Posted on 03/24/2002 2:52:23 PM PST by What Is Ain't
MARINE CORPS BASE QUANTICO, Va. — They are boys with their toys.
But at the Marine Corps’ Warfighting Lab, their toys might one day win a battle or save a life.
Amid the small rose-colored cubicles on the second floor of the brick Newlin building sit about 170 of the most brilliant minds working for the Marine Corps.
They’re not clad in lab coats, there are no boiling beakers, but they hash out devices incorporating the newest technological advances and plan warfighting games to develop lifesaving combat tactics.
When it comes to some of the toys, one thing is important: Size does matter. Smaller is better.
"These have got to be able to be used in the field and carried by the Marines," said Col. Barry Ford, chief of the Marine Corps’ Warfighting Laboratory in Virginia. Batteries are lighter and cameras are smaller.
What goes on both in the cubicles and actual laboratories around the country is just plain cool, Ford said.
Like the Dragon Eye, a toy-sized unmanned aerial vehicle small and light enough to fit in a Marine’s rucksack. While engineers and designers are working with about eight prototypes, in general the UAV weighs about 4 pounds, comes in five pieces and can be assembled in the field. Each battery-powered device, equipped with both day- and night-vision cameras, will cost about $8,000.
For now, they can fly high above an enemy, collecting data from tiny camera lenses that can see in all directions. Soon, the small planes will be equipped with chemical and biological "sniffers," or devices that will detect the harmful agents, Ford said.
They’re building a shrinkable Humvee with independent motors in each of the wheels and sturdy enough to carry a cannon.
Or take the Mobile Fire Support System, a rifled 120 mm mortar system that can be fired remotely using its own global positioning satellite system, field radio and fire control computer.
Fake bricks and stones equipped with listening and sensing devices can be planted in enemy territory. Drones can be tossed like grenades into a building and survey a room with cameras before a Marine ever steps foot inside.
Scientists, engineers and leaders don’t get wrapped up in too many projects, he said. They don’t have the time or the money. The lab’s budget is about $40 million a year, the smallest of all the services by a factor of 10.
"We see a lot of people come in saying they’ve got a great widget," Ford said. "But only about 20 percent of the time do we say ‘Holy moly, you do have a good widget.’"
And while each of the services has its own version of the warfighting labs, the Marine Corps’ is unique in that it’s the only service with an experimental headquarters, said Ford, a Cobra helicopter pilot by trade with 27 years in the service.
Other branches of the military might be working on hundreds of projects at a time. The MCWL has dwindled the number to about 20. On good year, the number is bumped to 25.
"We’re a small battle lab and we have to pick and choose our battles, as they say," Ford said.
Much of the focus is on urban warfare, knowing that 80 percent of the world’s wars will be fought in cities and urban areas in the future.
Not surprisingly, their primary focus is bringing Marines home alive.
"We have seen casualty rates as high as 75 percent per day per unit, like in Mogadishu [Somalia]," Ford said. "That is outrageously too high. The average is 30 percent per day per unit. Even that is too much. We want our guys combat-effective and to come home alive. Our training, for now, aims to get that number down to 12 to 15 percent."
. . . would be a great way to gather targeting info . . .
LOL
And the reason is? Can you say Leftist? Political correctness? In WWII in Europe, Our Army would come out of the woodline and be shot at by Germans on the edge of the villages. So, we would blow ALL the building up on the edge of the villages. The Germans then used to let the Army enter the villages and then open fire. So, we would fire THROUGH the buildings and move that way without going into the streets. Furthermore, if things were really tough, then the location would get the Monte Casino treatment, i.e, weeks of arty and aircraft bombing, and then, moving on. Ditto church towers, bell towers, etc.
Can anyone determine which city is represented here? And what's with the dragon? Comments, please.
Check out the Marine Corps' Warfighting Laboratory's logo.
Can anyone determine which city is represented here? And what's with the dragon? Comments, please.
Hmm. New adage:
Stick and stones may break my bones,
And call in air strikes, and give away my location, and...
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