(, English: "Infantryman of the future") is the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

Bundeswehr The (, ''Federal Defence'') are the armed forces of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. The is divided into a military part (armed forces or ''Streitkräfte'') and a civil part, the military part consists of the four armed forces: Germ ...

's program as part of the

Future Soldier Future Soldier was a multi-nation military project launched by the United States and its allies in the late 1990s. Superiority to enemy ground forces will be achieved by equipping the average ground-based combat soldier with an integrated set ...

project. It is a modular, integrated fighting system designed to provide significant lethality, survivability, mobility, battle command, and training to the German infantryman. It is being developed by EADS Defence Electronics and Rheinmetall-Detec. On 1 July 2004, the German government through the Federal Office of Defense Technology and Procurement ordered 15 IdZ integrated front-line warrior systems worth €10 million ($14.7 million or £7.4 million) for German forces deployed within the

ISAF The International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) was a multinational military mission in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. It was established by United Nations Security Council Resolution 1386 according to the Bonn Agreement, which outlined t ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. On 3 December 2004, EADS Defense Electronics received a €70 million contract to provide the Bundeswehr with 196 IdZ individual soldier equipment. These basic systems are envisaged for use by around 2,000 German soldiers from all services. More systems of the enhanced version will be delivered between 2010 and 2014. The IdZ system covers self-protection against small caliber arms and nuclear, biological and chemical agents, communications, navigation/ orientation and weaponry. The system utilizes a wide range of new technologies to achieve

network-centric warfare Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantag ...

capability.

IdZ Version V2

The Projekthaus System Soldat industrial consortium led by Rheinmetall Defence is currently developing IdZ -ES- for the

German Army The German Army (, 'army') is the land component of the armed forces of Federal Republic of Germany, Germany. The present-day German Army was founded in 1955 as part of the newly formed West German together with the German Navy, ''Marine'' (G ...

, the

German Air Force The German Air Force (, ) is the aerial warfare branch of the , the armed forces of Germany. The German Air Force (as part of the ) was founded in 1956 during the era of the Cold War as the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces of West Ger ...

and the

German Navy The German Navy (, ) is part of the unified (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Marine'' (German Navy) became the official ...

. Prototype units will be delivered during Q1/2 in 2008. Approx. 1.100 IdZ-ES systems are scheduled for deliveries between 2010 and 2014. The IdZ-ES system particularly focuses on the infantry squad in combination with its transport vehicle, which will function as "mother ship" providing the squad with network centric capabilities. The vehicle has all weapons and equipment on board so that the necessary elements can be selected from the modular system. The vehicle also provides the squad with power supply and allows data transmission. The basic version of the IdZ system has already been integrated in some military vehicles, such as the

ATF Dingo The ATF Dingo is a German heavily armored military MRAP infantry mobility vehicle based on a Unimog chassis with a V-hull design, produced by the company KNDS Deutschland (formerly Krauss-Maffei Wegmann (KMW)). The first prototype of the Dingo 1 ...

Mungo ESK The Mungo ESK (Einsatzfahrzeug Spezialisierte Kräfte) is an air-transportable, armoured multirole transport vehicle operated by the Airmobile Operations Division and the Rapid Forces Division of the German Army. The Mungo is based on the Mul ...

TPz Fuchs The TPz Fuchs from Transportpanzer Fuchs is a German armoured personnel carrier originally developed by Daimler-Benz, and manufactured and further developed by Rheinmetall MAN Military Vehicles (RMMV). Fuchs was the second wheeled armoured vehic ...

and BV 206 D/S. The enhanced ES-system offers these capabilities as standard options in the future

Boxer MRAV The Boxer is family of armoured fighting vehicles designed by an international consortium to accomplish a number of operations through the use of installable mission modules. The governments participating in the Boxer programme have changed as t ...

vehicles and Puma infantry fighting vehicles.

Sniper rifles

Both standard sniper rifles of the Bundeswehr, the G22 and the G82, will be integrated into the IdZ program. The G82 has been procured specifically for this program.

KM2000

The

KM2000 The KM2000 (''KM'' designates ''Kampfmesser'', literally "combat knife") is the standard combat knife of the German Bundeswehr. Production The knife is manufactured in Germany by the Eickhorn-Solingen company (aka "Original Eickhorn"). The ...

is the new standard combat knife of the Bundeswehr. The laser-cut blade is long and made of stainless steel. The knob is ergonomically shaped to be used ambidextrously and is made of polyamide. The entire knife weighs approximately .

UAVs and ROVs

The IdZ system will be supplement by mini- or micro

UAVs An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

or small, remotely controlled offroad vehicles. First UAVs are the Aladin airborne reconnaissance drone and the MIKADO air robot for close area imaging. The video feedback of the Aladin and the MIKADO air robot can be displayed on the soldiers NavIComs or on video visors.

Weapon sight

Recently the Bundeswehr decided against the AN/PAS-13 in favor of the HuntIR thermal sight, produced by

Diehl BGT Defence {{Infobox company , name = Diehl Defence , logo = Diehl Defence Logo.svg , logo_size = , logo_alt = , logo_caption = , image = , image_size = , image_alt = , image_caption = , trade_name = , native_name = , native_name_lang = ...

, + the NSA80 night vision. Also the

LLM01 The LLM01 (Laser Light Module 01) is an adaptive target acquisition module made by Rheinmetall Soldier Electronics GmbH in Stockach, Germany. It is designed to be mounted with a metal integral quick release clamping adapter on the left side of ...

laser light module for the G36 has been ordered. Also a video weapon sight and reconnaissance 40mm ammunition are currently under development for future integration into the IdZ-program.

References

External links

Information and pictures on the homepage of the German armyVideo about IdZ
{{DEFAULTSORT:Idz Future soldier programs Rheinmetall German Army (1956–present)