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Show Coming—th@} Hereare thelittle-known facts ab bh) Night Observation Device, which can detect ene my activity at up to nearly a mile, . . Qhietty, but with efficiency and speed, the U. S. Armyis forging a startling revolution in warfare. Experts believe it will completely reshape combat techniques. Gen.William C. Westmoreland, Army Chief of Staff, says flatly: “We are on the threshold of an entirely new battlefield concept.” The concept is “IBCS”—Jntegrated Battlefield Control System—a futuristic complex of vision-expanding devices, advanced automation, exotic sensors, electronic technology, and complex computerization. In action, here is what the sophisticated IBCSis all about. First, the battlefield of the near future will be sown in a planned pattern (by airdrop or by ground patrol) with thousands of miniaturized sensors—devices that detect the presence of an advancing enemy by the sounds of his movement, by the subtle but distinctive odors of his explosives, by the minute earth vibrations caused by his footsteps, by the infrared rays emitted by his unseen fires, and even by the chemicals released in his body wastes. Immediately upon detecting an enemy, the unmanned sensors automatically radio their information to “portatales”—electronic read-out display panels—in a bunker miles away. The portatale operators interpret their readouts to rule out such false alarms as animal activation of the sensors. The combined inputs from the various sensors can then reveal the location, size, speed, and direction of the enemy’s movements. Finally, data from all the portataies go to a central commandpost where they are fed into a computer. Meantime, on this electronic hattle- field of the future, ground observers are scanning the forward areas with a series of remarkable optical instruments: “scopes” that permit clear observation even on pitch-dark nights by a manyfolded amplification of starlight; devices that see through foliage; heat-image instruments that use temperature differences to create a cathode-ray-tube picture of a marching column of soldiers; sighting devices that utilize laser technology; “pink searchlights” whose invisible beams enable an observer— equipped with special glasses—to see an unsuspecting enemy in total darkness. All these sightings from the forward observation posts are radioed to the commandpost where they, too, are punched into the computer. AXiong with portatale-and-ground observer data, information flows into the main command post from helicopters equipped with advanced radar and infrared detectors, or with such exotic devices as LLTV—a low-light intensification camera that transmits tv images of the battlefield directly to a display panel in the command post. Data from the heli-borne devices are fed into the computer to join that sent by the sensors and the ground-sighting Loteose ce ve . . . “sees” soldier and tank in complete darkness as if they were in bright daylight. instruments. Already in the computer, of course, are thousands of “bits” of information previously assembled from more usual sources: intelligence estimates, agents’ Teports, interrogations of prisoners, data from captured documents, and intercepted messages. tary action options open to the commander. The hard decisions are still his. No machine can exercise human judgment, resolve, or wisdom.But IBCS gives the commander unprecedented scope for makirg lightning-fast yet surpassingly sound battlefield decisions. And while IBCS cannot fight the in- dividualsoldier’s battle for him,it does Bu even this tremendous array of information is only half of the military equation. The commander’s staff has also fed into the computer an enormous muss of facts on our own orallied forces: the location and strength ofall units; weaponry and ammunition stocks; types and numbersof vehicles and aircraft; meteorological data; the condition of the roads; the status of reserves and back-up support available from rear commands, Now,perhapsthe most amazing thing in the whole IBCS setup takes place. From this welter of information, the computer produces in seconds a precise and up-to-the-second picture of both the enemy’s and our own situation. The value of IBCS does not end even here. The computer is also programmed to integrate its thousands of “bits” of information into a print-out of the mili- give the GI a vastly enhanced opportunity of defeating the enemy with the teast possible risk to himself. There is no doubt that, in the words of General Westmoreland, IBCS will exert as profound a change on land combat as did the tank and the helicopter. Indeed, many Pentagon insiders believe that Westmoreland understates the case. They say that IBCS will remake the face of warfare more thor- oughly than anything since the invention of gunpowder. Wren can we expect the Integrated Battlefield Control System to become & fact? Is IBCS still far down a distant road, oris it drawing into sight? “With cooperative effort,” says General West- moreland, “no more than 10 yea's § should separate us from the automated Ti battlefield.” : |