North American Soldier and Marine Systems programs in the face of troop drawdown Federal Budget cuts

Oct. 25, 2012 - PRLog -- North American Soldier and Marine Systems programs in the face of troop drawdown, Federal Budget cuts and Political uncertainty

Approaches to how to effectively equip the dismounted and mounted infantry man are constantly evolving, not least because of technology advancements and the projected troop draw down in 2014.

In January 2013 government and industry with the remit of effectively equipping the squads for current and future operations will gather to discuss and debate the advancement of soldier and Marine Corps systems in North America. Not only will government communicate their requirements to industry but innovative suppliers and contractors will demonstrate their latest capability to army and Marine Corps leadership. The meeting and exposition at which this will take place is Soldier Technology 2013, at the Marriot Gateway in January 28-30 and Officers Club, Fort Belvoir on January 31.

With a focus on ‘squad overmatch’ the industry are keen to find out how new soldier, marine and squad capability requirements will impact integration of new equipment and training across their soldier systems projects.

In addition industry and government are meeting to work out new ways to approach human system integration, training, situational awareness, power and energy, sensor integration.

At a recent meeting with Maneuver Center of Excellence at Fort Benning, Georgia they told me there are clear gaps to fill in these capability areas:

 To develop a situation prior to enemy contact to allow the Squad to be proactive vice reactive during the conduct of operational missions.   To receive and evaluate threat information during dismounted Squad operations in austere environments to conduct operations and prevent collateral damage. To access organic/non-organic and joint enablers to conduct operations.  To send and receive mission command information on friendly and enemy forces within an AO.  To receive situational awareness information to facilitate the conduct of fire and maneuver during operations.  To be networked with the existing Army Mission Command Network while mounted and dismounted.  To disseminate to a local populace through social media or other expeditious channels within the AO to provide information from a friendly perspective. And training to shape the operational environment by collecting and passing operational information via the Army’s Mission Command Network to higher headquarters. And training to influence and understand enemy and civilian populations to leverage information. While operating as a part of a larger force to generate and manage power and energy sources to maintain operational requirements for extended durations.* To maintain a stand-alone power source that is compatible with tactical vehicles to generate and manage power and energy sources.

And many more – you can find out more at http://www.wbresearch.com/soldiertechnologyusa/home.aspx?utm_source=external&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_campaign=12607.006%2B-%2B20n%2BLinkedIn&utm_term=pr&utm_content=Text&MAC=12607.006_PR

Across government agencies, leadership are facing challenges in these areas including experts from Army, Marine Corps and foreign allied militaries. Industry is striving to develop the right equipment whilst creating systems that will integrate effectively and easily with existing ones.

Some of the leaders that will brief on the capability gaps mentioned before are listed below and industry will interact with them to ensure they can deliver the correct solution:

 Dr Marilyn Freeman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Research and Technology George Solhan, Director of Marine Corps Science and Technology, Office of Naval Research  SGM Tom Coleman, Director, Operations and Communications, PEO Soldier, US Army COL Peter Newell, Director, Rapid Equipping Force, US Army COL Bruce McPeak, Director, Operational Energy, Combined Arms Support Command, US Army  Mark Richter, Program Manager, Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad, Marine Corps Systems Command

With US Federal Budget slashed there is more competition for a greater number of smaller contracts which affects US Industry. In addition, US forces will be withdrawing from Afghanistan by 2014 meaning urgent operational budgets are shrinking but it does mean that a requirement exists for equipment and services that will be needed after the withdrawal more than ever

Also the new processes to identify, buy and integrate soldier systems – Network Integration Evaluation (NIE) -  the process of selecting the most effective and affordable a solution means industry need to become more competitive. There are new decision makers who are being shrewder about the new ways the Army and Marine Corps are buying equipment.

Soldier Technology provides a platform for government and industry to make faster progress on the issues discussed in this release. For more information visit: http://www.wbresearch.com/soldiertechnologyusa/home.aspx?utm_source=external&utm_medium=PressRelease&utm_campaign=12607.006%2B-%2B20n%2BLinkedIn&utm_term=pr&utm_content=Text&MAC=12607.006_PR

Soldier Technology 2013
January 28 – Weapons, Sensors and Sights – Marriott Gateway, Crystal City

January 29 – 30 – Squad Overmatch (& Exposition) – Marriott Gateway, Crystal City

January 31 – Power, Data and Mobility – Officers Club, Fort Belvoir