Future troop helmets will protect and connect
Posted: Sunday, October 19, 2003
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) -- Tomorrow's soldier will be more lethal, adaptable and informed, thanks in large part to what they're wearing on their heads.
High-tech helmets now being developed will help soldiers pinpoint enemies in a crowd, mute a deafening bomb blast or help guide a lost soldier to safety with global positioning systems.
The helmet system not only will link soldiers to a vast radio and computer network, but also will provide protection from bullets, shrapnel and eye-damaging laser beams.
The headgear is almost like having a second brain, capable of providing the sensory and technological edge critical in any combat scenario, according to engineers at Rockwell Collins, the Iowa company hired to design the helmet system.
"The goal is to augment and enhance all of the senses of the future soldier," said Jerry Carollo, lead engineer on the Rockwell Collins team.
The helmet is just one component in the U.S. Army's revolutionary new fighting program called Objective Force Warrior.
By 2011, the Army envisions the first batch of soldiers donning the new helmets and full body suits that will make them lighter, more lethal and effective whether fighting in the desert or dense urban center.
To do that, engineers are being asked to design suits that are fully wired, capable of monitoring heart rates and other body functions. Armor and built-in first-aid gear also are part of an outfit Army officials say must weigh half of the 120-pounds now lugged around by ground troops.
This small band of wired warriors will be armed with the most advanced weapons and plugged into the Army's new, $15 billion Future Combat System. The soldiers will be supported in the field by powerful computers, satellites, unmanned airplanes and robotic ground vehicles.
The headgear is by far the most sophisticated component of the future's high-tech warrior, said Carollo, who works for Kaiser Electro-Optics, a Carlsbad Calif., company owned by Rockwell Collins.
A single, lightweight radio affixed to the helmet will replace the various radios soldiers are now carry. The wireless, voice activated radios will enable communication on a single channel that, for the first time, links an entire network of commanders, troops and computers.
A small sensor attached to an inner band inside the helmet replaces the microphone and earphone technology. The dime-sized sensor receives and transmits sound waves using a phenomenon called bone conduction.
The process uses the natural ability of the human head to register sound waves made during speech and encode sound waves transmitted by the sensor into the head during communication.
The result is that soldiers can have one-on-one communication, even at a whisper level, in the middle of a battlefield, without all the gear they now lug, engineers said.
"This is a drop dead sexy technology for us," said Dutch DeGay, equipment specialist for the Army Soldier Systems Center in Nattick, Mass.
"Any war movie ever made has guys screaming into their radios at the top of their lungs just to be heard. But not any more with this technology. A soldier could be sitting beside a machine gun and I could hear his whisper on the other end without hearing all the gunfire," he said.
The helmet also will be equipped with video and vision technology. Small cameras mounted atop the helmet allow soldiers to send real-time video of a combat zone to commanders or nearby troops or to be fed through GPS antennae mounted on each helmet to call in strikes from artillery or air craft.
In turn, video images sent by helicopters can be delivered to ground troops and viewed through a computer-like, color monitors the size of a quarter.
The monitors, designed to drop down from the front of the helmet, can be adjusted to provide night and thermal imaging vision. With the network connection, soldiers can call up maps, documents or GPS data "all through a voice command or a small mouse on the thumb," Carollo said.
Also attached to the helmets are signature sensors connected to a laser-engagement system. The system is designed to help soldiers distinguish enemies from friends when viewing a battle zone through the monitor. It can also be programmed for a sophisticated version of laser tag for training.
To designers and army officials, the mix of seamless audio communication, computer networks and visual and video technology makes soldiers more efficient and lethal.
For example, DeGay said a soldier can spot an enemy position, use the camera and GPS to calculate coordinates then send the data to targeting computers monitored by artillery commanders.
"We have a new term now when we refer to what this helmet system will allow us to do: Point and shoot," said DeGay. "This will be much more accurate and much faster for the individual soldier."
Much of the shape, design and appearance of the helmet is still on the drawing board at Rockwell Collins and General Dynamics, the lead contractor for the OFW program.
Designers are working on a bulletproof material for the outer shell and visor that protects from eye-damaging lasers. Carollo said the helmet could resemble something worn by astronauts, with a collar that seals to the entire suit and built-in oxygen, respirator and protection from chemical and biological agents.
But DeGay is shooting for something more comfortable, ergonomic. Even the modern helmets, which fit low on the head, cover the ears and weight several pounds, are too cumbersome.
"We understand that you could put a spaceship-type helmet on them and protect from entirely from the neck up," DeGay said. "But we want it to be comfortable so the soldier can move easier, engage a target faster."
High-tech helmets now being developed will help soldiers pinpoint enemies in a crowd, mute a deafening bomb blast or help guide a lost soldier to safety with global positioning systems.
The helmet system not only will link soldiers to a vast radio and computer network, but also will provide protection from bullets, shrapnel and eye-damaging laser beams.
The headgear is almost like having a second brain, capable of providing the sensory and technological edge critical in any combat scenario, according to engineers at Rockwell Collins, the Iowa company hired to design the helmet system.
"The goal is to augment and enhance all of the senses of the future soldier," said Jerry Carollo, lead engineer on the Rockwell Collins team.
The helmet is just one component in the U.S. Army's revolutionary new fighting program called Objective Force Warrior.
By 2011, the Army envisions the first batch of soldiers donning the new helmets and full body suits that will make them lighter, more lethal and effective whether fighting in the desert or dense urban center.
To do that, engineers are being asked to design suits that are fully wired, capable of monitoring heart rates and other body functions. Armor and built-in first-aid gear also are part of an outfit Army officials say must weigh half of the 120-pounds now lugged around by ground troops.
This small band of wired warriors will be armed with the most advanced weapons and plugged into the Army's new, $15 billion Future Combat System. The soldiers will be supported in the field by powerful computers, satellites, unmanned airplanes and robotic ground vehicles.
The headgear is by far the most sophisticated component of the future's high-tech warrior, said Carollo, who works for Kaiser Electro-Optics, a Carlsbad Calif., company owned by Rockwell Collins.
A single, lightweight radio affixed to the helmet will replace the various radios soldiers are now carry. The wireless, voice activated radios will enable communication on a single channel that, for the first time, links an entire network of commanders, troops and computers.
A small sensor attached to an inner band inside the helmet replaces the microphone and earphone technology. The dime-sized sensor receives and transmits sound waves using a phenomenon called bone conduction.
The process uses the natural ability of the human head to register sound waves made during speech and encode sound waves transmitted by the sensor into the head during communication.
The result is that soldiers can have one-on-one communication, even at a whisper level, in the middle of a battlefield, without all the gear they now lug, engineers said.
"This is a drop dead sexy technology for us," said Dutch DeGay, equipment specialist for the Army Soldier Systems Center in Nattick, Mass.
"Any war movie ever made has guys screaming into their radios at the top of their lungs just to be heard. But not any more with this technology. A soldier could be sitting beside a machine gun and I could hear his whisper on the other end without hearing all the gunfire," he said.
The helmet also will be equipped with video and vision technology. Small cameras mounted atop the helmet allow soldiers to send real-time video of a combat zone to commanders or nearby troops or to be fed through GPS antennae mounted on each helmet to call in strikes from artillery or air craft.
In turn, video images sent by helicopters can be delivered to ground troops and viewed through a computer-like, color monitors the size of a quarter.
The monitors, designed to drop down from the front of the helmet, can be adjusted to provide night and thermal imaging vision. With the network connection, soldiers can call up maps, documents or GPS data "all through a voice command or a small mouse on the thumb," Carollo said.
Also attached to the helmets are signature sensors connected to a laser-engagement system. The system is designed to help soldiers distinguish enemies from friends when viewing a battle zone through the monitor. It can also be programmed for a sophisticated version of laser tag for training.
To designers and army officials, the mix of seamless audio communication, computer networks and visual and video technology makes soldiers more efficient and lethal.
For example, DeGay said a soldier can spot an enemy position, use the camera and GPS to calculate coordinates then send the data to targeting computers monitored by artillery commanders.
"We have a new term now when we refer to what this helmet system will allow us to do: Point and shoot," said DeGay. "This will be much more accurate and much faster for the individual soldier."
Much of the shape, design and appearance of the helmet is still on the drawing board at Rockwell Collins and General Dynamics, the lead contractor for the OFW program.
Designers are working on a bulletproof material for the outer shell and visor that protects from eye-damaging lasers. Carollo said the helmet could resemble something worn by astronauts, with a collar that seals to the entire suit and built-in oxygen, respirator and protection from chemical and biological agents.
But DeGay is shooting for something more comfortable, ergonomic. Even the modern helmets, which fit low on the head, cover the ears and weight several pounds, are too cumbersome.
"We understand that you could put a spaceship-type helmet on them and protect from entirely from the neck up," DeGay said. "But we want it to be comfortable so the soldier can move easier, engage a target faster."
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