Good old DARPA comes up with some comparatively solid practical ideas in between the really bat-shit crazy stuff. Take the “Individual Force Protection System”, for example, which is essentially a way of tagging troops with traceable devices so they can be found if things get hairy on the battlefield. [via grinding.be]
The Land Warrior hardware can be used to locate its wearer too, but that might understandably get ditched by troops in a rout due to its bulk. By contrast, the IFPS is a little plastic cylinder that could be strung next to a soldiers dogtags, and allegedly allows him or her to be detected from up to 150km away without the use of GPS technology. [image by SoldiersMediaCenter]
Soldiers as spimes, anyone?
Oddly enough, I just finished reading ‘Orphanage’ by Robert Buettner and this very thing was one of the futuristic tech-gizmos that his troopers were equipped with, for ‘battlefield grave marker’ purposes, primarily.
I think, what with lifeloggin’ and all, we’re all becoming Spimes!
Interesting post. Possibly naive question: Couldn’t an enemy theoretically hack into this system and target soldiers more easily?