Connecting nodes: 'land warriors' link up with Stryker vehicles.

• Author: Erwin, Sandra I.
• Position: GROUND FORCES

An Army Stryker battalion training for possible deployment to Iraq in 2007 will outfit hundreds of its soldiers with the high-tech "land warrior" ensemble this summer. These soldiers will help determine whether the system is suitable for combat and if the Army should continue to invest in the technology.

The land warrior ensemble includes a communications and navigation computer-radio suite, a helmet-mounted display and a customized rifle. The land warriors are connected to a network, and each can pinpoint the others' location simply by looking into their displays. They are the dismounted equivalent of the "blue-force tracking" system the Army employs aboard vehicles.

The unit assigned to test land warrior is the 1st Squadron of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, based at Fort Lewis, Wash. The regiment is the fourth of six brigades that will operate the Stryker armored personnel carrier.

"We are probably the ideal unit to have this equipment," says Maj. Keith Markham, squadron executive officer. "The Stryker brigade is digital by nature, and all our soldiers are pretty comfortable with digital systems," he says. "For us, this is just one more digital system that we add to our kitbag."

Another reason why the Stryker units make a good fit for land warrior is that soldiers generally don't move too far from their vehicles, so they are not likely to have to carry extra loads of ammunition and water, as would be the case with light infantry troops. Land warrior weighs about 17 pounds, which does not seem excessive until one asks a soldier who already is loaded down with 70 pounds of gear to put on additional weight, Markham says.

"One of the issues with land warrior is the weight," he adds. "As the system is right now, it would be difficult for a light infantry battalion to really use this effectively. For them, it's a significant increase in weight." Stryker troops are more apt to handle the extra weight, because when they get out of the vehicle, they carry only what they need to fight with, and the vehicles follow close behind.

"Most of the weight is the batteries, but the weapon, too, gets heavy on the arms after a while."

Markham's battalion has approximately 71 Stryker armored personnel carriers and 700 soldiers, of whom 400 are dismounted troops who will be wearing the land warrior gear. The vehicles will be outfitted with special computers that will connect them to the dismounted land warriors, and will also have battery chargers. Each land warrior only carries enough batteries for a 24-hour mission.

The unit recently began a year-long training program in preparation for a possible deployment to Iraq next spring or summer. The land warrior test is being incorporated into the unit's tactical drills.

The immediate goal is to validate the technology and prove that it works, but the Army also expects the unit to help develop tactics and doctrine for how land warrior should be employed. "Land warrior has all these great capabilities, but we have to figure out when we want to use it and when we don't," says Markham.

A nifty feature may not always translate into a useful tool, he explains. A case in point is the camera that is mounted on the tip of the gun, which lets a soldier aim the weapon around corners. "At first, you'd think that's a great...