The Glory Might of the XM29.

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Ace Oliveira

Talk more about the Future Soldier project. Please.

Not sure what I can tell you about it that you don't already know. But it is important to remember that the Land Warrior program, like the OICW program, dates back to the late-80s, early-90s, so it's a product of Cold War era thinking. That by itself should be a red flag.

It's designed to improve soldier's abilities in urban warfare, which by itself isn't a bad idea (in Iraq, we've done lots of fighting in cities). But it's also based mostly on the assumption that our soldiers will be encountering enemies who are well-equipped, well-trained, and who will actually attempt to engage them in CQB. The jihadists just aren't like that - they're poorly armed and even more poorly trained, so their style is to avoid fighting as much as possible (which is why IEDs are so popular).

As I've said, street-level intelligence and winning hearts and minds are the main ingredients in successful counter-insurgency warfare. Technology just doesn't matter, because you can expect that your opponents will have nothing but the same rusty old AKs and RPGs that your dad (or even his dad) encountered in combat decades ago. In that kind of warfare, using high-tech equipment is like using an axe to do triple-bypass surgery.

[Gunmaster45]

Very informative Matt. You definately know more about this stuff than I do. I focus too much on guns alone, maybe I should expand my political and warfare knowledge.

Know any good sites (or wikipedia pages) that can help me out?

[MT2008]

Originally Posted by Gunmaster45

Very informative Matt. You definately know more about this stuff than I do. I focus too much on guns alone, maybe I should expand my political and warfare knowledge.

Know any good sites (or wikipedia pages) that can help me out?

Not anything too specific. And frankly, there are people doing much more specific and more advanced degrees in this stuff than myself. I learned a lot from the exchange program I did at King's College London (they have a wonderful War Studies department), lots more at my last internship. My undergraduate thesis dealt with the CI lessons of the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

I guess I would recommend reading the External Links on the Wikipedia page on 4th Generation/Asymmetrical warfare, for starter's:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4th_Generation_Warfare

[Gunmaster45]

Thanks, I'll look over it.