ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. (May 1, 2014) -- For Army scientists and engineers shaping the technology of the future, the Army of 2025 and beyond is quickly approaching.
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno has said in his strategic vision that the Army seeks a lighter, faster and more lethal force for the future. Technology will provide innovative solutions.
"Army researchers within the Army Materiel Command and Research, Development and Engineering Command team achieve innovation by imagining something and then creating an idea or concept that can change the nature of the fight," said RDECOM Director Dale A. Ormond. "Future American warriors will depend on technologies that better protect them and prepare them for the fight."
RDECOM's strategy ties technology development together, from lethality to protection, according to Ormond, whose teams are working on improving ground vehicles, Army aircraft, missiles, chemical-biological defense, body armor and more.
"In the future, quantum communications will enable entangled atoms to pass information with no apparent connection," Ormond said. "This means bandwidth will not be an issue. It also means secure communications. We are working on this with the University of Maryland."
Army researchers focus on developing capabilities to meet the requirements laid out by the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.
"We must deliver capabilities focused on the priority needs of our primary customer, the warfighter," said Lt. Gen. Keith C. Walker, deputy commanding general, Futures, TRADOC, and director of the Army Capabilities Integration Center. "With this focus, we need scientists, researchers and engineers to provide the Army with potential solutions that include realistic assessments of technical and integration risks."
Walker gave the featured interview in the May/June issue of Army Technology Magazine, a publication of science and technology news from RDECOM. The focus of this issue is the Soldier of the future.
Walker said technology will play a key role in fundamentally changing the Army to realize the chief of staff of the Army's vision.
"The individual Soldier in 20 years could coordinate and deliver a lethal attack that exponentially exceeds today's force capability, as well as deliver humanitarian aid and assistance to the exact location where most critically needed," Walker said. "The area of material science offers the potential to deliver the same lethality, protection and mobility of an Abrams tank, but only half the weight."
RDECOM is also working with the U.S. Special Operations Command and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency on projects that will provide better protection, enhanced performance and improved situational awareness to individual Soldiers.
The magazine features articles about the SOCOM initiative to develop the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit, or TALOS, as well as a DARPA project called Warrior Web. Both projects promise to give futuristic capabilities to the Soldier of tomorrow.
"We are focused on developing technologies that give our Soldiers the advantage of an unfair fight. That's our primary motivation," Ormond said. "With AMC, RDECOM has tremendous capabilities. Between what we develop and what we help industry modify to meet our specific requirements, there is no one better positioned to accomplish this mission. We will continue to do the necessary work to enable our leadership's vision for the Army of the future."
Army Technology Magazine is available as an electronic download, or print publication. The magazine is an authorized, unofficial publication published under Army Regulation 360-1, for all members of the Department of Defense and the general public.
ABOUT U.S. ARMY RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND ENGINEERING COMMAND
RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command. AMC is the Army's premier provider of materiel readiness -- technology, acquisition support, materiel development, logistics power projection, and sustainment -- to the total force, across the spectrum of joint military operations. If a Soldier shoots it, drives it, flies it, wears it, eats it or communicates with it, AMC provides it.
Related Documents:
Army Technology Magazine, May/June 2014 [PDF]
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