Ambush Alley Games Forum

[Gen.Steiner]

Hallo all.

Make of this what you will - earlier this year my job was that of a defence industry analyst. I projected spending and projects for the global military market over the next 10-20 years, and in so doing I made some, frankly un-nerving, discoveries and came to the following conclusion:

Barring serious problems with the technology, the US Armed Forces will be attempting to equip their SOF with powered armour units by 2020-2025, and then roll that out to their 'line' units by 2030 ish.

A future US Army squad will consist of no more than four soldiers in powered armour with C4ISTAR kit that makes Land Warrior (or whatever they're calling it now) look like a steam-powered typewriter. They will be supported by a wide variety of drones, both in the air and on land, of differing roles and sizes.

Consider this:

Currently, US (and British, and French, etc) troops can take and distribute photos, text messages, and so on, which constantly update the command network and each other on areas cleared, enemies located, and IEDs found, etc. This has increased reaction times, improved their ability to fight, and begun the process of the truly integrated all-arms battlefield, whereby an infantryman can call in an airstrike which is further updated in realtime by a nearby tank unit; the infantryman can see the result of the strike just as the pilot and the tankers can see what the infantryman sees. Weapons have optic links that enable them to be aimed and fired accurately from around corners (hold rifle around corner, see what the rifle sees, aim and fire) or behind cover, and drones get smaller and more powerful all the time.

Now consider that the US is making great headway in terms of exoskeletal powered suit development, 'liquid' body armour (lightweight but ultra-strong), and even more advanced C4ISTAR gear. It really won't be long before powered exoskeletons are issued, and not long after that before they're armoured and the US Army's infantrymen become more akin to mini IFVs than soldiers.

It is likely that the M4/M16 would be replaced by larger, more powerful weapons as the powered soldier can carry more, move faster, and hit harder. Equally, drones controlled by each soldier from integral C4 gear would provide instant realtime intelligence updates, anti-armour capability, or IED disposal equipment.

I suggest that by 2030 or 2040 at the latest a US squad would look like this:

SGT in powered armour
CPL in powered armour
PVT x2 in powered armour
8+ drones - UAVs, robots with M249s or other support weapons, etc

In response, of course, militias and poorer armies would do well to develop IR masking techniques, widespread use of concealed bombs, and an increased proliferation in shoulder-launched AT weapons.

The US will not give up its dream of Total Spectrum Dominance easily, regardless of the economic situation. Tomorrow's War really will have powered armour units, and if things go as they're projected to, it could well be the case that before the middle of this century even the National Guard will have some powered armour assets (probably only in Mech or Armoured NG units).
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[jim_keats]

Excellent write up...I can't wait for Tomorrow's War!

Time to start building up my "mech" army.

I think that I'll do TW in 15mm do I can have "bigger" battles!
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I could agree with you...but then we'd BOTH be wrong.

[zaapark]

"The Next 100 yrs" by George Friedman agrees with Gen. Steiner. The next major war in Europe with be fought over "power" which will be needed to run the armored infantry and space based weapons of the future. If anyone is looking for some ideas for some TW scenarios then I would suggest reading the chapters about the next big war.
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chris

2042 English Civil War - The small war no one bothered to show up for.

[Gen.Steiner]

Ha! I'm glad my analysis matches someone else's. Of course, as with all futurology, we'll have missed the real major advances, the ones that come out of left-field. Like digitalisation, miniaturisation and so on and so forth.

But I definitely see a much larger role for unmanned combat vehicles and 'robot soldiers' - probably better termed 'remote control soldiers' (REMCONSOL?). At least in 1st World armies - US in particular.
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Play up, play up, and play the game