“Rheinmetall Defence has signed a contract with the German Federal Agency for Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) for the delivery of the Gladius soldier system for Germany’s armed forces,” army-technology.com reports. “Which will be deployed in Afghanistan.” Quite why the BWB decided to name the world’s most advanced sharp end infantry information system after a dumb ass (if effective) Roman sword is beyond me. Something to do with Peter Graves’ line to little Johnny in Airplane? Anyway . . .
The Gladius is an advanced system designed to further expand the capabilities of the currently fielded IdZ system (Infanterist der Zukunft = “Infantryman of the Future”) with particular regard to networking, command and control and combat effectiveness.
I know, I know: WTF is it? A bunch of stuff, it seems. More military geek speak in three, two, one . . .
The system brings the ten-man infantry section and vehicle into the network-enabled operational loop, consisting of reconnaissance, command and control components and weapons; it will allow the exchange of information and sharing of situational awareness for conducting operations.
Equipped with a GPS and inertial navigation system (INS) and a magnetic compass, the system provides the individual soldiers with access to all relevant data about the tactical situation and position of friendly forces, as well as mission and system status in the battlefield.
It prevents detection in the visual and infrared spectrum, in addition to providing enhanced protection against biological and chemical agents, as well as from the weather even in extreme climates.
Imagine an enemy capable of sending false information to IdZ ground troops. (I dizzy too.) Now imagine they speak German. Just sayin’.
defencetalk.com is sold; not that they’re paying €130m for the kit (the equivalent of one half of one Greek bank). They like the Gladius get-up at least to the point where they’re happy to republish the manufacturer’s press release.
More than just the sum of its parts, the Gladius system puts Bundeswehr infantrymen on the global cutting edge, placing them ahead of their peers in terms of networking capabilities, command and control, and operational efficiency.
What about killing people? Does Gladius help with that too? Just curious.