SuperTroop via I-Port: Distributed Simulation Technology for Combat Development and Training Development.

摘要

This paper proposes research and development aimed at total encapsulation of an individual who fights on foot, predicated upon integrating a powered exoskeleton into his battle dress to augment load-bearing capability, a personal computer networked with those of fellow combatants, and full body protection against ballistic, chemical, thermal, and directed energy threats. Fielded first would be a simulation of the eventual battle dress--termed ST, for SuperTroop--which could give individual combatants a portal into Advanced Distributed Simulation--called I-Port. I-Port would then be used to explore the requirements for the exoskeleton, for the personal processor, for the integrated displays and control mechanisms, and for the protective and homeostatic subsystems. I-Port would also produce parametric data on the man-machine interface essential to proceeding with confidence into hardware design and construction. To test the utility of ST/I-Port, Operation JUST CAUSE in Panama is analyzed, with the conclusion that the availability of ST/I-Port equipment might have lowered operational costs and increased force effectiveness. A development program, wtih the DARPA in the lead, is described.