GREATEST INVENTIONS of 2011


Army’s top 10 inventions emphasize Soldier protection and precision


by Ms. Teresa Mikulsky Purcell and Mr. Dan Lafontaine F 92


or nearly a decade, the Army has recognized the top inventions that boost warfighter effectiveness and sur- vivability, through the U.S. Army Materiel Command’s Army Greatest Inventions program. Te winners for


2011, chosen by a panel of field-grade officers and NCOs with recent combat experience, hone in on technologies and refine- ments that protect Soldiers and provide them with operational precision capabilities in the field.


Te latest winning inventions, which were first fielded in 2011, span a variety of crucial areas, from munitions, machine guns, and precision mortars, to video feeds from unmanned aircraft, to protective gear and vehicle armor. No matter the inven- tion, people working on them shared the same motivation: support the Soldier.


“Te ability of people to work as a team and integrate all of the sophisticated technology in a way that reduces the burden on the Soldier is really how we achieve this leap forward in


Army AL&T Magazine January–March 2013


capability,” said Patti Alameda, Competency Manager for the Mortar and Common Fire Control Systems Division at the U.S. Army Armament Research, Development, and Engineering Center (ARDEC).


CASE IN POINT: EXCALIBUR A good example is Excalibur, cannon-fired projectile.


the world’s first GPS-guided,


“What sparked the development of the Excalibur was that maneuver commanders needed more precision to avoid casual- ties among civilians who might be in the vicinity of a target, or to reduce risk to friendly forces in a close fight,” said Peter DeMasi, the Excalibur Deputy Product Manager for Program Executive Office (PEO) Ammunition’s Project Manager Com- bat Ammunition Systems (PM CAS).


“Tat’s what Excalibur provides, and that means maneuver commanders have for the first time the ability to service


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