Fully integrated ground combat vehicle lethality systems – such as manned and unmanned turrets and remote weapons stations, including primary sights – universal situational awareness 360 (USA36), vehicle protection and crew station systems provide armored land forces with superior survivability and lethality to ensure the success of their missions.
The products described in this article are currently in development or in production by Elbit America’s 3,500 employees, at its engineering and manufacturing facilities, across seven U.S. states.
SITREP:
U.S. Army Soldiers and their Blue allies conduct a humanitarian operation to a Red exclave on Blue’s side of the DMZ.
After three failed attempts to restart the war were stymied by U.S. mentorship of Blue along with superior technology, training and tactics, Red in desperation determined that the U.S. forces had to go if it was to resume combat and win the war for the archipelago.
But forcing the U.S. military to retire from the battlefield would require action off the battlefield – at the U.N., on the dozens of global 24-hour news networks, and in the minds of the American people.
The few Red SF forces that had been successfully put ashore on Blue nation were retasked – make your way to the Red exclave on Blue’s side of the DMZ, and make the civilian living conditions there unbearable. Rather than sabotage Blue generating stations and pumphouses, the Red special operators would turn their attention to food warehouses feeding their fellow citizens. The thought being that in the end, it would be cheaper and easier to feed the survivors than to rebuild critical infrastructures providing power, light and water.
Since the ceasefire, Blue had cordoned off the Red exclave and let the provincial government there manage matters as they had before the war. But conditions on the ground quickly deteriorated, and provincial requests for aid came fast and more furious as the days progressed. Red sat back and demanded Blue do something – “you captured it, you own it” – while Blue remembered just how much blood and treasure it had lost during the war to counter aggression coming from that Red province; they were very hesitant to return.
The United States of America from the Command-in-Chief to the Strategic Corporals were not pleased to be presented with this new dilemma. “Nation Building” was in the U.S. military’s rear-view mirror, but Blue’s forces couldn’t go it alone. But humanitarian assistance was needed; only America could help…only Americans would want to try.
Due to Red’s obvious interest in restarting the conflict, the U.S. Army established and expanded a combined arms task force during the past weeks to deter further aggression while Blue attempted to rebuild its military. Now a subset of those forces would be assigned to lead and guard a Blue convoy stuffed with humanitarian aid, principally foodstuffs. They were a combination of manned and optionally manned vehicles, with a combination of manned and unmanned turrets, to reduce the number of Soldiers needed to operate them, reduce operational risk, and make it harder for an adversary to successfully target U.S. Soldiers. Inside, the manned vehicle crews and the dismounts enjoyed 360-degree situational awareness while buttoned up under armor. Cameras and sensors outside the vehicle fused data to augment the reality presented directly before their eyes using helmet mounted displays (HMDs) and goggles.
The convoy made good progress – Red’s people were grateful, and Red’s government was biding its time – and reached the first exclave city quickly, setting up operation about a kilometer away from it on defensible ground. The convoy literally circled the wagons and began issuing relief aid. The U.S. vehicles took position both inside and outside the circle, providing defense in depth.
Curiously, one group of children gathered around one of the Army vehicles stationed outside the circle, away from the relief efforts. Surveillance showed they held little interest in the food convoy, and seemed to be trying to get attention from – perhaps even provoke – the Soldiers inside the vehicle. However, they had chosen an unmanned combat vehicle to pester. Human crews in other vehicles watched carefully from the safety of their vehicles. Over the PA a translator repeatedly told the children to get away from the vehicle. Onboard it, the unmanned system’s AI was very careful to remain motionless, lest it should drive over a child or children.
Suddenly, some distance away from both the relief convoy and the city, the rear cargo door of a truck flew open, and an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) located inside was fired at the unmanned combat vehicle.
The MATR-X radar detected the door’s movement and even identified the type of weapon being used even before the missile had fully exited the launch tube. The vehicle’s AI-enabled active protection system (APS) auto-targeted the threat, and determined that its laser countermeasure would destroy the missile far from its intended target. The vehicle held its position. Silent and invisible to human eyes, the laser destroyed the missile before anyone other than the vehicle crews knew it was there. At the sound of the explosion, the children scattered.
In vehicles manned and unmanned alike, autotargeting brought cannons to bear on the ATGMs point of origin; having taken its single shot, the truck drove off, attempting to reach the city and disappear.
The U.S. Army platoon leader could have overridden the networked engagement command, but seeing that collateral damage was unlikely, decided that four 50mm cannons simultaneously engaging the fleeing target was appropriate. Beyond simply obliterating the truck and its content, it sent a message to Red’s agent provocateurs that using kids as cover and concealment was not to be attempted again.
The entire incident was recorded and shown to a credulous media and diplomats around the world. Red had again tried – unsuccessfully – to cause an international incident that would have turned opinion against Blue and its U.S.-led allied coalition.
Instead, Red’s failure further eroded what little support it and its coalition barely maintained, prompting more and more people to rightly view Red as the villain rather than the victim.
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