Russian infantry gear to have friend-or-foe sensors visible only to friendly troops

Source : http://tass.ru/en

KUBINKA /Moscow Region/, June 16. /TASS/. Russia's "soldier of the future" will be wearing individual friend-or-foe sensors constituting an integral part of the high-tech Ratnik combat gear, the general director of the Central Research Institute of Precision Machinebuilding, which developed the system, said on Tuesday.

"There is the ordinary electronic friend-or-foe system: you direct certain instruments at it and receive a response. And there is a system using light-reflecting elements and coloured signs that are visible only to devices operating within a certain part of the spectrum," Dmitry Semizorov told TASS on the sidelines of the Army-2015 forum in the Moscow region. "They will be seen only through our devices."

It is assumed that the soldiers’ friend-or-foe system will be enabled through attaching some kind of sensor on each soldier’s clothing. A soldier can then distinguish between enemy and friendly forces by looking at the screen of a special device similar in appearance to a mobile phone.

Semizorov noted that R&D work was well underway and "as soon as there are stable results," the system would be built into the Ratnik gear set.

The Russian army has already started receiving domestically-designed "future soldier" gear. Up to 50,000 Ratnik sets are expected to be delivered within a year from now, with an eventual increase in deliveries to 70,000 a year.

The new combat gear comprises about 40 components, including individual weapons, aiming and protection systems, as well as communication, navigation, and target acquisition and indication equipment.