Future soldier
within the context of fighting a conventional foe, should the need arise. But how will that capability be developed? And, once developed, how will the various pieces of equipment and technology the modern soldier needs be integrated – and become scalable – without imposing massive physical and logistical strains? The answer to that question is to create a modern British Army that is fit for the future and not the past.
LOSA to the fore
Enter the UK Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) flagship Land Open Systems Architecture (LOSA) platform. Far from being complacent when assessing the emerging global threat picture, the MOD has often been ahead of the curve, seeking to blend technological advancements into the British Army’s tactical and operational dispositions. The aim is to enable it to dominate its enemies on the field of battle while avoiding encumbering the infantry and complicating their logistics.
The LOSA programme is composed of three synergistic strands: the Generic Vehicle Architecture (GVA), the Generic Base Architecture (GBA) and the Generic Soldier Architecture (GSA). Together, they are designed to enhance land warfare capabilities by enabling flexibility through a modular, scalable and unrestricted technological approach, allowing the British Army to fight a variety of different missions depending on the varied parameters it may face. Of course, these parameters do not necessarily have to be against unconventional foes engaged in an insurgency. For example – although it is too early for any complete and detailed operational breakdown of the ongoing war in Ukraine – preliminary analysis appears to suggest that, despite the use of conventional forces, Russian advances have been hindered by well- coordinated, Nato-backed and infantry-heavy Ukrainian defences. By failing to gain air superiority and by seriously underestimating their foes, Russian forces have been forced to engage in costly land battles and have been unable to hold onto what territory they could seize near Kyiv in the face of a determined Ukrainian defence – once more bringing to the fore how important advanced dismounted capabilities are. While it has often been said that it is difficult, if not outright impossible, to predict the next war, the only indication military planners have to go by is usually the wars they have fought themselves, or the ones they are able to study. This, then, provides a special impetus for accelerating the GSA programme, as the next war may not necessarily be against a distant, low-tech foe, but could well be against a more experienced, professionalised and conventional enemy.
The GSA’s past
The GSA started life in 2012, as a result of the UK’s experiences operating in Afghanistan and dealing
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with the issues raised by attempting to adapt mounting numbers of third-party technologies in an increasingly digitised battlefield. From GPS navigation systems to satellite imagery, and thermal and night vision imagery to reconnaissance assets and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) acquiring targets, the modern battlefield relies on a multitude of different technologies to enhance the effectiveness of the modern front-line infantryman.
and it has sought to blend technological advancements into the British Army’s tactical and operational dispositions.”
That is precisely the objective of the GSA programme – to enhance the lethality and survivability of British soldiers who are at the cutting-edge of battle, and therefore need cutting-edge technology. However, being more lethal while being harder to kill is not enough. Forces must also be agile with a reduced physical and cognitive burden enabled by technology. Therefore, the GSA’s Integrated Soldier System (ISS) aims to standardise the interfaces and protocols for the modern soldier’s loadout. This has led to the development of the MOD’s Defence Standard 23-012, which sets out its approach to realising an open system architecture that will reduce the burden of equipment and power sources physically carried by soldiers to enable them to fulfil their roles. The standard not only covers physical and electrical guidelines of equipment integration for the defence industry to follow, but also how the GSA will work as part of the wider LOSA platform synergistically alongside GVA and GBA. This, then, lays out the rationale for why the
The GSA programme aims to reduce the technological burden on the modern soldier.
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