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 The basic Land Warrior suit includes
weapons, sensors such as laser
rangefinder and day/night cameras, clothing, protection system
integrated with load carrying equipment, and headgear, based on a
helmet, equipped with integrated speaker, microphone and optical
display. The system's hub is the mission computer which interfaces
with all system's components via a 10 port hub. The computer links
directly with the squad communications and 'leader communications'
systems; it also manages the system's sensors and displays, runs
various navigation and situational display functions and as well as
display and power management. The system is powered by
rechargeable
batteries with mission endurance of 6 – 10 hours. The initial
systems were designed with dual processor architecture, but
following initial trials, shifted to a simpler, single processor
system. Another improvement included the shift from Windows based operating
systems to Linux, which proved to be more reliable.
 Land Warrior Electronic
Gear
The intra-squad radio uses a helmet mounted antenna,
operating a wireless local area network, covering up to 1,000 meters
with line-of-sight communications. The Land Warrior system operates in a
soldier-to-soldier wireless network, for short-range data and voice
transmissions. The current system uses the Multi-band
Intra-/Inter-Team Radio (MBITR). The helmet also mounts an Active
Matrix organic light emitting display providing a field of view
equivalent to two 17-inch computer monitors placed in front of the
soldier's eyes. It presents the Daylight Video Scope (DVS) and
Thermal Weapon Scope (TWS), as well as text messages, maps and
satellite images which can be downloaded in about 8 minutes. Maps
are displayed to all team members. Display control and interface are
provided by a mouse and weapon mounted programmable switches. Each
member of the team is identified by an individual Subscriber
Identity Module (SIM) card. The SIMcard also determines the echelon
and role of the user - team, squad or company, commander, sniper,
support team, rifleman etc. Individual members will have access to
a different set of assets and capabilities and automatically get
specific "packages" of information. Commanders can also
use the Commander's Digital
Assistant (CDA) package, which is already fielded with combat
troops on a ruggedized PDA. The system is equipped with 5
channel GPS receiver tracking the soldier's position with
approximate 10 meter resolution. A pedometer augments the GPS
and tracks the movement of the soldier in locations where GPS
coverage is unavailable. The location of each soldier is refreshed
every 30 seconds, and transmitted over the intra-squad network for
situational pictures updates. Two rechargeable batteries are
currently provided for each suite, to power the sensors and systems
for 4 – 6 hours. Batteries are located on the right and left sides
of the soldier's belt. Alternative primary batteries can also be
used for extended missions of up to 10 hours.
 Land Warrior Weapons
The current Land Warrior suits utilizes the M4 Carbine,
equipped with picatinny rail mount for the thermal sight, daylight
video scope (x1.5 – 6 zoom available) and a multifunction laser,
providing target marker, azimuth and rangefinder. The new
XM-8 rifle
could replace M-4 as initial suits are deployed in 2006. Day and night
sights render aiming crosshairs superimposed on the helmet mounted
sight to enable effective non-line of sight weapon's aiming and
target acquisition behind coverage. The weapon has three
programmable buttons for push to talk (PTT), switching screens on
the helmet mounted display and saving snapshot pictures as displayed on the viewer. The weapon is connected to the hub via an
umbilical cable.
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