The modern soldier needs a combination of technologies to combat 21st-century threats. Similar to our fighting insurgency and terrorism for decades, the US and NATO have had their own share of similar combat including ongoing conflict in Afghanistan in recent years. Indications exist that the western intervention in Syria in near future and in a later time frame even in Iran may well be on the cards.

To achieve superiority over the enemy, the soldiers need integrated set of high-technology uniforms and equipment linked to an array of real-time and archived battlefield information resources. Soldiers will require not only upgraded and more sophisticated versions of existing weapons and equipment but also new types of weapons and equipment that that are likely to become possible as new types and combinations of technologies become viable for battlefield deployment.

Soldier modernisation may be segmented under five heads: command and control, communications, computers and intelligence (C4I); lethality; mobility; survivability; and sustainability. Soldier modernisation market that came into prominence during 1990s was estimated to value at $440 million during year 2008 but has since witnessed exponential growth with India, China and Russia also having joined the race and contributing to 12 major national markets. Emerging conflict in the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region will increase demands further. The last Future Soldier Exhibition took place in October 2012 in Prague (Czech Republic) focusing on research, new technologies and materials, concepts and opportunities for international cooperation in the implementation of the integrated system of the soldier of the future and for securing interoperability of individual components in operations.

Afghanistan as Catalyst

As body bags began mounting in Afghanistan, the need to accelerate soldier modernisation picked up pace. Lessons that started emerging included: excessive burns caused from synthetic uniforms which melted and attach to the skin under extreme heat; need for enhance visibility by night particularly enhanced night vision goggle to increase situational awareness for soldiers on the ground; need for composite soldier training and simulation with more equipment and technology aside from requirements of testing and evaluation; networking troops to include all segments from security to even logistics and transport – the ideal battlefield management system (BMS), etc. Having the right information in the right place, at the right time, meant the difference between life and death. While the US soldier was far ahead in modernisation, European nations including Italy too began focusing on soldier modernisation. The only European soldier modernisation programme which includes a newly developed assault rifle is currently the Italian ‘Soldato Futuro’, the Beretta ARX160 rifle having been tested in live combat in Afghanistan.

Soldato Futuro

‘Soldato Futuro’ is the name of the Italian soldier modernisation programme under the overall Italian Army’s digitisation programme.

Developed by a conglomerate of five companies (Selex Galileo, Larimart, Beretta and Sekur led by Selex Communications), the Soldato Futuro programme went through a technological demonstration phase in 2004, followed by development of three prototypes in 2007, one per each configuration, team leader, grenadier and rifleman. These prototypes were put through extensive trials to incorporate modifications as required. This was followed by a second phase of testing in 2008. More recently, with signing of the contract for 92 preproduction sets sometime back, Soldato Futuro entered the production phase and has been utilised in Afghanistan by Italian troops.

Soldato Futuro is central to command and control and battlefield management of ground troops in Italian Army. The programme’s software runs on a small hand-held computer using a standard man machine interface (MMI) four-inch touch screen which allows the user to receive and send pre-formatted messages, display digital maps, navigation and GPS grids. At the section commander level, the touch screen is an eight-inch one. Electronic components like the GPS along with the computer and batteries are installed on the soldier’s back and linked through an “e-vest” that has inbuilt connecting cables. In order to minimise electromagnetic signature and curtail enemy jamming, wireless links having been reduced to the minimum. The command and control software was modified taking into account feedback from the trial phases, enhancing systems stability and improving the electromagnetic compatibility of various system components. The helmet-mounted display (HMD) displays information coming through the computer or the image provided by the low level TV (LLTV) camera also mounted on the helmet. The subsystem is known as night mobility subsystem (NIMOS). The headset including the microphone is linked to the communication hub while interestingly a blood-pressure measurement system fixed to the soldier’s ear provides automatic health monitoring. The individual pocket radio (IPR) operates in the 800-900 MHz range and has a maximum range of 1,300 metres under ideal conditions. The IPR ensures communications within the infantry section and allows the section commander to communicate to the section’s vehicle and through the vehicle’s radio, to higher command echelons. Since the IPR’s range decreases in urban areas, options considered are adoption of an expendable node to be left on the ground in order to provide a better coverage of the area since reduction in frequency (to 400 MHz) would be problematic with scarce spectrum availability besides other radios working in same frequency installed on board vehicles.

The Beretta ARX 160 assault rifle of 5.56mm is integral to Soldato Futuro. It is a gas-operated weapon with a rotating bolt with seven lugs. The rifle butt can be folded and adjusted for four different positions. Significantly, it does not require any lubricant, which implies that stoppages are drastically reduced. Provision exists for a 10-inch, 12-inch and 16-inch barrel that can be interchanged in about five seconds. Compared to most current assault rifles, in which the selector (for single shot, semi-automatic or fully automatic mode) rotates 180 degrees, selector of the ARX160 rotates only 82 degrees, saving time. The weapon can be quickly reversed from right-hand to left-hand mode, a feature especially of advantage in urban combat situations. Weight with the unloaded weapon with 16-inch barrel is less than three kilograms.

Soltado Futuro also has an integrated GLX 160 single-shot grenade launcher and two aiming systems, the Aspis individual combat weapon system and the Scorpio grenade launcher fire control system. The Aspis features an IR camera working with a 320 x 240 uncooled sensor and a 20 x 15 degrees field of view, a daylight black and white TV camera with a 640 x 480 sensor and a 10 x 7.5 degrees field of view, a laser pointer with visible and IR mode, and a red dot sight. All these functions are packed into a sight which weighs less than one kg with batteries and which image can be send to the soldier’s HMD via blue-tooth link (with cable back-up).

The grenade launcher can be fixed underneath the rifle barrel while the aiming system is fixed on the left equipped with a laser rangefinder and a ballistic computer which allows it to obtain the elevation to hit a static target in less than one second and elevation and lead angle against a moving target in less than three seconds. The rangefinder has a range of 400 metres allowing increased accuracy in firing grenade. The rifle presently uses NATO 4179 STANAG magazines though Beretta has also developed a polymeric magazine which can be used without any modification and weighs only 120 grams (empty) compared to 180 grams/240 grams of the aluminium/steel magazine. The overall low weight of the rifle is because polymeric material has been used for many components. The single-shot grenade launcher itself weighs below one kg. The Beretta ARX160 can be field stripped without any tools and the rifle is subdivided in just three components. No pins are used for assembly, the system relying solely on joints. The GLX 160 grenade launcher will be issued to the two soldiers of per Italian Army infantry section. The section commander will be equipped with the Lynx target acquisition system that identifies the target, computes it and passes the picture and grids to higher echelons via Soltado Futuro. It features an uncooled IR camera with the same sensor used in the Aspis but with a 12 x 9 degree field of view, a colour daylight TV camera with an 8 x 7 degree field of view, a laser rangefinder with a 4,000 metres range, a digital magnetic compass and a GPS receiver, all told weighing less than 1.9 kgs.

Soltado Futuro also reportedly includes many other items in fields of NBC protection, ballistic protection and clothing. Field tests are on presently and many possibilities exist, such as merging the combat vest with the e-vest. The two piece NBC protection suit may eventually be made one piece. Breathing fabric and ballistic eyewear are also under consideration.

Conclusion

Today’s infantryman has to be a man-machine-technology mix, a weapon platform with adequate firepower, self-protection, nightfighting capability and mobility. He should have the ability to see the enemy or adversary much before he himself gets spotted and be networked at required level, enabling him to effectively respond to any situation in real/near real time. The need is to consider what is the best option to make sure they are as prepared as possible, without being overloaded and unable to function at full effectiveness? The Indian Army’s F-INSAS programme is to ensure a dramatic increase in lethality, survivability and mobility while making the infantry soldier “a selfcontained fighting machine” and is based on the Land Warrior system of the US Army and Future Soldier Programmes of other nations. This article on Soldato Futuro Programme of the Italian Army is in the same context for drawing its strengths as deemed necessary.

The author was a veteran Lieutenant General of the Indian Army