By Jim Morris, Warrior Vice President, News
German defense giant Rheinmetall is taking a cue from the world of sports as it further upgrades its Gladius 2.0 soldier system, which links troops, weapons, vehicles and sensors on the digital battlefield.
The company is teaming up with Austria’s QUS Body Connected to add biometric data to the equation. That will allow units to track the physical condition of individual soldiers, which can be a crucial factor in making decisions in combat.
“Biomonitoring, as we know from competitive sports, will also play an important role for soldiers in the future to optimize operational readiness, “ said Timo Haas, chief digital officer of Rheinmetall. “And with a view to digitization, AI-supported data can make an important contribution to tactical decisions at higher command levels.”
The goal of the joint project is to be able to combine biodata such as heart rate and respiratory rate with external data such as the temperature.
Rheinmetall introduced the latest version of Gladius – a Latin word that refers to a short sword carried by Roman soldiers for several centuries – in 2017. It’s a modular system that can be configured for a number of roles.
For instance, the version for light infantry forces is based on a lightweight plate carrier. It includes a radio for voice and data communication and GPS tracking, a headset and an end user device, which could be a tablet, a smartphone or a smartwatch.
Rheinmetall says the goal is to improve a soldier’s situational awareness, mobility and flexibility, protection levels, communication abilities and sensor-to-shooter capabilities.
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Both the German and Canadian armies have used forms of Rheinmetall’s soldier systems. Next week, at the Eurosatory defense show in Paris, the company will showcase its Digitalized Brigade concept. That includes Gladius 2.0 as well as the Tactical Core from its partner company blackned, which includes new battle management and training applications.
Meanwhile, the US Army has been developing similar digital systems for its troops. Army scientists and industry partners are working on a key concept – that artificial intelligence and autonomy are intended to improve the soldier’s decision-making process without taking the human element out of the loop.
The Army calls the process “Soldier as a System.” The idea is to use computer networking and algorithms to integrate otherwise disconnected systems operated by soldiers.
That means a single electronic architecture would connect night-vision goggles, individual weapons, wearable computers and handheld devices.
One of the contractors the Army is working with is the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton, which has working on what it calls Digital Warrior Solutions. The firm says it has developed a “warfighter-centric, connected platform of sensors, equipment, and weapons to rapidly deliver the right data at the right time.”
Speaking at the South by Southwest Conference in Austin, Texas earlier this year, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said, “Now more than ever, I would say, data for the army is as important as bullets or missiles.”
The commanding general of the Army Futures Command, General James Rainey, described the impact tech is having on the modern battlefield.
“It would be an understatement to say that we’re in a disruptive period of time with technology, “Rainey said. “I think it’s going to disrupt everything we do.”
