U.S. Soldiers Hate New High-Tech Gear

mattnyc99 writes "Land Warrior, the Army's wireless equipment package featuring helmet cams, GPS, laser range-finders and a host of other state-of-the-art electronics, is finally ready for deployment on a global battlefield network in Iraq after 15 years of R&D at the Pentagon. But in a report for Popular Mechanics, Noah Shachtman not only tries on the new digital armor—he talks to troops who don't like it at all. As if that wasn't disheartening enough for the future of tech at war, the real Land Warrior system doesn't even match up to its copycat gear in Ghost Recon 2."

Re:Yeah...

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually.... yes, it does run Linux.

Much worse than Ghost Recon 2

[Anonymous Coward]

And what's worse is the Land Warrior system uses the system BF 2142 added to deliver in-battle ads even during firefights! No wonder the grunts hate it.

Re:Just Like The M16

[Anonymous Coward]

Doesn't it kind of scare you how much people on Slashdot know about assault weapons?

Geek fashion?

[Kelbear]

I want that eye monitor thingie so I can pretend to be borg. Please?

Murphy's Laws of Combat

[rsmoody]

20. Never forget that your weapon is made by the lowest bidder.
...
35. The more a weapon costs, the farther you will have to send it away to be repaired.
...
37. Interchangeable parts aren't.
...
43. The complexity of a weapon is inversely proportional to the IQ of the weapon's operator.

My own: Any unneeded component of a weapon will be quickly removed and thrown in the nearest ditch.

Re:Yeah...

[Anonymous Coward]

While we're at it, let's get all the other obligitory comments out of the way:

I for one welcome our new fighting cyborg overloards

-and-

Imagine a Beowulf cluster of these...
It would be like an army!

WiFi!

[ShorePiper82]

So what happens when the insurgents are in a building with a high power antenna and net stumbler and pick up 16 access point SSIDs named "Linksys Soldier"?

Re:Just Like The M16

[Oktober Sunset]

Yea, but it's all thru counter strike, if they actually saw a real one, they would cry.

Re:On the inevitability of this being used against

[Anonymous Coward]

Boy, I bet they never thought of that!

Re:WiFi!

[zymurgyboy]

If they were wandering through my neighborhood, I'd log into them with the default admin password and do them them kind favor of putting them all on separate channels so they don't step on each others' signals. SOP, right?

Re:William Lind Article

[glwtta]

What they need to do is develop phasers and matching skintight pajamas, so they can go directly to Next Generation tactics.

Profit!

[mgemmons]

1. Shoot US soldier
2. Don his high-tech gear
3. Turn on map locator showing his whole squad
4. Profit!

Re:Just Like The M16

[phasm42]

And lets not forget that you can't fire the AK47 from prone position cause the mag is too long

You could try firing it gangsta style.

Re:Sweet! No depth perception!

[zymurgyboy]

Luke, you've turned off your targeting computer! Is everything okay?

Re:Geek fashion?

[plasmacutter]

it definitely goes with the US's militaristic style... "we are the united states, you shall be assimilated, resistance is futile"

Re:Yeah...

[Anonymous Coward]

You forgot one...

In Soviet Russia, high tech gear hates YOU!!!

Re:Linux? Are they daft? No, they be smart.

[WillAffleckUW]

Damn stright they run Linux. I can see it now:

Load weapon. Do you want to permit or deny this application? Yes, YES!

I'm sorry, I can't permit you to load your weapon if you don't answer properly ...

*SMASH*

works fine now.

Re:Huh?

[couchslug]

"Bitching about newly issued equipment is army tradition."

As is issuing bitchworthy new equipment!

Re:Just Like The M16

[jandrese]

I've often thought that Gangsta Rap singers have done the inner cities load of good by teaching urban punks that holding the gun sideways is "cool". That has to have gone a long way in reducing shooting fatalities in the hood by making it impossible to aim the gun properly. Plus, it should increase the number of incapacitating but non-fatal arm/shoulder wounds and save lives.

Re:On the inevitability of this being used against

[vertinox]

So, what happens when the smart other side captures one of our soldiers?

1. Someone in a bunker monitoring the soldiers head cam pushes a button.
2. Solider explodes.
3. Word 2007 automatically prints a mail merge form to soldier's family expressing condolences.

Re:Heavier? No, thanks.

[Anonymous Coward]

I once had this discussion with a serving soldier. He told me, "look - every 60g extra you make this thing is another Mars bar I can't carry". He wasn't joking.

Re:Just Like The M16

[hayden_l]

While I technically don't need 600 cyclic rounds per minute to kill a human either, the extra firepower would come in handy when I need to stop a rampaging herd of deer.

Re:Just Like The M16

[Matt Perry]

You could try firing it gangsta style.

Is that with your hands in the air like you just don't care?

Maybe they should get Apple design the UI

[arcite]

They could call it iKill. It would be functionable and lickable too!

Soldiers' actual comments

[commodoresloat]

One soldier picked up the helmet cam and said "What? No wireless?" Another said "this thing has less space than a nomad!"

Re:Yeah...

[couchslug]

Theo de Raadt:

"But software which OpenBSD uses and redistributes must be free to all (be they people or companies), for any purpose they wish to use it, including modification, use, peeing on, or even integration into baby mulching machines or atomic bombs to be dropped on Australia."

        * [e-mail] mailing list, May 29, 2001

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Theo_de_Raadt [wikiquote.org]

Re:Just Like The *Flush!!*

[theshowmecanuck]

Soylent Green anybody? :-P

Re:Just Like The M16

[hayden_l]

I've never trusted those deer. They're always twitching their heads around and looking over their shoulders all paranoid like. If they weren't up to something, why are they so nervous? Just never sat right with me.

Re:Yeah...

[MrNaz]

I always knew Theo had it in for us!
- Concerned Australian

Re:Just Like The M16

[Walt Dismal]

Not just Slashdot -- Fry's salemen, too! From the article: "Land Warrior was saved only by a crash 12-week program to replace military-spec equipment with commercially available technologies, including parts bought off the shelf from Fry's Electronics, the big California consumer retailer. That lowered the price and weight dramatically..."

Top Five Best Things About Buying Military Supplies at Fry's:

5. It's fun to ask new hires who don't speak English, so you have to explain with sign language that you want some grenades.

4. The MREs are in the grocery section next to the chocolate candy.

3. Asking the TV department clerk "Is this thing bulletproof?"

2. The clerks will always try to sell you an extended warranty on your amphibious assault vehicle

1. Fry's will always refund your returned goods with no argument even if there are body parts inside the box, and they NEVER check before they reshelf the item. And that is how I came about to own this Nvidia card, and a human liver...

Re:Just Like The M16

[funkdancer]

Great post, very insightful. Thanks for taking the time!

Re:Just Like The M16

[Reziac]

While I'm all for meat hunting, do remember that even if the hunter wastes most of the kill by leaving it lie in the field, there are a whole bunch of critters who'll come along afterward and think, "Cool, free lunch!"

Speaking of disconnected, I've met two people here in SoCal who did not grok that beef comes from cows!!

Re:Wow. Just wow.

[Jesus_666]

Hey, mission goals are way out, man. Nowadays you send a meeting request, touch base at the checkpoint and discuss the milestones and deliverables for the mission, then you get everyone on the same page regarding the proactive go-forward approach to leveraging the squad's synergies in order to own the challenge in a results-driven and success-oriented way. And when taking action, don't forget to keep each other up-to-date with the occasional memo.

Really, the only thing this lacks is Web 2.0 features like gradients, rounded corners, flashy JavaScript effects and a blog.

Re:Just Like The M16

[mlush]

What an excellent way to boost moral