- As foot soldiers, our Soldiers and Marines can track the enemy on his turf and provide our crucial contact in civilian peacekeeping. They are agile, but heavily loaded and exposed.
- The Humvee carries their equipment and supports maneuver but cannot turn around in alleys and they concentrate too many of our American Soldiers in one spot. And, with increasing armor, we lose the power of our Soldier’s friendly civilian engagement.
- Tanks can support the footsoldier with heavy firepower, but the tank’s ability to move amongst civilians and look peaceful is, in reality, non-existent. And, they also concentrate major assets in one spot.
Today, we watch with amazement as our young men and women accomplish an ever-changing mission using equipment not designed for the urban fight and peacekeeping of this generation’s war. It is obvious that the job on the ground is getting done because of their skill, courage and creative ingenuity on this mission. It is also obvious that they could use the supporting power of another level of capabilities halfway between the foot soldier and their truck.
Click here for Video on what we have learned
in 6 years interacting with Soldiers and Marines
The Jake™ is an opportunity: an agile carrier of technologies: 3,000 lb unit with 2,000 lb payload - protection, “mobile toolbox” and high power fighter units to team with our foot soldiers.  Such a carrier opens the ability to bring an array of technologies into the alleys with our foot soldier’s: ballistics protection, medevac, IED jammers and sensors, sniper sensors, chemical and explosive sniffers, 3D mapping, networked intelligence, tactical tools, small aerial and ground robots, advanced lethal and non-lethal weapon systems, with stealth electric operation available to be quiet and peaceful in interface with civilians, and yet equipped to immediately respond to any threat.
Imagine you're in Baghdad. It's 110°, you're in the alleys 10 blocks from your truck, the enemy is on the move and your squad needs to quickly move from a vulnerable position and be 3 blocks over and flank them. With Jakes with you, your team maneuvers smoothly and you accomplish the mission.
Here, Jakes are powerful and agile maneuver, a compact and robust size half-way between the foot soldier and his Humvee or truck, bringing support of heavy firepower, armor, robotics and gear into the alleys. Jakes will team to move and cover dismounted soldiers and each other, just as our foot soldiers do for each other today.
When your reaction is “that thing is not fully armored”, or “we can’t fund them having that much technology”, please pause for a moment and think of our soldiers walking the narrow streets, stabilizing neighborhoods, interfacing with people, but with our enemy adapting and seeking our vulnerabilities here. With Jakes, our Soldiers and Marines will equally adapt, with greater supporting firepower, supporting gear and with networked and “freaky agile” tactics. Here, our young troops will redefine the power of the foot soldier.
This could be viewed as either “bringing back the Cavalry” or in the case of the Marine Corps, a new specialty force in the heavy weapons platoon. In either, it expands capabilities needed to stay ahead of a changing enemy. Think of how neighborhoods are stabilized and secured. It’s by our men and women interfacing with people, as our American soldier does best.
 This new design is common logistics of common systems across a multi-mission and multi-environment modular platform on 2WD, 4WD, 6WD or tracks.
Networked with larger systems, and supporting the foot patrol in the alleys, it will open “video-gamer” teaming readily understood by our youngest soldiers (answering recruiting challenges).
Respected military leaders see Jake as a needed catalyst, or “agent of change”, to new tactical concepts and strategy shifts sought for a changed battlespace. Yet, they acknowledge the challenge of change in a timeframe that matters.
** US Army Rapid Equipping Force (REF) briefing to Office of Secretary of the Army May 2005, in which Jake was termed “Mobile Foxhole”, Category III Exoskeleton”, the program causing US Army Vice Chief of Staff to term it “the Warrior Transformer”. *** Analogy of US Army, RDECOM, Director of Futures and Systems Integration, August 2005 |
