Some interesting concepts came out of the recent Maneuver Center of Excellence Soldier Requirements Division Industry Day. MCOE is based at Fort Benning and combines the Infantry and Armor schools. One of the concepts we found most promising is the Squad Common Optic. It has basically already happened in OEF due to the engagement distances that have made the M68 Close Combat Optic all but useless. The Army is finally coming to grips with the requirement for a single site that can switch from a 1x to 4x, 6x, or even 8x.
For those of you that missed the event, here is a link to the slides.
On a final note, it is very important for our readers to understand that the actual requirements for Soldier Systems come from SRD and not PEO Soldier. Nothing is supposed to be developed without a valid requirement. To put how they are doing into perspective for you, the most current, approved requirement for body armor is dated 1998. Next time you want to shake your fist at PEO Soldier for your equipment, please remember that they are doing one hell of a job considering the lack of current requirements documentation that has been written since the beginning of the war. Granted, not all documentation is outdated, but much of the Soldier-centric stuff is. It’s good to see SRD hosting Industry Days. Unfortunately, much of the emphasis was on lethality.
