High-tech for the infantery

The current battlefields are dominated by new technologies. Even the normal infantryman nowadays gets a lot of high-tech equipment. Here ar the current high end deices the US Army plans to adopt or already has adopted for their soldiers.

Black Hornet

The Army has fielded more than 5,000 Black Hornets, also called the Soldier Borne Sensor system, across the force since 2019. The short-range reconnaissance device is a minidrone, a palm-sized helicopter that troops can use to conduct a quick reconnaissance or peek inside a building.

Soldiers with the 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment were one of the first operational units to deploy with the minidrone when they took them to Afghanistan in 2019. The original device had an estimated 25-minute flight time and could travel 1,000 to 1,500 meters. FLIR Systems won the full $40 million contract in 2019. An upgraded version will start to be fielded in the summer of 2025.

Laser Target Locator Module II

The Laser Target Locator Module II (LTLM II) is a smaller, lighter version of its predecessor that dismounted soldiers use for targeting data regardless of weather conditions. Paratroopers with the Airborne and Special Operations Test Directorate and the 82nd Airborne Division tested the new version of the device in 2018 as the Army sought to reduce the load on dismounted troops.

Since 2018 the US Army has fielded 6,000 systems. Those systems have gone to cavalry scouts and infantry platoons within the Army’s brigade combat teams. Ultimately, up to 12.464 LTLM II systems should get required.

Joint Effects Targeting System

The Joint Effects Targeting System, or JETS, is a man-portable, handheld target observation, location and designation system for day or night use in all weather conditions. Prior to the system’s fielding, dismounted soldiers could take an average of 15 to 20 minutes to locate, identify and send targeting information to a shooter. With JETS, a soldier can now do the same tasks in a couple of minutes.

The existing system weighs less than 19 pounds, about half the weight of its predecessor. Soldiers can use the 6-pound handheld portion of the device to mark targets. The Army began fielding JETS with the 75th Ranger Regiment in July 2020. 278 systems are already fielded, with another 498 on the way. That version, JETS II, will also be M-code compatible. Elbit Systems of America and Leonardo DRS are currently competing for the contract. The Army expects to finish fielding the total 3,550 sets it has planned for the force.

STUB Battery

As any soldier who’s operates the Army’s many electronic systems knows, it seems like each one has its own type of battery. The Army is working to address the challenge posed by the variety of military equipment battery types. One part of that project is the Small Tactical Universal Battery, or STUB, program.

The Army announced research into such a solution in 2021. The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command’s C5ISR Center is developing prototypes of the battery. If those prototypes are successful in testing, the Army could begin fielding these universal batteries as early as fiscal 2025.

Nett Warrior

The Army has fielded about half of the Nett Warrior smartphone-based soldier tools to the force so far. The Android software-run device operates on a Samsung Galaxy S20 phone. The phone is typically mounted on the user’s chest for quick reference to mapping tools, chat functions and other situational awareness needs.

In 2023, the Army Software Factory, part of Army Future Command, began adding soldier-built and Army-reviewed applications for use on Nett Warrior through its Watchtower “app store.” The newer Samsung Galaxy S23 tactical-edition smartphone is currently tested as the next end-user device for Nett Warrior.

Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular

The Enhanced Night Vision Goggle-Binocular, or ENVG-B, is the first widely fielded Army binocular night vision device. For decades, front-line soldiers simply had to deal with the depth perception problems presented by monocular devices, mainly the PVS-14. The Army fielded some early systems in recent years but started the ENVG-B program of record — meaning the gear will be supported as part of Army maintenance, inventory and sustainment — in September 2023. Since then, the service has fielded an estimated 4,000 systems to three infantry brigade combat teams.

In November the Army has scheduled for half, or 2,000, of those fielded units to come offline for upgrades. Those will return to the brigade combat teams in 2025 with an extended, rechargeable battery that can operate for up to 20 hours. Currently, the system can run for under eight hours, or less than three hours while connected to Nett Warrior software.

Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted and Improved Night/Day Observation Device

For snipers, the Improved Night/Day Observation Device (INOD) will be handed out starting in December. The newest version of the INOD has already reached special operations forces snipers. The device mounts in front of the existing Small Tactical Optical Rifle Mounted (STORM) optic on the Precision Sniper Rifle to give shooters a thermal capability. With the thermal INOD device, shooters can see through smoke, fog and even some light barriers to find their target’s heat.

Also, STORM gets upgraded to the STORM II version, which allows shooters to receive ballistic information direct into their view in the rifle’s scope. Like INOD, STORM II is slated for a December fielding. Otherwise, shooters would have to take their eye off the target to check a separate device for that information. The atmospherics matter because shooters need to adjust fire based on wind, temperature, humidity and other factors.

Moving the eye from the scope matters because searching for the target, which may have moved, again slows snipers’ ability to engage a target and quickly move before being targeted themselves.

The Army currently plans to field at least 6,000 STORM II systems and 3,000 INOD systems across the force.