SUPPORTING THE FUTURE FORCE
By applying a systems approach to the Soldier and squad, we will achieve significant efficiencies and enable and encourage inno- vation by our industry partners, resulting in a more lethal and effective combat platform. In addition, ASA will enable speed of delivery for new capabilities to ensure that we keep pace with emerging threats.
Te Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) will be the first program to leverage the new architecture. IVAS is among the first systems approved as a middle-tier acquisition prototyp- ing program, which provides streamlined authorities related to requirements and DOD 5000 policy.
Te IVAS program provides enhanced situational awareness compared with current capability, resulting in better lethality, mobility and survivability for the Soldier. It does this through the fusion of advanced sensors, waveguide heads-up display tech- nology, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, and integration with the tactical network and the Soldier’s weapon sight. It is being designed so that Soldiers can fight, rehearse and train on the same equipment, supported by augmented reality and lever- aging the synthetic training environment being developed by the Synthetic Training Environment Cross-Functional Team.
THE CLOSE COMBAT SQUAD ENVIRONMENT ASA’s quantitative assessment of new capabilities is being executed through the Soldier Performance Module, an iterative, three- pronged, “crawl, walk, run” approach leveraging the Soldier Squad Performance Research Institute in Natick, Massachu- setts; the Soldier Integration Facility being built at Fort Belvoir, Virginia; and the Maneuver Battle Lab at Fort Benning, Geor- gia. Tis close combat squad development environment is also being done in close partnership with the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Army Research Laboratory, the CCDC C5ISR Center and industry.
Te Soldier Squad Performance Research Institute will operate in a controlled laboratory environment. It will validate perfor- mance and training approaches and optimize the measures of performance associated with Soldier and squad overmatch. Te Soldier Integration Facility will operationalize the technical solu- tion to help determine its operational utility in addressing Soldier capability gaps. Again, the intent is to optimize Soldier and squad performance and effectiveness. Finally, full operational validation will occur at the Maneuver Battle Lab, using an experimentation force and addressing the full spectrum of doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, personnel and facil- ities solutions.
What we learn from each stage will then be inserted back into the cycle as required to update and refine requirements and improve solutions, eventually resulting in the optimal capability for the Soldier and squad. Te architecture sets the framework and stan- dards for how we insert and integrate new capabilities in this assessment process.
LIGHTENING THE LOAD Overall, the architecture’s purpose is to create a squad architec- ture that enables the rapid but deliberate delivery of integrated capabilities to the force, initially focused on close-combat forma- tions, to ensure a lethal overmatch against current and future threats.
Te adaptive squad architecture will also allow the Army to make more informed decisions on upgrading or replacing equipment. It also will provide a single, authoritative technical database of all squad equipment and assist in analyzing, defining and maintain- ing interfaces, which will make it possible to manage the squad as an integrated platform. Leveraging standard interface proto- cols, the ASA will specify a set of common hardware requirements, networks and connections. Tis will allow the creation of a system that will link, interoperate and be interchangeable as new tech- nologies and mission needs arise. It also will reduce the weight that Soldiers bear. “We are overburdening our Soldiers,” Gerstein said. “We must find a method to consider the many aspects of developing equipment which alleviates that overburdening.” By taking a systems approach to Soldier load, we are able to allocate size, weight and power across the subcomponents to further opti- mize mobility, effectiveness and, ultimately, lethality.
Howell explained that the initiative was a response to the chal- lenge the Army has had in the past with this task, historically assessing the individual Soldier’s load rather than the load inte- grated across the squad. Te focus of the Close Combat Lethality Task Force, by contrast, “is how to improve the lethality, surviv- ability, resilience and readiness of close combat formations in the Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command. Much of the challenge associated with this task comes from the fact that infantry squads have never been viewed as a platform and addressed in a holistic manner,” he said.
Across DOD, Howell noted, “the services manage their pacing platforms, such as combat aircraft or tanks, as systems to ensure that critical variables such as weight, power, protection and communication are all optimized for that system. We absolutely must do the same for the close-combat Soldier and squad.” By taking a centralized approach to power and processing, applying
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