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| International |
| StrategyPage roundup |
| 2003-09-08 |
| A couple interesting tidbits from today’s Strategy Page. Army commissions development of realistic XBOX squad-level combat "game" September 8, 2003: Noting that the troops spend a lot of time playing video games, the U.S. Army set out to create a squad training simulation that would run on XBox. Starting in 2000, they hired video games developer Pandemic to create "Full Spectrum Warrior" (FSW). A commercial version will be available in early 2004, although current plans are for both the military and commercial versions to ship on the same CD. This way, civilians can experience the more realistic, but less "fun" military version (which has strictly realistic ammo loads and time durations for battlefield procedures). The game will have online multiplayer capabilities. The artificial intelligence of the enemy force appears to be pretty realistic and deadly, but a final opinion on that has to wait until lots of players (military and civilian) get to use the game. Compared to your usual video game, the military version of FSW will kind of drag along at times. It can take a minute or more for troops to do some things, like move to another position or use a smoke grenade (it takes nearly a minute for the smoke screen to form.) The player assumes the role of the squad leader, and uses the video game controller to intuitively give battlefield type commands to the two team leaders or, if need be, individual troops. The use of the game controller and the game software is pretty intuitive, allowing the player to handle a real time battlefield game without the game controls getting in the way. Continues... see link. Also followed by some interesting news on WWII Japanese chemical weapons being uncovered. Infantry: A new kind of warSeptember 8, 2003: New body armor, new tactics and new medical procedures are producing much lower death rates in combat. During the recent Iraq fighting, only 14 percent of those injured in combat were killed. In World War II, 30 percent of those hurt in combat died. In Korea, where body armor was first introduced, and helicopters first used to rapidly get wounded troops to a hospital, it was 25 percent. It wasn’t much better in Vietnam, at 24 percent, and was about the same in the 1991 Gulf War. Note that the World War II rate was same as it was during the American Civil War (1861-65) and the 1847 war with Mexico. During the American Revolution (1776-81), 41 percent of those hit in combat died. So what has happened in Iraq is a major shift in how troops are protected in combat? The better protection for the torso and head has meant that 80 percent of the wounds are in the arms and legs. During World War II, 65 percent of the wounds were in the arms and legs. Military doctors saw this trend coming, and provided additional training in treating arm and leg wounds for doctors and nurses going to Iraq. Continues--see link. |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #2 Actually, my teens have been getting plenty of squad tactics playing SoCom: U.S. Navy Seals on the internet with our trusty Playstation 2... headset comm units allow them to talk to each other... very cool ;-) |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-9-8 4:55:15 PM |
| #1 Why XBox? Did Microsoft bribe someone? You just know some al Qeada hacker is going to break into this and mess with our soldiers' minds. |
| Posted by: marlowe 2003-9-8 4:51:15 PM |