THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, June 6, 1995 TAG: 9506060254
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY TODD BLECHER, BLOOMBERG BUSINESS NEWS
LENGTH: Long : 114 lines
Planes, ships and missiles make headlines, but information technologies - voice-activated computers, cellular radios, helmet cameras - may change the way soldiers fight, and the way the Pentagon spends money.
``Gaining the edge in the information age will depend not so much on muscle, but on information power,'' Army Chief of Staff Gen. Gordon Sullivan said.
Since information technologies mainly come from commercial, not defense, companies, focusing on them could mean contracts for companies who haven't considered the Pentagon a major client.
Already, Motorola Corp., Honeywell Inc. and General Motors Corp.'s Hughes division are developing what the military hopes will be the greatest advance in decades for infantrymen. They're working under a $44 million development contract that company and Pentagon officials say someday may mean about $1 billion in orders.
Team leader Motorola had $829 million in government sales during 1994, compared with $21.4 billion from commercial businesses.
Such potential is one reason information companies like Sony Corp., MCI Communications Corp. and GTE Corp. are joining traditional defense contractors in Washington this week at a conference sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association.
Sony, for example, is focusing new marketing efforts on the U.S. government. ``On the major contracts, they provide a steady source of business over a specified period of time,'' said Michael Baron, senior vice president in the business and professional products group at Sony Electronics Inc.
Indeed, at least one congressional leader wants the Pentagon to buy what companies like Sony are offering. ``Virtually every soldier in combat in 2010 will have a personal telephone linked by satellite to a world telephone network,'' House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., said earlier this year. ``That will probably be a personal communications system that will also have computer capability (and) faxing capability. A lot of this sounds far fetched, but it's not.''
One congressional staffer, reflecting the views of many, predicts the Pentagon will spend ``billions, easily billions'' of dollars for information systems.
Indeed, the Electronics Industries Association estimates the Pentagon will spend about $9 billion a year through 2000 on all sorts of information technologies.
Congress and the Pentagon will face tough funding decisions after 2000, after several military exercises planned for the next few years. Those exercises will determine which of the new technologies are most promising. And lawmakers and the military will make their decisions in a climate of budget austerity.
``The tradeoff may be if you want to upgrade your electronics, we're not going to give you as many tanks,'' a congressional staffer said.
That may not be a bad trade, he added, because information systems can make each tank more accurate and effective than today's model. It's clear to many people that the electronics in a weapon are becoming as important as the weapon itself.
``Somebody from IBM recently said it's a done deal computing power is going to increase 1,000 times over the next 10 years,'' said Andrew Krepinevich, director of the Defense Budget Project think tank and former Pentagon analyst. ``Is there a plane that's going to fly 1,000 times faster or maneuver 1,000 times better?''
Such advances are why many people on Capitol Hill like the Pentagon's information plans. ``At some point there will be an affordability issue, but you cannot have a professional force and not do this,'' another staffer said. The Pentagon wants fiber optics, portable computers, cellular radios and enhanced video cameras so the services can easily communicate during battle. What's common now is isolated communication - Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine personnel talking among themselves.
The Army has perhaps the most comprehensive technology plan. Known as Force 21, it envisions everyone from infantry soldiers to helicopter crews talking, sharing and continually updating information.
As part of Force 21, Motorola, Honeywell and Hughes are developing the 21st Century Land Warrior. Known as 21 Claw, it includes a helmet with a heads-up display.
Through that display, a soldier will see ``the weapon's sight, the camera, the night vision system,'' said Susan Pasternack, Motorola's 21 Claw program manager. ``He can call up maps and overlays, he can either pick targets or have targets selected for him. He'll also have his personal-status monitors that will monitor his condition. He'll have his field manuals and reports'' on call.
What's more, the soldier will use advanced radios and video cameras to communicate and send real-time pictures to commanders. The military hopes that will dramatically reduce the time needed to attack, and the effectiveness of an attack.
With all the technology in 21 Claw, Motorola's team must resist the temptation to put a lot of bells and whistles into the system. The equipment must be user friendly for combat.
``We've got folks at Motorola who literally have little soldier dolls on their monitors to always remind them that this program is all about soldiers,'' said Carol Fitzgerald, who manages the program for the Army.
While the technology may bring a war-fighting revolution, it may also bring a problem of information overload as real-time data comes in from all over a battlefield. The Army got a glimpse of that problem last year when it tested prototypes of the technology.
``One of the major lessons learned was (commanders) had difficulty sorting out what information was important from what wasn't,'' said Maj. Paul Hilton, who is working on the Land Warrior program at Georgia's Fort Benning.
Ultimately, the military expects to overcome such problems. Its goal is to build an information network that could reduce friendly-fire accidents - U.S. troops accidentally killed by their comrades during battle - and could deliver what commanders have long wanted, the consistent ability to act and act again before an enemy reacts.
``I know where I am, I know where you are and I know where you are not,'' Gen. Sullivan said. ``This knowledge will enable us to increase the pace of the battle. Do it faster than your competitor, that's the object.'' ILLUSTRATION: Drawing
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