Royal Marines will have access to more information when making tactical decisions thanks to a new helmet camera, according to a news release.
Dave McInerney, MarWorks programme manager, said:
“This sort of challenge is exactly why technology accelerators such as MarWorks were established. We take a problem from the user community, try and find an affordable technical solution, if it is off-the-shelf then great but when it’s not quite there we are able to work with industry, big and small, to develop a solution that meets the users’ need.”
According to the news release mentioned above:
“The purpose-built camera is not only tougher and weather proof to keep up with the extreme conditions commandos operate in, it also links up to a new network system ensuring live data can be analysed and exploited quickly. Both the network and cameras have been procured by MarWorks – the Royal Navy’s information warfare technology specialists. The introduction of the new equipment forms part of the Future Commando Force concept which will see Royal Marines go back to their commando roots – operating in small lethal teams to wreak havoc – and embrace new tech.
MarWorks worked with company Visual Engineering to take the general-purpose cameras and adapt them to fulfil the requirements needed by the marines – to be hardy, easily mountable, work with open software and to be able to stream data. Although there are many body-worn devices, they rely on Bluetooth, WiFi or uploads to a cloud-base system, things Royal Marines on operations in often remote and extreme environments don’t always have access to. The cameras will work hand-in-hand with the recently procured mobile network radios that MarWorks have been trialling with 40 Commando and Advanced Force Operations.”
MarWorks is the Royal Navy’s second tech accelerator after ‘NELSON’, MarWorks, say the Royal Navy, “is focused on agile command and control networks”.
“As we have been running these exercises, MarWorks have been in the background, developing the networks that aspire to be resilient to operating in all conditions and in all scenarios, regardless of anybody else’s attempts at interference, to ensure that we have continuity of communication between our digital backend and our various technologies forward across the battlefield.”
‘Digital backend’ – now there’s a new expression!
A great phrase which will become a staple in my idiolect.
Idiolect? Hmmm… with regional tonal inflextion of course.
INFLEXTION…
It will no doubt be called an Enhanced Digital Backend … or a EDB. The mark 2 will be the TEDIH, Tactical Enhanced Digital Integrated Helmet.
All we need now is vital body sensors relaying information back in real time and the Colonial Marines have arrived.
RTVBS… Real Time Virtual Body Sensors.
I hope those cameras have good night vision, because they mostly come at night. Mostly!
We could use some of their guns too, and drop ships.
Drake, check your camera. There seems to be a malfunction.
Perhaps the RM should be trying this new Hornady 6mm ARC cartridge designed to get the most out of AR platforms.
No more big bowl helmets?
I dread to think how much they paid for this 15 pound camera
I presume the point of the camera is that it is networked to the commander, however just watch out because the video feed may well end up in a court somewhere.
Maybe we can sell this to US police forces.