02-07-2012, 05:17 AM
I've actually wanted the same thing after seeing the capabilities that Land Warrior proved were actually viable, to my initial and immovable skepticism. I've seen how far micro-circuitry has come, since a CPU and complete computer board is now the size of a thin drive slot. It's just that a lot of the weapon-mounted systems have been ridiculously cumbersome, despite advancements in sizing down thermal weapons sights, IR pointers, optics, and illumination. This is especially true with the grenade launcher sights with LRF and quadrant electro-optical aiming solutions. They simply are removed and left back, or carried as dead weight, or expeditiously damaged and written off as a "combat loss".
I actually have some designs myself that would integrate magnified optics, 1x optics, and other components introduced with Land Warrior, plus a few others, that would be the size of a small Eotech, and work in conjunction with certain aspects of a new weapon system. It's what they're looking for, after talking with the head of small arms development from Benning, who was one of the Recon Squad Leaders from my Scout Platoon in Korea years before.
The biggest challenges are in simplifying some existing designs, ruggedizing them, and integrating them together into a package that is intuitive, rather than something an engineer developed with little or no constant reminders from end-users that his black box won't cut the mustard when Joe Tentpeg gets his hands on it.
I actually have some designs myself that would integrate magnified optics, 1x optics, and other components introduced with Land Warrior, plus a few others, that would be the size of a small Eotech, and work in conjunction with certain aspects of a new weapon system. It's what they're looking for, after talking with the head of small arms development from Benning, who was one of the Recon Squad Leaders from my Scout Platoon in Korea years before.
The biggest challenges are in simplifying some existing designs, ruggedizing them, and integrating them together into a package that is intuitive, rather than something an engineer developed with little or no constant reminders from end-users that his black box won't cut the mustard when Joe Tentpeg gets his hands on it.