Unblinking gaze: soldiers test tools for urban surveillance.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: BATTLEFIELD INTELLIGENCE

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The nine infantrymen sweeping through a mock village sent the robot in the targeted building first. Its camera showed that the room was clear. As the squad entered the building, a soldier stuck a surveillance camera above a door jam. All nine soldiers continued with their sweep as the sensor kept an unblinking eye on the front door.

The exercise held earlier this year in the Southwest desert was designed to test the first technologies scheduled to reach soldiers' hands from the Future Combat Systems--an Army modernization program touted as a family of manned and unmanned systems connected by a common network. Rather than waiting for all the pieces to be put into place, the Army plans to "spiral out" the technologies in three two-year cycles by integrating them into units as the devices become available.

"We are now entering into major integration activities," said Allan Resnick, director of requirements integration at the Army Training and Doctrine Command.

Among the first technologies to be integrated are the unattended ground sensors, or UGS, which come in two variants--one intended for urban environments as soldiers clear buildings, and the other for wider views to keep a watch for enemy movements on flanks or outside perimeters.

The Army and lead contractor Boeing Co. debuted a video of the exercise, dubbed Experiment 1.1, at the Association of the United States Army winter conference. It served as a reminder that after years of FCS development and controversy over its budget, the first pieces of the program could be distributed to the service's 76 combat brigades sooner rather than later--beginning as early as 2008.

Barring no abrupt withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan or Iraq, the unattended sensors manufactured by Textron Systems Corp. will likely be among the first of the FCS technologies to reach the battlefield, although there has been a debate within the Pentagon on how to protect the technology if it should be left "behind enemy lines."

Meanwhile, soldiers giving testimonials on a video released by the FCS program office said the unattended sensors could make an immediate impact on the battlefield. When entering a building, current procedures call for at least one soldier to stay behind to guard the rear. The urban sensor will allow all nine members of a squad to proceed.

Manpower will also be saved by the tactical unattended sensors, which are intended to be left outdoors--hidden in brush for...