[Fredricka Whitfield, Cnn Anchor:] You're about to the see the future. Time now for high tech show-and-tell military style. We'll have a look at the latest equipment now in use by field commanders and a glimpse into the future with a piece of weaponry known as the Land Warrior. Helping us today, MAJ Bill Harris, Asst TSM Soldier Fort Benning, GA. and Army Specialist Akili King. Good to see both of you.
[Sgt. Aldin Harris, U.s. Army:] Thank you.
[Whitfield:] We're going to jump right into the future. What some of our guys are going to look like as they head into combat, and it's pretty sophisticated, because this is a lot of stuff you usually see on perhaps some of the more tactical gear, but not necessarily what you would be wearing.
[Harris:] That's right. We've been using digitalization now to upgrade our tanks, our planes and our ships for quite some time. And now we want to bring that technology to bear on the individual soldier. After all, he's the one that has to jump in the trench, close in on the enemy, kick down the door and clear the room.
[Whitfield:] Right.
[Harris:] So what Private First Class King is wearing from head to toe, we call the Land Warrior system.
[Whitfield:] OK.
[Harris:] It is composed of a number of substances. First I'd like to tell you about the helmet. He's wearing a Kevlar helmet, much like what our soldiers are wearing today, but integrated into the helmet is the antenna for his radio and also the microphone and receiver for his radio. Every soldier will have a radio so that he can receive orders from his leader or report what he sees. And another...
[Whitfield:] And oftentimes, what we're seeing now is oftentimes that radio is kind of like a backpack formation. Another pierce of hardware that you have got to carry. Now you're actually going to be wearing it.
[Harris:] That's right.
[Whitfield:] In a couple of years.
[Harris:] It's going to be integrated into the system. Actually the electronics of the radios is in this small box right here. Another key feature of this helmet system is what we call the helmet mounted display. And this is like a miniature computer screen. And on that computer screen, he can see a digital map. So, every soldier now has a map. He knows where he is, because integrated into the system we have a computer and a GPS. Everyone's familiar now with
[Gps. Whitfield:] Right.
[Harris:] So on his map, he knows right where he is. And because every soldier has a communication system integrated along with the computer, he can report now his location to his leader. So leaders always know where their subordinates are.
[Whitfield:] So that's not going to impair visuals by having one eye occupied by this map?
[Harris:] That's a very good question. He has to be trained not to look at that all the time.
[Whitfield:] I would look at it all the time. That's why I asked.
[Harris:] He only needs to refer to it every once in awhile.
[Whitfield:] OK.
[Harris:] Just like you could become fixated at your computer screen but you need to train yourself to do other things. So he won't have it there, in fact, he can move it out of the way.
[Whitfield: Ok Harris:] And it shuts off. So now, the helmet is integrated with the body subsystem, which I mentioned. This is where his computer and his navigation system is integrated. I told you the radio electronics was here. This also acts like a mouse, just like a mouse for his computer subscreens. In addition to the map, he also has text messaging capability. So soldiers have the ability to send simple messages or even complicated orders using their subsystem. Now we've also made significant improvements in the weapon subsystem. I'm going to ask Private First Class King to tell you a little bit about his weapon.
[Whitfield:] OK.
[Spc. Akili King, U.s. Army:] Basically what this is the M-4 module weapon system. Modular because if you notice there are these rails on here. They are called picotini rails. And picotini rails basically allow me to modify the weapon based on what the mission requires. Right now I have on my weapon several pieces of equipment. First is the daylight video sight. Now the daylight video sight basically allows me to perform reduced exposure firing, reduced exposure observation, which basically means I can stick my weapon around the corner and I could fire or look at targets without actually having to put my head there.
[Whitfield:] And you are looking by using that.
[King:] Using my helmet-mount display.
[Whitfield:] So it's multifunctional.
[King:] Multifunctional. Now, how do I control what I see in my helmet mounted display? What we have here is a user input device. Now the user input device has three buttons on the back side.
[Whitfield:] OK.
[King:] Basically see those three buttons?
[Whitfield:] Yes.
[King:] Those three buttons basically allow me to use the system without actually having to take my hands off the weapon. The first button allows me to use my push to call, push to answer the radio and voice communications. The second button allows me to target through the different views I can see on my helmet-mounted display. I can go from my digital map to my daylight video sight to what we have here, a lightweight thermal sight, which is used for reduced visibility firing and observation.
[Whitfield:] So as you've had a chance to practice with all these new gizmos, are you finding that not only is it much more lightweight, but it's much more precise?
[King:] Yes, it is. I can actually engage targets without having a tight body position, as you're taught to fire your weapon. Around corners up to 300 meters, using both my daylight video sight and the thermal weapons sight.
[Whitfield:] All right, Specialist King. Sergeant HARRIS, we want to talk about this kind of PDA sort of device because we're kind of running out of time.
[Harris:] That's right. This has the capability that we'll be able to get to the field a little sooner than the Land Warrior.
[Whitfield:] Yes.
[Harris:] In fact, we actually have some of these deployed now. We call this the commander's digital assistance. It looks much like a
[Pda. Whitfield:] Yes.
[Harris:] Lots of folks have PDAs now. On the screen you'll be able to display a map, and you'll have an understanding of your friendly situation, the enemy situation, and when it's linked up to a radio or a wireless LAN network, I can share that information amongst leaders. I can also integrate it with the global positioning system. So, this is capability right now that we can provide to leaders out there in the field that they didn't have before.
[Whitfield:] And much easier now because before there were grease pencils, there were physical maps, a lot more cumbersome, and this too is lightweight.
[Harris:] That's right. We're bringing them into the electronic age.
[Whitfield:] All right, good to know. That's in a couple of years still. But some of these things, like this are being used right now.
[Harris:] That's right. We're using these now, and this is in government test. We're going to
[Whitfield:] All right, MAJ Bill Harris, Specialist King, thanks very much, appreciate it. Thanks for showing us those gizmos. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com