Crouched in a desert trench somewhere in the Middle East, enemy bullets thudding into the sand just above his head, the wounded soldier checks his wrist-mounted thermometer. It’s a searing 43 degrees, and he’s been trapped there for two days with little water and no food at all.
Amazingly, he’s comfortable. A microturbine integrated into his battlesuit provides power for a highly effective microclimate air-conditioning system that maintains his body temperature at a safe level. A transdermal nutrient delivery system provides just enough nourishment to keep his body going. The pain of a leg wound sustained in a firefight two hours earlier has subsided to a dull ache.
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He’s not especially worried: an integrated ultrasound system has located the bleeding wound and cauterised the blood vessels. A fractured tibia has been splinted with an exomuscular device forming part of his body armour. Stray bacteria have already been zapped by a nanoscale fabric coating inside his battlesuit, which has broadcast details of his location and physical condition to headquarters.
Minutes later, a rescue helicopter arrives and the wounded soldier is hoisted to safety. His rescuers shake their heads: embedded in his battlesuit, their formidable kinetic energy absorbed by just a few millimetres of material, is a neat row of AK-47 bullets.
A scene from a futuristic war movie? A scene from a futuristic war movie? Not at all – much of this technology is already a fact, and it’s coming soon to an army near you.
Nothing works on Future Warrior, and that’s the way it’s supposed to be. This advanced uniform ensemble depicts technology that’s still decades away from battlefield application.
Whereas the US military’s Objective Force Warrior (OFW) soldier weapon platform is likely to be fielded within the decade, Future Warrior is set apart as a visionary tool for researchers, says Cheryl Stewardson, spokesperson for the Natick Soldier Centre’s OFW programme.
'There’s always going to be a Future Warrior'
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