Changes

Man, I got a lot a stuff going right now. I'm taking a new job in a new part of the country (the beautiful Pacific Northwest) in a couple weeks. We're trying to get our house sold and packed up at the same time. It's kind of crazy, especially with a little boy tearing the place up all the time! The good news is that we found a place to live. Now it's just a matter of getting up there in one piece...so, wish me luck.

Here's something from last week's conference call that maybe people didn't catch the first time around:

RR: "Look for us to be teamed with a major defense contractor who is prime on multiple programs that would be key to commercialization of this type of tool [Nomad]. Their programs are aimed at personal systems for soldiers and they are in the middle of all the important programs."

A little bit of googling around for who the major defense contractor might be yields this story which seems to fit with what we know about Microvision's ongoing military efforts for Nomad:

U.S. Army Merges General Dynamics’ Land Warrior and Future Force Warrior ATD to Expedite Fielding

Stryker Battalion to be Equipped with Land Warrior System

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Feb. 16, 2005 — U.S. Army has merged its dismounted soldier activities, consolidating its Land Warrior and Future Force Warrior Advanced Technology Demonstration (ATD) programs. The consolidation will enable the Army to spiral new technology into the hands of U.S. soldiers sooner and create cost efficiencies.

Previously General Dynamics C4 Systems was responsible for the Army’s Land Warrior program and General Dynamics Land Systems was responsible for the Future Force Warrior ATD. General Dynamics C4 Systems will manage the merged effort for the U.S. Army.

“This consolidation gives the Army the efficiency of having a single prime contractor managing the complementary and mutually supporting efforts to develop new technologies and integrate Soldier systems with combat platforms,” said Carol Fitzgerald, the U.S. Army’s Future Force Warrior Technology Program Manager. “It will enhance the Army’s ability to bring technologies to Soldiers quickly and more efficiently. We see this as a big ‘win-win.’”

The change combines the development program and the ATD for more efficient execution and accelerates the fielding of leading edge battle command capabilities to individual soldiers and Army units of action. The consolidated effort forms the baseline for the Army’s Ground Soldier Systems, one of several Army programs intended to develop, produce, test and field advanced capabilities beginning in 2005 that can also keep pace with the Future Force through 2014.

The restructured Land Warrior program will follow a spiral development strategy to introduce new technology to current and future forces. The initial increment equips soldiers with a dismounted battle command system that will provide situational awareness and communication. The next increment provides a Stryker-equipped battalion with the current Land Warrior ensemble featuring expanded situational awareness and tactical-level messaging, integrated lethality, Stryker vehicle-to-dismounted soldier communications, fratricide avoidance and battery recharging. Follow-on increments will continue to improve ground soldier capabilities.

The U.S. Army intends to allocate $59 million in the 2006 budget to equip the Stryker experimental battalion, based on the successful completion of nearly four months of Land Warrior field-testing at Ft. Benning, Ga., in 2004. The testing included combat-proven soldiers of the Experimental Force conducting a successful side-by-side comparison of the Land Warrior system with equipment used in Iraq.

“The collaboration of General Dynamics C4 Systems with General Dynamics Land Systems, maker of the Stryker eight-wheeled combat vehicle, has an immediate benefit to soldiers,” said Manny Mora, vice president of General Dynamics C4 Systems. “Together we’ll build on the baseline established at Ft. Benning last year and continue to push the envelope on warrior-system integration. This will rapidly drive technology to soldiers on the battlefield while meeting the Army’s desire to have an efficient program management structure.”

“The exercises at Ft. Benning were an unprecedented success in terms of reliability of the ensemble, ease of use and functionality provided to the infantrymen,” said Col. Ernest T. Forrest, Training and Doctrine Command System Manager-Soldier. “The Land Warrior program was able to showcase features representing a bold step in the advance of soldier systems.”

Beginning later this year, General Dynamics expects to deliver as many as 500 Land Warrior systems to a Stryker battalion to develop new tactics, techniques and procedures, anticipating changes in the way soldiers can fight with these dramatically advanced capabilities.