Virtual reality and drone technology are set to play a much greater roll in the training and equipping of US military personnel.
Technological innovations are rapidly changing the nature of 21st century combat and senior figures in the Trump administration believe US forces are not keeping pace.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis recently established the Close Combat Lethality Task Force. In a February 8 memo about the force addressed to the Joint Chiefs and top military commanders Mattis wrote: “Advances in training methods, and equipment have not kept pace with changes in available technology.”
Excerpt from Mattis’ Closed Combat Lethality Task Force memo
According to sources, the Pentagon is slated to spend 1.2 billion dollars on modernizing ground-based troops’ equipment and training. This is said to include new night vision, body armor, extra training to combat cyber and electronic warfare and potentially a weapons upgrade from soldiers’ standard-issue M-16 rifle.
Although drones have become an integral feature of modern military hardware, the average ground-based troop has limited access to drones for scouting purposes.
