GIs finally networked

For the first time in its history, the U.S. Army will finally be able to deploy combat brigades equipped with a data link system accessible to all combatants. The 1,200 soldiers of the 3rd and 4th Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division arrive in Afghanistan in October in their pockets with individual equipment enabling them to access the network finely called WIN-T (Warfighter Information Network Tactical).

WIN-T is the essential part of the program Nett Warrior himself inherited the sprawling Land Warrior program and Future Combat System launched in the year ... 90! Too ambitious, Land Warrior had resulted in a rapid technological debauchery offline business needs. The first demonstrators showed indeed responsible for GI 6 kg of keyboard and screen to communicate. Incidentally, they also had to move and fight ... The "hardware", software, individual radio, waveforms ... everything had to be invented, and so nothing was really on. Costs exploded and fighters saw nothing coming. The song is known ...

After a complete overhaul of the program, the U.S. Army decided to keep it simple with the Nett Warrior.The network data link WIN-T uses a simple smartphone running Android Motorola Atrix. The links at the battle group are via radio individual infantryman. Smartphones are mainly used to send texteos and display a digital map that can be filled with symbols. The use of wireless phone mode and pure is blocked and the U.S. Army imagines regularly renew Smartphone models at the option of technical developments, as would a private user. The filtering of information and exchanges are made at the section chiefs and company, the way of what is known with Felin.

The U.S. Army savored the moment: after sixteen years of effort, she finally has a working system. Or at least hope: the Afghan theater will be a justice and tell if Nett Warrior fulfills his contract. He is expected to include turning on issues of battery life, durability and legibility of information under stress. The U.S. Army plans to equip a total of eight brigades in the next two years.