William Matthews
Brain wave-reading threat detectors can dramatically increase a soldier’s ability to spot danger. Advances in telepresence might spare soldiers by letting them send mechanical avatars into battle instead of going in person. Brain stimulation by ultrasound, electromagnetic fields and mild electric currents shows promise of sharpening soldiers’ minds. Could drugs or implanted microchips dull or eliminate the memories that cause post-traumatic stress disorder?
Researchers believe a skintight suit called Warrior Web will help soldiers run faster, lift more weight, and hike farther with less fatigue and less risk of injury. Newly developed “gecko gloves” already enable soldiers to scamper up sheer glass walls. Researchers at the U.S. Army Aeromedical Research Laboratory have found that doses of the drug modafinil can keep UH-60 helicopter pilots alert and operating safely for 40 hours at a time. Can metabolism be altered so soldiers can operate for days with little or no food? Will chemicals erase soldiers’ fear in battle?
The Army continues to turn to science in its quest to create superior soldiers. The service, often in conjunction with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, known as DARPA, has pursued these and other ideas for improving soldier performance.
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