SIGNATURE] => [SERVER_SOFTWARE] => Apache [SERVER_NAME] => www.armytimes.com [SERVER_ADDR] => 10.189.11.150 [SERVER_PORT] => 80 [REMOTE_ADDR] => 72.232.213.74 [DOCUMENT_ROOT] => /gmti/www/atpco/armytimes [SERVER_ADMIN] => webmaster@armytimes.com [SCRIPT_FILENAME] => /gmti/www/atpco/armytimes/story.php [REMOTE_PORT] => 25449 [REDIRECT_QUERY_STRING] => channel=news&year=2011&month=11&slug=army-soldiers-rate-best-new-gear-111311w [REDIRECT_URL] => /news/2011/11/army-soldiers-rate-best-new-gear-111311w/ [GATEWAY_INTERFACE] => CGI/1.1 [SERVER_PROTOCOL] => HTTP/1.1 [REQUEST_METHOD] => GET [QUERY_STRING] => channel=news&year=2011&month=11&slug=army-soldiers-rate-best-new-gear-111311w [REQUEST_URI] => /news/2011/11/army-soldiers-rate-best-new-gear-111311w/ [SCRIPT_NAME] => /story.php [PHP_SELF] => /story.php [REQUEST_TIME] => 1321207275 ) -->

Army Times asked soldiers from Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, to evaluate the gear tested during the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment in Fort Benning, Ga.

Soldiers rated the gear on a five-star scale, with five stars as the top rating. None of the items got a one-star rating.

Here’s the gear, and what soldiers said about it:

ACH Beanie (Potomac Field Gear)

One of the most popular items was also one of the smallest and cheapest.

The advanced combat helmet beanie is made with a soft microfiber that keeps sweat out of your eyes without causing your head to overheat. And it stops that uncomfortable “ring around the head” caused by most ACH liners. A cold-weather version also proved promising, though temps never quite dropped to a level that warranted its wear.

Teaming with the beanie is the ACH Impact liner (Revision). Soldiers liked the dual-foam padding, and found it much easier to catch a catnap when leaned against a Humvee door. Better still, the sweat-wicking material is designed to better absorb impact when hit.

Rover 5 (L-3 Communications)

Rover 5, mounted in mine-resistant all-terrain vehicles and the battalion TAC, allowed platoon leaders to easily switch between ISR intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance feeds with no jump time and sharp clarity. It also has a “John Madden feature” that lets soldiers identify targets with a stylus.

Soldiers liked the size — Rover 5 is 5.5 inches wide and 3.5 pounds. They also liked its ability to transmit and receive on Ku-band, C-band, S-band, L-band and UHF (400-470MHz). Video feed is analog, H.261, MPEG and MJPEG.

Nett Warrior

Some soldiers were hesitant, having used the failed Land Warrior system. But their concerns were soon set aside.

Nett Warrior brought situational awareness into the 21st century. It featured the Motorola Atrix smartphone and Samsung Galaxy Tablet. Platoon leaders used it for mission planning and text communication with dismounted troops. Squads monitored Nett Warrior to track blue forces, obtain the latest intel and plot battlefield data.

Young soldiers had no problem learning the system, though some older warriors had to refer to the manual on more than one occasion.

Desert Hawk III (Lockheed Martin)

The 6-pound, hand-launched, unmanned aerial system was the piece of gear the opposing force hated the most.

At one point, the “bad guys” used thermal blankets to hide their position from the 360-degree infrared turret, to no avail. The UAS essentially is inaudible, but its presence was known when soldiers effectively surrounded and pounced.

The ground station and remote video terminal proved easy to master. And the color and IR video feeds are strong. One operator, battling high winds, spotted something amiss in a tree line. With a 10-second turn and a 10-power zoom, he was able to identify an enemy truck in hiding. The UAS sent an eight-digit grid, and an artillery battery sent a virtual barrage.

K-MAX (Lockheed Martin)

The first thing soldiers want to do is fly it via remote control, but the autonomous capability really makes the difference. Just plot the flight plan and the unmanned helicopter is ready to go — and the flight plan can be changed en route.

This lets the bird get into hard-to-reach places, and hotly contested locations, without risk to flight crews. Its visual and aural signatures are far smaller than standard helicopters, but don’t let its size fool you. K-MAX can deliver a full 6,000 pounds of cargo at sea level or more than 4,000 pounds at 15,000 feet. And its four-hook carousel allows it to take supplies to more than one location at a time.

BATLSKIN (Revision)

The helmet is 20 percent lighter and promises increased ballistic performance. Lighter and stronger is always better. But BATLSKIN boasts two features that caught much attention.

The mandible guard provides blunt force and fragmentation protection for the lower jaw. One platoon sergeant said it should be required for every vehicle gunner. Although the guard makes it tough to position a carbine in your shoulder and take aim, it can be quickly removed.

Soldiers also said the three-point front mount tightly secures NODs, or night observation devices, ridding the war fighter of that pesky, noisy rattle.

Uni-max Green Laser Sight (Lasermax)

It weighs only one ounce with two lithium batteries, and the fiber-reinforced nylon with which it is constructed proved durable time and again. The ambidextrous sight easily attaches to any Picatinny or Weaver Rail.

The green beam is powerful enough to be used in the day. Soldiers estimated its range at 400 meters. And it gets better still. The Uni-IR (Lasermax) was described as “simply awesome.”

The only drawback was the switch that changes the shooter from visible to IR. It’s so small that soldiers needed a knife to make the change — which could be an issue when using NODs. Soldiers suggested a larger switch with protective cover be added.

Driver’s Enhanced Situational Awareness (DRS)

This upgrade lets drivers keep both hands on the wheel and will reduce rollovers. That’s why drivers gave it an enthusiastic two thumbs up.

ESA eliminates joystick controls and widens the fields of view for the M-ATV, Bradley and Abrams tanks. A pan-and-tilt module uses three cameras to bump the field of view from 40 to 107 degrees, allowing drivers to see roadside edges — a problem that had caused rollovers. They also can use a rear-facing camera to see everything that is behind them.

The drop-in replacement also enhances the existing forward-facing cameras.

Stealth Power (Energy Extreme)

It takes up little space in the back of a Humvee, yet provides four kilowatt-hours of integrated energy storage with no thermal or acoustical signature (hence the name).

The soldiers were able to run just about everything off this small wonder, and never saw it run out of juice before they ran out of need. One platoon sergeant said that “a unit should never deploy without Stealth Power again.”

Spiral Enhanced Night Vision Goggles (ITT Exelis)

This was arguably the grand slam of AEWE. In the words of Sgt. First Class Jon Duncan, “Get it to every single infantryman yesterday.”

SENVG combines image intensification and thermal detection, enabling soldiers to see a clear picture at night, in all weather and in degraded battlefield conditions — and in true color.

All the soldiers were sold the moment they saw that clarity with their own eyes. Yet SENVG has another capability that was not put to the test at AEWE: It can connect to the network and display UAV and UGV feeds, or send the image the soldier is seeing back to command elements.

Virtual Interactive Presence and Augmented Reality (VIPAAR)

VIP is a video-conferencing system that lets soldiers “reach” into the screen and to point out things such as the latest intel, or direct a change to mission.

The system already is a big hit in battlefield medical care. The battalion tactical assault command liked the company coordination that VIP provided. It also got thumbs up by being the only system that identified the five different UAV video feeds commanders were watching. This helped them better understand what they were looking at and how it played out in the big picture.

Long-sleeve T-shirt (Potomac Field Gear)

This moisture-wicking, fire-retardant shirt was a big hit for soldiers who wanted something between a T-shirt and sniffle gear. The shirt is not bulky and it’s breathable enough to prevent overheating, yet warm enough to keep the chill away.

Lightweight Data Tablet (L-Tab) (L-3 Communications)

Soldiers, especially the precision targeting team, liked the larger screen on this rugged data tablet. Video was clear and sunlight-readable. Similarly, soldiers found the Lightweight Data Terminal 2 (LDT2) to be durable and dependable.

UGV fuel cell & SC3500 radio for TALON

These upgrades give the multifaceted TALON robot a lot more range.

The fuel cell is so quiet, you can’t hear it run. And it goes for eight hours on two small propane tanks — the kind that can be bought anywhere in the world. This huge improvement is diminished only by the lack of a “low fuel” indicator.

Source: