-Caveat Lector-
If we can do this now, can you imagine what would be possible in
these regards if/when we (or any EBE) we are able to master
intersteller travel?
Ever see the movie "Predator?"
Mike
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 04 Aug 1999 18:42:20 -0400
From: JONIFERRIS <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: A Battery That Can Take a Bullet
A Battery That Can Take a Bullet
by Chris Oakes
3:00 a.m. 3.Aug.99.PDT
The US Army likes to shoot batteries.
"We actually take them and shoot them and see what response we
get," said Colonel Bruce Jette, project manager for the US Army's
Soldier Systems Center Land Warrior project.
Any computer battery has to meet stringent requirements for
weight, performance, and battery life. If it's for the US Army,
it also has to be bulletproof.
Survivability is key to designing battery packs powering the
cyber-soldier of tomorrow. The Army's Land Warrior is an
integrated system of headsets, weapon-siting systems,
communications, displays, biosensors, and other electronics
mounted on the human frame.
The Natick, Massachusetts-based Army unit last week awarded an
initial US$50,000 contract to battery-maker UltraLife to develop
a battery for potential deployment in 2003.
UltraLife developed a leak-proof battery that fit Land Warrior's
unique needs, notably its ability to survive gunfire.
"There's a small flash at point of impact, because you short the
battery out. But the damage is localized and the battery
continues to operate," Jette said.
If the soldier and/or the battery get hit, power must remain
available so Land Warrior can go on collecting biological data,
much like an airplane's black box.
"[Land Warrior] will be recording the last half hour to 40
minutes of biosensor data," Jette said. "Was [the soldier] in a
normal state, a state of stress, was he tired? Then you would see
any changes [caused by] the wounding process."
The telltale medical data is fed into the arriving medic's own
electronics gear.
Keep in mind all the gear must be worn, and as comfortably as
possible. To that end, UltraLife's specialized design lets the
Land Warrior tailors stack a battery out of thin sheets of
plasticized film.
"You can cut and shape them any way you want ... The entire thing
is about the thickness of thin plastic you'd find in food plastic
wrapping," Jette explained. If the designers want more battery
life, they just layer a bigger stack of the charged film.
"It's so thin, it becomes part of the vest," said Peter
Comerford, vice president of administration for UltraLife.
The nearly solid, "prismatic" batteries have been around for some
time but are still new to practical use, said Comerford. He said
cellular phone and laptop computer manufacturers have also shown
interest in the technology.
Another major combat issue Land Warrior addresses is
communication and orientation, the Army's Jette said. When a
flurry of soldiers parachute into enemy territory, a little
instant messaging and personal navigation can go a long way.
Once he touches down, the soldier today has to figure out his
location using such old-school factors as the plane's direction
and which way the wind is blowing. The Land Warrior replaces
those determinants with global positioning satellite gear,
headset communications, and head-mounted displays.
"[The soldier will] be able to know where everybody else in the
squad is, where the rally points are. The squad leader can use
the system's communications to say 'I see where you are, and
where the rally point is, and here's how I want you to get
there,'" said Jette.
Land Warrior can even zap digitally captured video and still
images between squad members, delivering them via a digital data
link.
The system employs a variety of computer-enhanced weapons-siting
technology for more accurate -- and safer -- aiming. Sites that
use lasers, video, and thermal detection let the soldier aim his
weapon without exposing his body.
All this gee-whiz technology adds up to a change in what Jette
calls the "expectations" of the cyber-soldier and his enemy.
The objective of a soldier isn't always hitting the enemy soldier
-- "it's getting him so he doesn't want to fight you anymore," he
said. That's done by increasing his expectation of being shot --
and nothing does that better than the very accurate firing
capability of a system like Land Warrior.
"You want to minimize your likelihood of being shot while being
able to maximize the enemy's expectation of being shot," said
Jette.
People thinking of the Army's function as Sergeant Bilko or
Rambo, Jette said. But it's not as simple as firing at will.
"If you think about combat it's managed chaos, and he who manages
the chaos best wins. When you look at [Land Warrior], the purpose
is to provide situational awareness. That decreases the amount of
chaos the soldier is likely to deal with."
Copyright © 1994-99 Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.
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Kaddish, Kaddish, Kaddish, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
*Mike Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
~~~~~~~~ <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
Shalom, A Salaam Aleikum, and to all, A Good Day.
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