European Overwatch
Jean-Pierre Housson provides an overview of the recent
history of Europe’s five largest soldier modernisation programmes
As a debate develops within NATO about the
infantryman of the future, it’s interesting to compare
the technical solutions of the competing projects,
and to evaluate the different European programmes.

The Soldato Futuro section commander has the use of a target acquisition unit
(UAB or Unita Acquisizione Bersagli) with binoculars featuring bi-field optics
(diurnal channel and thermal night channel), laser rangefinder
and integral
compass.
© Paolo Volpini
FIST
The British programme for the soldier of the future, FIST
(Future Integrated Soldier Technology), is the longest-running
and most expensive of the European programmes currently
under way. Work on its design started in 1994, and funds
have been allocated from 2009-2010 until 2015, with 2020
fixed as target year for full operational capacity. The
quantitative aim is to equip 30.000 to 35.000 soldiers until
2015/20. The contract was awarded to Qinetic and Thales
UK. In 2003, Thales UK won a contract worth €30 million to
carry out design evaluations of an initial version, FIST V1.0
(from 2003 to 2005) and an improved version FIST V2.0
(2005-2007). The initial tests were delayed by several
months because the designated units had been deployed in
Iraq and Afghanistan. Moreover a large-scale test, carried out
in the autumn of 2005, produced inconclusive results. This
led to an overspend of £7 million, the assigned budget for
the evaluation phase having increased from £26 million to
£33 million. A decision on the launch date of the production
phase has been deferred, and the initial operational capacity
is now expected to be reached at the end of 2010.
The FIST concept covers five major areas: C4I,
lethality, mobility, survivability and sustainability. The soldier
equipped with the FIST kit is an element integrated into a
system of systems, in the broader concept of networkcentred
operations . At the sub-system level of
communications, the soldier will be able to communicate up
to company level by means of an encrypted short-range
radio, while at higher levels communication will be provided
by a Bowman integrated combat radio system. The patrol
leader’s radio will permit communication with the advanced
operational base. The system network will guarantee
operational continuity by automatically redirecting
communications when the connection is broken – when a
soldier goes over a peak, for example. Vocal and telematic
communications will be transmitted directly to the soldier,
or relayed by UAV from headquarters, which will download
orders, data and images of the field of battle supplied by
forward observers, or airborne/satellite-based sensors and
surveillance tools. The soldier will also have a GPS at his
disposition, and a dead reckoning module and a map
projection system. The weapons consist of an SA80 assault
rifle, supplemented, where necessary, by a grenade
launcher type. Firing, observation and target acquisition, as
well as munitions, all have their own sub-systems, designed
to increase the lethality of the combatant. Battledress and
protective wear, designed with a particular attention to
comfort, resistance, camouflage and mobility, incorporate
integrated electronic systems, with cables connecting the
various subsystems to their energy sources.
IdZ
Launched at the end of the 1990’s, the German programme
for the infantryman of the future, IdZ (Infanterist der Zukunft),
entered its pre-deployment phase in 2006. An early version
(IdZ-7) having been tested in Kosovo since 2002, the
Minister of Defence signed a contract in September 2006
with Rheinmetall for the development of an improved or
«extended» version, known as IdZ-ES (IdZ Enhanced System).
Rheinmetall committed itself to supplying two system
demonstrators in 2008, with mass production to start in
2009. Like its European counterparts, lIdZ-ES has three
major functions: protection; situational awareness;
communications and arms systems. The modular
communication system, entirely digitised, enables voice,
data and video transmission. A GPS system with integrated
digital display supplies a representation of the situation on
the ground in real time, which can thus be tracked at all
levels of command. Moreover the interconnection of the
command unit, controls, communications and data
processing (IC4U) allows for the exchange of information in
real time between the infantrymen, the section vehicle and
the affected networks. The contract also envisages the
development of a wide range of sensors for use in firingcontrol
and mine-detection, as well as the integration of the
IdZ-ES kit technology in various armoured tank systems (IFV
Puma, VTT Boxer, etc.).
Rheinmetall is also working in collaboration with other
partners on a project to devise a new helmet, equipped
with a visor (gun sight), and also on a system permitting
the soldier’s state of health to be monitored. The IdZ-ES kit
includes an H&K type G-36 assault rifle fitted with a laser
device, a C4I system integrated into the combat jacket,
and several sub-systems including ballistic protection and
NBC and night vision etc. One important sub-system is the
Thales NavICom C4I, which supplies the position of the
soldier and his comrades, the location of mine-fields
previously identified by other sensors, and targets including
their co-ordinates and trajectory, and the presence of
opposing, friendly or neutral forces, all the while ensuring
secure communications and permitting the exchange of
information between the soldier, the different levels of
command and control at the rear.
COMFUT
On 18th September 2006, the Spanish Minister of Defence
signed a contract with EADS-CASA for the development
and initial production of COMFUT (COMbatiente FUTuro).
The contract, worth €24,5 million over three years, is for
the design, development and production of a set of 36
units to equip three sections of twelve soldiers (the first 12
kits were delivered at the end of 2007). At the conclusion
of this phase, EADS-CASA anticipates an initial order of
minimum 7000 units between 2009 and 2012/13.
COMFUT is characterised by a C2 system of command
and control in real time, supplied to each member of the
unit, consisting of a portable computer, a weapon/helmet
connection (HK G-36), a camera mounted inside the
helmet, night-vision sensors, an equipped bullet-proof vest
(radio, batteries, range-finder etc.) with integrated
rucksack, and battledress with reduced IR to guarantee
thermal stability. The C2 system will supply essential
requirements such as situational awareness, the position of
unit members and of the target. COMFUT will be
integrated into various armoured vehicles (Pizarro,
VAMTAC, etc.). The C2 system is being designed and
developed by private industrial holding company GMV
(Grupo Mecanica de Vuelo).
FELIN
The French programme, FELIN (Fantassin à Équipements et
Liaisons Intégrés), launched in 2001, was then entrusted
to SAGEM, who signed a contract with the DGA (Direction
Générale de l’Armement) in March 2004. Compared to the
other European programmes, this contract shows a
marked difference with regard to the size of the allocated
budget: it covers the development, industrialisation and
mass production of 31,445 individual systems, as well as
their maintenance to operational standard for a two-year
period, at a cost of over 800 millions euros spread over
the period from 2004 to 2007/2008. The first equipment
was delivered for testing and tried out during an eight-week
period, from January to March 2007. The DGA plans to
introduce FELIN into army units from 2008. An improved
FELIN system (FELIN V2) is also on the drawing board for
the near future, from 2010 to 2015.
FELIN is one element in Bulle Opérationnelle
Aéroterrestre (BOA), a system of systems including
terrestrial and airborne components of C2, integrated into
a network. Like its European counterparts, FELIN is also
integrated into terrestrial vehicles which are part of BOA,
such as the new VBCI from GIAT. FELIN comprises three
major systems: the individual system, which comprises 6
six sub-systems (clothing and protection, portable
electronic platform or PEP, personal energy sources,
equipped weapons, helmet and information network) ;
specific systems including the SIT (Système d’Information
Terminal) for the disembarked combatant, with its
communications interface panel case (BIC) and IR multifunction
medium-range binoculars; collective systems
including personal battery-recharging kits and vehicle kits
to provide energy to embedded troops. FELIN aims to
significantly improve the infantryman’s capabilities and
responsiveness in carrying out reflex actions: the
combatant will be able to engage with observed targets by
day or night and in real time. Within an infantry division, it
will facilitate the organisation of communication networks,
and its capacity to transmit data and video images, as well
as radiotelegraphy, will allow for an increased rate of
activity. FELIN is also designed to improve ballistic
protection and NBC for combatants, without reducing their
operational efficiency.
Soldato Futuro
The Italian programme, Soldato Futuro was initially
conceived in a framework of co-operation with Germany;
this did not materialise, due to differences of opinion
regarding both concept and time schedule. Soldato Futuro
is now in the process of being deployed for
experimentation. The research and development phase
was carried out from 2001 to 2006, at a cost of 18
million euros (the unit cost of an individual kit is estimated
to be 30,000 euros). The development and production of
the system have been entrusted to a consortium led by
Selex Communications (Finmeccanica Group). Investment
has been assigned for mass production to begin in 2008,
with a first evaluation scheduled between 2010 and 2012.
The Italian programme is presented as an open, modular
and flexible combatant system, capable of being rapidly
reconfigured so as to adapt to future technological
developments, and to the operational needs of the
situation at hand, while being compatible with the systems
of allied countries. The system exists in three versions - for
section commander, gunner, and grenadier – with a
common base and modules which are specific to each
function. The C2 system is common to all three versions,
featuring the classic functions of navigation, orientation
and data exchange.
The weaponry comprises a new Beretta assault rifle
which is light and modular, and may be supplemented by a
40 mm grenade-launcher. The weapon comes complete
with a ICWS optronic aiming system (Individual Combat
Weapon System), enabling the infantryman to discover,
identify and engage targets in all weathers, day and night.
This sub-system has a wireless connection to the C2
system, which differentiates it from the other European
systems, which have cabled sub-systems. The captured
images are thus accessible to the section commander and
to troops at the rear. The grenade-launcher also features
an innovative firing-system with a ballistic calculator with
laser range-finder. The section commander also has the
use of a target acquisition unit (UAB or Unita Acquisizione
Bersagli) with binoculars featuring bi-field optics (diurnal
channel and thermal night channel), laser range-finder and
integral compass. The clothing and protection will include a
combat jacket combined with a universal support module,
for the different sub-systems equipping the Soldato Futuro.
The main objective is to be as invisible as possible, by
exploiting camouflage adapted to the environment or antidetection
fibres The outfits will also benefit from an
increased NBC protection factor, thanks to the use of
fibres impregnated with active carbon. As for electricity
supply, the batteries will run on methanol, with all systems
being recharged via a battery pack, or by being connected
directly to external supply systems (vehicles, etc.). ■ |