NATICK, Mass. – The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Soldier Center, or DEVCOM SC, hosted the DEVCOM Soldier Center Industry Day on September 29, 2022. The event — which took place at the Residence Inn in Natick, Massachusetts — aimed to engage industry and academic partners and foster relationships that will support the Soldier Center’s mission.

“Industry Day provided the Soldier Center with an excellent opportunity to connect with potential partners and to educate them about our mission and opportunities for collaboration,” said Douglas Tamilio, director of DEVCOM SC.

DEVCOM SC is committed to discovering, developing, and advancing science and technology solutions that ensure America’s warfighters are optimized, protected, and lethal. Industry Day provided information and enabled discussions between DEVCOM SC and industry/academia through a senior leader panel, general briefings, and one-on-one exchanges on a wide variety of topics. The event also provided attendees with concrete information on how to work with the Soldier Center.

“Sustaining and fostering relationships with our industry partners and academia is extremely important for the Soldier Center, and we are very excited with the turnout for the Industry Day event we hosted,” said Richard Hornstein, deputy chief of staff for G-3/5 Operations and Plans at DEVCOM SC.

Hornstein noted that Brig. Gen. Larry Q. Burris, Jr. — the Infantry School Commandant and the Director of the Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team at the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence — served as the keynote speaker, addressing an audience of 107 members of industry, helping to align industry efforts with Army goals. Hornstein explained that DEVCOM SC also conducted 85 one-on-one meetings with its partners. Through 21 poster presentations, government representatives further engaged with industry representatives throughout the afternoon.

“These engagements help to inform our industry partners of our development goals and challenges as well as provide them with a venue to share ideas and capabilities they may have available to meet our needs,” said Hornstein. “They also expand and sustain relationships and provide business opportunities for both industry and academia that help us transform basic and applied research requirements into new ideas, capabilities and technologies that underpin the modernization goals of the Army, which is ultimately the mission of the DEVCOM Soldier Center.”

DEVCOM SC topics of discussion included increased Soldier protection, encompassing Arctic Soldier equipment and environmental capabilities; helmets with increased threat level protection; and eyewear with increased fragmentation protection and active anti-fog capability. Some other topics included advanced materials for ballistic protection; reduction of Soldier load; understanding and modeling of Soldier load; and Soldier/squad equipment integration. Other topics included camouflage, concealment, and deception.

Subject matter experts also provided briefings on enhanced Soldier technologies, including power generation, training and simulation technologies, small unit battle training, combat simulation, human performance technologies (wearables, biosensors, exoskeletons, human performance data management systems, assessment technologies, and measurement technologies), and Soldier/robotic interface. Soldier sustainment topics included small unit water generation, nutrient-dense rations/longer shelf-life rations, and novel solutions for re-supply to remote locations.

Michael Codega, DEVCOM SC’s chief technology officer, provided a briefing on DEVCOM SC’s Science and Technology Strategy, including Warfighter Integrated Capability & Knowledge Development, or WICKED, programs.

WICKED programs are large S&T programs focused on creating solutions to problems facing Soldiers and small units in future operating environments. Given the complexity of problems facing warfighters, potential solutions need to combine advanced technology development, applied research. and basic research.

“With such a broad mission and competition for resources, the WICKED problem/program framework is essential for Soldier Center, our partners and the Army enterprise to ensure we are focusing on those operational challenges and opportunities that will allow Soldiers to dominate in the future operating environment,” said Codega.

Burris praised the event.

“We value the various forums the Army facilitates to communicate and collaborate with the enterprise, but what sets this event apart from the rest is the focus on that which is vital to the future of the Close Combat Force,” said Burris. “Here we have interested partners in industry and academia, who are meeting with stakeholders in the Soldier enterprise face-to-face and sometimes one-on-one, to speak clearly and candidly to fully understand the requirements of the Close Combat Force. Industry and academia can take what they learn today and iterate on the problem or the potential from every angle, and we end up with the non-traditional solutions to help the Army maintain decisive and sustainable overmatch.”

By DEVCOM Soldier Center Public Affairs

YUMA PROVING GROUND, Ariz. — Soldiers depend on armored vehicles for mobility in combat situations.

This past winter, a high impact, multi-month evaluation at U.S. Army Cold Regions Test Center in Alaska helped ensure the Army’s latest armored personnel carrier — the Armored Multi-Purpose Vehcicle, or APMV — works even in the world’s coldest environments.

The AMPV’s five variants — a general purpose vehicle, mission command vehicle, mortar carrier, medical evacuation and medical treatment vehicles — have nearly 80% more interior volume than the M113 armored personnel carrier, and significantly more power, survivability and maneuverability. The cooling and electrical systems are also more robust to accommodate both existing and future upgrades. It boasts the same powertrain and suspension system as the Bradley Fighting Vehicle and M109A7 self-propelled howitzer, which eases maintenance and logistics challenges for all three vehicles in the field.

Though the weather this past winter at CRTC didn’t reach the jaw-dropping low temperatures that are typical, the variation didn’t faze the testers.

“Extreme cold comes in windows, and it’s normally a scramble to try to get things into those windows,” said Stephan Krueger, test officer.

The coldest times still saw the mercury plunge below minus 35 degrees Fahrenheit, and the crew had much to do. The AMPV accumulated hundreds of miles on CRTC’s punishing road courses and undertook braking and acceleration tests at CRTC’s automotive test track. Further, the engine was subjected to cold starts in temperatures well below zero, oftentimes after having cold air blown on its engine from tubular fans to ensure a maximum of frigidness. The testers drove the vehicle for more than 1,000 miles across primary and secondary roads and cross-country trails.

“Normally when it is extremely cold, we prioritize cold starts,” said Krueger. “If it is extremely cold and we aren’t doing cold starts, I like to try to get a lot of durability miles in. Cross country is the slowest and takes the most time — the majority of our effort is getting those miles.”

A portion of the test involved a Soldier touchpoint where active-duty service members used the vehicle in the extreme cold.

“The Soldiers that participated were from a Stryker brigade,” said Hannah Henry, test coordinator. “The AMPV is fairly similar to it, so we wanted to get their feedback.”

The touchpoint utilized the medical evacuation variant of the AMPV.

“Their main focus was the ability to get patients into and out of the vehicle,” said Henry. “How slippery does the ramp get? Can you operate the medical equipment in the cold? They rode as patients in the vehicle and rated how they felt as the vehicle moved along.”

The AMPV has undergone extensive testing at all three of U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground’s natural environment test centers — Yuma Test Center in Arizona; Cold Regions Test Center at Fort Greely, Alaska; and, most recently, at Tropic Regions Test Center in the jungle of Panama.

By Mark Schauer