Army Futures Command Puts Soldiers on Front Lines of Modernization With Touchpoints

Video Above: Army 2-Star Describes Range Doubling, Course Correcting Artillery

By Kris Osborn – President & Editor-In-Chief, Warrior Maven

The Army’s approach to future weapons and war technologies is as clear as it may seem simple, meaning it involves putting emerging technologies in the hands of soldiers to assess how they integrated into a Combined Arms Maneuver formation.

The Army calls them Soldier Touchpoints, and it is something Army Futures Command has been doing with the services’ acquisition community to solidify requirements for new technologies.

Army Futures Command, Touchpoints

The touchpoint applications include the use of robotic technologies, networking systems and of course Long Range Precision Fires. A number of critical innovations in these areas are driving a need to help soldiers adapt to new tactics, formations and weapons applications, such as the advent of “shaped charge” course-correcting artillery and the service’s Extended Range Cannon Artillery (ERCA) program which more than doubles the range of standard artillery.

Maj. Gen. John Rafferty, Director, Long Range Precision Fires Cross Functional Team, Army Futures Command, explains that Soldier Touchpoints are a foundational element of Army modernization. Part of the rationale is based upon the recognition that combat-experienced soldiers are well suited to understand how best to use new weapons and determine their effectiveness in combat circumstances.

“One of the fundamentals of Army Futures Command is soldier-centered design,” Rafferty told Warrior in an interview.