Tri-Service

What Will The Soldier Of The Future Look Like?

In this tech-savvy age, many of us crave the latest smartphone, gadget or app that will make us better connected and help us communicate with others easier.

The military world is no different when it comes to pursuing advancements - with technology and protective equipment that will improve the capabilities of soldiers in combat always being sought.

Some of the best thinkers and innovators in these fields are in London this week for the annual ‘Soldier Technology’ conference.

A forum for debate and sharing expertise, it brings together armed forces figures from across the globe, all driven by the same aims; using cost-effective, cutting-edge technologies to improve existing military equipment, while keeping things simple for the troops that have to use it.

Whether in theatre or on exercise, every soldier has their fair share of communications equipment to carry, and like any regular mobile phone user, they face the risk of running out of ‘juice’.

One solution to this problem is a new power management system called ‘Bantam’. Introduced to the UK and Irish market by ‘Electronic Warfare Solutions’, the company’s business development director, Troy Phillips, exhibited the device at the conference and talked to Forces TV about its relevance to the military.

“If you have an iPhone, Android mobile and any other system, imagine a concept where one battery charges everything - that’s what the Bantam system does.”

“The average soldier would carry a GPS device, a personal role radio, a team radio, perhaps some sat communications, a helmet camera and night vision goggles. So anything that is using power can be integrated into ‘Bantam’. The upshot is that a soldier doesn’t have to carry a lot of batteries, weighing down their packs and it means greater ease of use.”

New and improved body armour was also on show at the conference. The bulletproof vest is crucial to the soldier in combat and the German-Indian firm, MKU, is pushing boundaries when it comes to redesigning it for modern military use. In an era when command centres are updated constantly and in real time by forces on the ground, body armour needs to incorporate the gamut of communication and control devices that troops use.

MKU’s manager of business development personal protection, Sunit Srivastav, gave Forces News a demonstration of how the armour works.

Enhanced body armour and improved battery power systems are just some of the many military wares being exhibited at the ‘Soldier Technology’ event.

Its chairperson, Mark Richter - whose day job is programme manager at the US based ‘Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad’ (MERS) - summed up the importance of bringing together military minds, equipment manufacturers and decision makers for the conference.

“One of the key aims is networking and the sharing of ideas and concepts. It allows us to look at what the industry has to offer and it’s also an opportunity for us to tell the industry what it is we are looking for. We want to tailor systems for soldiers that will make their job as simple and straightforward as possible.”