Future Force Warrior was a

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

advanced technology demonstration project that was part of the Future Combat Systems project. The FFW project sought to create a lightweight, fully integrated

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

man combat system. It was one technology demonstration project in a series of network-centric, next-generation infantry combat projects the U.S. military have developed over the past decade, such as the Soldier Integrated Protective Ensemble program, Land Warrior, and

Transformation of the United States Army The transformation of the United States Army is part of a United States Army Futures Command#Waypoint 2028 and the Army of 2030, strategy using #Multi-domain operations (MDO), Multi-Domain Operations (MDO).US Arm(2020) AMERICA'S ARMY: READY NOW, ...

. The Future Force Warrior concept envisioned the use of technologies such as

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

powered exoskeleton An exoskeleton is a wearable device that augments, enables, assists, or enhances motion, posture, or physical activity through mechanical interaction with and force applied to the user’s body. Other common names for a wearable exoskeleton in ...

s, and

magnetorheological fluid A magnetorheological fluid (MR fluid, or MRF) is a type of smart fluid in a carrier fluid, usually a type of oil. When subjected to a magnetic field, the fluid greatly increases its apparent viscosity, to the point of becoming a viscoelastic ...

-based body armor to provide the infantry with significantly higher

force multiplier In military science, force multiplication or a force multiplier is a factor or a combination of factors that gives personnel or weapons (or other hardware) the ability to accomplish greater feats than without it. The expected size increase requ ...

than the

opposing force An opposing force (alternatively enemy force, abbreviated OPFOR or OpFor) is a military unit tasked with representing an enemy, usually for training purposes in war game scenarios. The related concept of aggressor squadron is used by some ai ...

. However, the stated concept was not U.S. Army doctrine, and was not intended to answer every situation that Army After Next (the Army's

buzzword A buzzword is a word or phrase, new or already existing, that becomes popular for a period of time. Buzzwords often derive from technical terms yet often have much of the original technical meaning removed through fashionable use, being simply ...

for future fighting forces) would face; rather, the concept was meant to serve as an end goal to strive to reach or to compromise with current technologies and to stir imagination and dialogue on how these technologies and concepts could help soldiers in the near future. The first phase of the project involved a development of the technologies to help reduce the soldier's fighting load and power requirements and improving the soldier's protection, lethality, and environmental and situational awareness, with planned deployment in 2010, to serve the Army's short-term needs. The Army's plan was to introduce the subsystems in "

spirals In mathematics, a spiral is a curve which emanates from a point, moving further away as it revolves around the point. It is a subtype of whorled patterns, a broad group that also includes concentric objects. Two-dimensional A two-dimension ...

" every two years, instead of one large rollout every ten years. The U.S. military hoped to develop a fully realized end product sometime in 2032, incorporating research from U.C. Berkeley's BLEEX exoskeleton project and the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...

's Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies into a final design. This was one of the most important parts. The

Army Combat Shirt The Army Combat Shirt (ACS) is a flame-resistant shirt developed and used by the United States Army as a supplementary addition to the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). The ACS is a stand-alone shirt designed specifically for use with the Improved Outer ...

was developed from this program.

Basic Features

Nett Warrior

Nett Warrior – named after Col. Robert B. Nett – replaced Land Warrior. Future Force Warrior was a futuristic research project with real deliverables folded into the Nett Warrior program. Situational awareness including the Rifleman Radio on every soldier, helmet-mounted display (similar to a HUD), location and Physiological Status Monitoring were the basic building blocks being implemented in increment 1.

Headgear Subsystem

The Headgear Subsystem was the

situational awareness Situational awareness or situation awareness, often abbreviated as SA is the understanding of an environment, its elements, and how it changes with respect to time or other factors. It is also defined as the perception of the elements in the envi ...

hub of the system. It was intended to include integrated tactical processing by providing maps, routes, and data with a 180° emissive visor display, high bandwidth wireless communications, microelectronic/optics combat sensor suite that provides 360° situational awareness, and integrated

small arms A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

protection.

Combat Uniform Subsystem

Described as "Survivability Central", was intended to contain a trio of layers, "the Protective Outer Layer, the Power Centric Layer, and the Life Critical Layer."

Warfighter Physiological Status Monitor Subsystem

WPSM was intended to be an on-board physiological and medical sensor suite that would collect and monitor information regarding vital signs such as body temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, hydration and stress levels, sleep status, body positioning and workload capacity of the warrior. If necessary, the WPSM can notify medics and commanders if the soldier has been wounded or has become fatigued.

Microclimate Cooling System

The Microclimate Cooling System, built into the Life Critical Layer, would have been a network of narrow tubing to provide heating or cooling to the soldier, up to 100 watts.

Power Subsystem

The Power Subsystem, built into the Power Centric Layer, would be fed by the Duration Central, a 2 to 20 watt Micro Turbine fueled by a liquid hydrocarbon fuel pack. According to the concept, ten ounces of fuel would power the soldier's integrated electronics ensemble for up to 6 days. Polymeric nanofiber battery patches embedded in the headgear and weapon provide back-up power for three hours. Listed under the Power Vision in the Advanced Technology Demonstrator, the current specifications ask for 24-hour autonomous individual operation and 72-hour continuous autonomous team operations, with a high density, low weight/volume, self-generating/re-generating, reliable, safe power source.

Air Warrior

Air Warrior was the U.S. Army's next-generation aircrew ensemble, with the final product intended to provide life support, ballistic protection, and nuclear, biological, and chemical (NBC) protection in mission-configurable modules, and was under development with interoperability in mind. The system consists of components integrated to maximize safe aircraft operation and sustain aircrews throughout the flight environment.

Block 1

Block 1 of the Air Warrior system provided an initial system capability including the development, procurement, and fielding of a micro climate cooling system, an integrated survival gear and ballistic protection system, improved over-water protective equipment, and a light-weight chemical and biological protection ensemble.

Block 2

The ongoing Block 2 technology insertion program provided an Electronic Data Manager and an Aircrew Wireless Intercom System.

Block 3

General Dynamics C4 Systems was the Block 3 Systems Integrator. The Block 3 system was focused on increasing force effectiveness by improving situational awareness and survivability with features similar to those of the Headgear Subsystem. The Air Warrior Block 3 system was intended to be compatible with multiple helicopter types, including the

CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem-rotor helicopter originally developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and now manufactured by Boeing Defense, Space & Security. The Chinook is a Military transport helicopter, heav ...

, OH-58D Kiowa Warrior,

AH-64 Apache The Hughes/McDonnell Douglas/Boeing AH-64 Apache ( ) is an American twin-turboshaft attack helicopter with a tailwheel-type landing gear and a tandem cockpit for a crew of two. Nose-mounted sensors help acquire targets and provide night vis ...

and

UH-60 Blackhawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift military utility helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted a design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System (UTTAS ...

. Additional Block 3 capabilities were being defined through the requirements analysis and roadmap phase.

Land Warrior

In February 2005, the U.S. Army merged the Future Force Warrior and Land Warrior programs to make integration of new technologies easier. The subsequent program was managed by US Army Natick Soldier Center, and was projected to become the Ground Soldier System (GSS).

References

External links

Future Force Warrior, defense-update.com
* ttp://www.armedforces-int.com/projects/infantry-combat-system/future-force-warrior.asp Future Force Warrior System, armedforces-int.combr>FFW Project Horizon Updates, rangermade.us
{{Future soldier programmes Proposed weapons of the United States One-piece suits Future soldier programs United States Army projects