In my Information Operations class today, someone started talking about net-centricity and the way it flattens command and control (although he didn’t quite call it that, more’s the pity–he took a fairly high-altitude view of the thing and didn’t even specifically reference Future Combat Systems or Land Warrior).
It got me thinking, though: could I cobble together a Do It Yourself Land Warrior system, like John Robb has started thinking about?
Answer: Yes.
Step 1: Get your team on Helio.
Helio’s Buddy Beacon service serves as the backbone for our DIY Land Warrior kit. A GPS receiver allows you to broadcast your position to track the position of up to 25 friends–five fire teams? Zoomed in far enough, this offers a major part of Land Warrior’s functionality, identification of friendly forces.
Step 2: Tweet and tag.
Sending up “digital chemical flares” is another advantage of the Land Warrior system. Geotagging Twitter tweets is one way to do this. Represented on a map using Twitter and Google Maps APIs, it might look something like this. Add photos to it to share intelligence, and you’ve got this (map example).
Is it that… simple? Well, no, not quite. This DIY system would be neither secure nor fault-proof. The Army system adds a Dead Reckoning module for when GPS just isn’t good enough. But you could track friends, share intel on enemies “instantly,” and, with your phone’s camera, peek around corners. Those seem to me to be the high points of the Land Warrior System, especially for someone operating in the States, where GPS coverage is generally pretty good.
This is so spot on. You years I have asked why mobile phones are not part of the solution? Today you can buy for around $800 per handset a smartphone that moves data, has GPS, taked photos, and can be fully encrypted. But no, that is too open… ? This personal communications aura is moving way to fast to have wait on a commitee.
Comment by Neil Havermale 05.05.08 @ 604Unfortunately where most battles occur cell phone coverage will be spotty, at best. If your cell phones can use the military net that is provided, then your suggestion is appropriate. If you feel that we have adequate cell phone coverage in Iraq now, please don’t forget this is a mature environment and the network there has been developed.
Yes, the handsets of today provide more than the functionality envisioned in FCS, and adding on a few more functions would be simple. If FCS provides a network that ‘travels with them’, it might work, but every phone must be compatible.
Perhaps the military will provide handsets to all military members in the future. The major drawback, as I see it, is that you will never leave work.
Comment by Joel 05.06.08 @ 902I used to take my cell phone out in the field with me during training, but I kept well protected from water, dirt, sweat, shocks, etc. Most commercial cell phones would **NEVER** stand up to the amount of abuse required to be an active part of FCS. So, that is a non-starter.
Using your cell phone to “peek” around corners? Mostly just going to give you away. If I recall the Land Warrior system assumes the camera is mounted to the weapon system… So, if you “peek” around a corner you can also engage the enemy if necessary.
These ideas might be interesting to see implemented in a less hardened version for police force use though. I think a lot of police use of these would be significantly less stressful on the equipment and could better utilize the off-the-shelf stuff in an open framework. At least the civilian “hardened” versions of OTS tech.
Comment by mystikphish 05.06.08 @ 254“In my Information Operations class today, someone started talking about net-centricity and the way it flattens command and control ”
anybody who actually _believes_ that statement has never worked in an Air Operations Center.
MOGS
Comment by MOGS 05.07.08 @ 629[…] Support AUTHOR: WingmanX CATEGORY: Uncategorized TRACKBACK: Trackback DATE: 2008-05-07 My post generated more noise than I expected, most likely due to a blogging by John Robb himself. To […]
Pingback by WingMan NewsWire 05.07.08 @ 1032Every major US city I have visited has had excellent cell phone coverage. From what I gather ( http://www.coveragemaps.com/gsmposter_world.htm ), most major cities of the world do too.
Comment by Kilroy 05.09.08 @ 743Leave a comment
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