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EmailEADS DS: Delivery of 220 Units of the Future Soldier System
- Immediate procurement of 220 equipment units to meet Bundeswehr's operational requirements in Afghanistan
-- The only system to have been tested in operational service
(May 17, 2010) -- EADS Defence & Security has been commissioned by Germany's Federal Office of Defence Technology and Procurement (BWB) to deliver a further 220 units of the Future Soldier System (Infanterist der Zukunft) in its basic version (IdZ BS). This is part of an immediate procurement measure to meet the needs of the Bundeswehr forces deployed in Afghanistan in the context of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission. It means that another 220 Bundeswehr soldiers will be supported by the tried and tested soldier system for mission preparation and execution. This new delivery will raise the Bundeswehr's total number of IdZ BS equipment sets to about 2,500.
An IdZ BS system for equipping an infantry squad (ten soldiers) consists of an identical basic configuration for all soldiers (including modular bullet-proof vest in protection class I to IV, C4I equipment including NaviPad for situational awareness and transmitting messages, target data and images, night vision device, tactical radio) and various special items (such as laser range finder, camera, thermal image sighting device).
The system entered service with the Army, Navy and Air Force back in 2004 and has since proved its worth on the Bundeswehr's foreign missions. It offers soldiers not only protection but also highly increased capabilities in terms of command and control, navigation and weaponry.
In view of the increasingly asymmetric threat situations arising and the challenges presented by missions within the context of network-enhanced operations, enhancing effectiveness, assertiveness, protection and rapid and secure information exchange via more powerful information and communication systems for the deployed infantry forces is of ever greater importance.
Source : European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company EADS N.V. (Paris: EAD.PA)
