to be a major logistical challenge. This was one of the driving factors behind the decision to move away from an earlier plan to initially equip airborne Army units, as in the Fort Polk exercise, and to focus instead upon those using Stryker ground vehicle systems. This latter approach would enable more LW batteries to be distributed and/or recharged as needed. The contract for development of the Land Warrior – Stryker Interoperable (LW-SI) version of the system was awarded in 2003 to an industry team that was led by General Dynamics and included most of the existing Land Warrior Consortium companies. At about the same time, further development of the existing LW-IC system was halted and the manufacturing plans for it were shelved indefinitely. The Land Warrior Consortium was formally disbanded and work got under way on the newly focused LW-SI program. In September 2006, the 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment trained with and evaluated the LW-SI system. The system successfully completed the assessment, which was based on Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System (JCIDS) guidance, and received testimonials from the unit. However, funding for further system development under the Land Warrior program was suspended in February 2007, although the 4–9 Infantry was deployed to Iraq and used the LW-SI system extensively. The Land Warrior program was then re-instated. This was the final trial phase before the key decision is made on the overall future of wearable soldier systems, including Future Force Warrior. The decision was made in 2011 to continue the program. Description Land Warrior has three priority objectives: Improving the lethality of an individual soldier Increasing the survivability of a soldier Providing full command, communications, and control to a soldier Land Warrior has seven main subsystems: Weapon Integrated helmet assembly Protective clothing and equipment Computer Navigation Radio Software system Later features of the Land Warrior system included: providing dismounted soldier combat identification for en route situational awareness and power recharge to reduce 'friendly fire' incidents Commander's Digital Assistant leader planning tool weight and power reduction scalability and tailorability for operational missions Weapon The original system was built around the M16 rifle or M4 carbine, both with modular rail mounts to allow customization as needed for each mission. It included the weapon itself, plus components such as a daylight video sight, thermal weapons sight and MFL (Multi-Function Laser). The MFL provided range and direction information, as well as IR,