Inspirational: the state of the uniform

[Inso]

I think that there will always be a need for human involvement. When push comes to shove, if someone is taking the responsibility, they would never trust judgement to anything other than a human. Would a robot be capable of making the right choice when detonating a nuclear device on a distant continent?

As a result, I think that the logistic support that Akula mentioned is probably the way it will go. Highly protected individuals with lots of logistics at their disposal.

... so I guess we've talked ourselves into building powered armour again

[former user]

the culture novels are a very good point here

however, the a priori implication there is that they are kind of "good dictator", which is also a good criticism on the concept itself in the novels. apart from the deus ex machina automatism in storytelling

[Brummie]

It may be worth considering how other technologies are moving a long that could dictate how future wars will be fought; to an extent. In truth I don't see them being fought with any big difference in how they are fought today, the impacts technology has on war is limited, especially when its only limited to a select group of states/organisations.

Gun technology for instance has practically reached a dead end; aside from occasional nifty changes to the size of the bullet, or the barrel etc, a Gun from 60/70 years ago is just as good as a gun today. The only major leaps are the things you can attach to it or the materials you can use to make them. Although many could argue the whole thing with making them out of plastic etc, instead of metal is a step in the wrong direction, as similar to having high-tech tanks and jets, they tend to require a lot of maintenance and support. If that support vanishes or diminishes in anyway then the amount of time your troops can spend operating in the field drops rapidly. Whereas the blokes with the trusty AK, eating berries, suddenly have the upper hand.

Drones would suffer from a similar problem; if these vehicles are high maintenance, unless you have a workshop that can provide short-term refuelling and repairs then whats the point?? They may be able to give your guys some extra eyes in the sky, or provide extra firepower and fill in on dangerous roles to reduce the chance one of your troopers gets killed, but for how long?? Machines don't have any sort of self-preservation, and even if piloted by a human, there is not the risk you will be harmed so you may not be as careful with a billion $$$$ piece of kit as you would with your life. I know you can get some real cheapo Drones; Hamas etc have been reported using them, but I'm supposing their range and what their capable of is limited.

As for big combat suits, if the tech will ever be there its a way off.
I like how they are used in Planetside 2; Effectively a (fairly) mobile weapons platform, that either supplements or provides a temporary replacement for deployable weapons, is intimidating, and a right pain in close quarters. However it isn't invincible; guys with assault rifles can take it out fairly quickly with good co-ordination, and it still needs to use cover. Although it is covered in armour that protects it from a reasonable amount of fire/shrapnel etc that would kill other men, getting caught out in the open in it is fatal.

I think future body armour though would lean more towards, monitoring a soldiers health, giving feedback to H.Q about how he/she is handling the environment etc, and maybe, if that person is injured their suit could even provide limited medical care that keeps them alive just that bit longer for medics to intervene/get them to a hospital.

There will be no room for fatties though.

[former user]

Yes, since the invention of rifled barrels actually 
or to be more precise, nitro-propellant and modern metallurgy too
but ethics should have evolved since then,or not?

[Brummie]

Yes, since the invention of rifled barrels actually 
or to be more precise, nitro-propellant and modern metallurgy too
but ethics should have evolved since then,or not?

I don't think our ethics have evolved. Fluctuated is probably the best way to describe it??

[Ray Rivers]

The problem with "remote" drones is that in the not too far future they will be electronically countered. This means, due to the "man in the loop" requirement, that that man will have to be a lot closer than a continent away, as they are today.

Eventually I believe that the future model of warfare will evolve into a situation in which you have a manned platform which controls a "squad", "flight" or "group" of machines be that ground, air or sea... a Queen Bee kinda concept with the Queen Bee being a human platform. The "bees" (machines) will provide the "sensors" for information gathering the Queen requires to base decisions, be that maneuver or combat.

This will be easier to implement for air and naval forces than ground forces... but eventual all services will move to this model.

The question than devolves into how close does the Queen need to be to the bees. Answer that question and you then determine whether or not a human in power armor is a requirement. Something tells me that this will be too cumbersome and vulnerable and as such some other means will be used to control ground "bees."

Perhaps the Queen will also be a machine which relays real time information to a human command component stationed close to the fight but not within its reach.

The future, however, most assuredly is not super men, genetically modified and clad in power armor...

[robh]

For an entertaining read of how "technological" warfare may become have a look at "The Eylau Sequence", covers robotics, auto systems and nanotech weapons. Possibly a bit "sci fi" at the moment but still (IMHO) a potential development route.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0080XZNUQ

Written by Jim Burbeck the guy behind War Times Journal.  It is the first part of a series. There is a set of wargame rules and some amazing gaming models that work with it.

[Brummie]

I do not wish to be contentious but in a post cold war world will the opponents of the West have the technology to outsmart the smart weapons arrayed against them?

A mujaheddin with his AK 47 can take pot shots at a drone but he is unlikely to be able to "jam" it. I know with the proliferation of technology it may soon be possible to do that by mobile phone but won't the military be ahead of that? Well the Arms Dealers certainly will! And sell it.

If the wars ahead are to be  technology v fanaticism then the body count will be in favour of tech but the war may go the other way? Troubled times and I am glad I will not be around to see it.

Technology doesn't win wars though. I think thats the big issue everyone skips around. It will only be there for as long as the resources and money is available to develop and make it; and even then it will only happen if people -think- it is a worthwhile investment.

These things will only exist for as long as we have the means to keep them going. Given that current way of life is extremely unsustainable anyway in the longterm, the structures that we currently have that enable us to have these things may just vanish in the future, and we will have to go back to the drawing board and develop new forms of technology.

[Ray Rivers]

These things will only exist for as long as we have the means to keep them going. Given that current way of life is extremely unsustainable anyway in the longterm, the structures that we currently have that enable us to have these things may just vanish in the future, and we will have to go back to the drawing board and develop new forms of technology.

We are in the process of entering into a new era due to rapid advances in multiple technologies. The "old way" is being destroyed to make room for the "new way." Out current way of life is changing due to these advances as, for example, robotics replace humans. What the "new way" will look like is something that folks really haven't come to terms with as yet and indeed at the present all efforts seem to be aimed at preserving the "old way" at all costs.

Some say "watch Japan" to get a glimpse at how the "new way" will take shape as demographically their population is declining whiling technologically it is moving rapidly forward.

[Ray Rivers]

Check this out...

German Gladius Combat System

[Elbows]

The stuff is all interesting in theory, but the simple fact is: cost.

You're more likely to see back-rank logistics guys wearing power suits before the grunts on the frontline are.