Army's Cut of 'Future Soldier' May Impact Med-Tech

docinthemachine writes "The U.S. Army has decided to axe its $500 Million 'Land Warrior Soldier of the Future' program. If this goes through, the loss of future medical technology will be enormous. Many do not realize the enormous amount of medical technology that trickles down from the military. The program was working on develops new HUDs, 3D vision systems, and bioarmor. Surgeons today are using this technology (via DARPA) to develop new robotic surgery, bioimplants, intelligent prosthetics and more." That's the downside. The reason for the program's cutting is fairly obvious: "Unfortunately, land Warrior is part of the Army's Future Combat System (FCS) Initiative. This is the roadmap for an unprecedented hi-tech modernization of the Army. What new? How about an air force of completely unmanned remote controlled fighters- it's in the budget! Unfortunately, the entire project is so far over budget it becomes a target for cuts. Originally at $60 billion, then $127B, recent estimates have balooned to $300 billion total cost (yes that's billion with a B) and some are calling it the biggest military boondoggle ever."

Steve Austin: astronaut. A man barely alive.

[LiquidCoooled]

Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster. and errrrrrrrr over budget.

no it's not...

[dwater]

> $300 billion total cost (yes that's billion with a B)

No, that's billion with a 'b'. You mean 'Billion'; that's billion with a 'B'.

nerds

[idlake]

Black outfit, plastic helmet--looks like the soldier of the future is some kind of SciFi nerd.

Verizon

[zaguar]

With some creative accounting with help from Verizon, perhaps the 300B figure could be "manipulated" to minimize budget blowouts.

Re:FUD

[ksb]

Although perhaps without the availability of captured 'enemy' personnel to experiment on.

Re:FUD

[legoburner]

nah, $300billion would buy a lot of "homeless shelters"

And now, this word ...

[kitzilla]

And now, this word from the Military Industrial Complex ...

Did you know that war is good for you? That's right: think of all the amazing medical benefits which trickle down like a warm, red rivulet of blood from today's mechanized battlefield! Artificial limbs, artificial skin, artificial eyes ... just thank a disfigured soldier!

But that's not all! Thanks to military development, you can buy a combat-sized humvee just like the ones you see smoldering on TV (armor not included -- see dealer for details). Your police department's armaments have never been deadlier. And coming soon: pain-causing crowd control devices guaranteed to put the "obey" back in "civil disobedience."

You U.S. citizens are fortunate to live in a nation which has been continuously at war somewhere in the world for over sixty years. Nothing benefits the homefront more than the front line. So call your legislator now, before the new Democratic congress, and tell him or her you demand the rich benefits of bloated defense appropriations. Because there's no bigger buzzkill than stopping the killing.

War ... what's it good for? It's good for you!