• The US Army recently fielded the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular, the most cutting-edge technology of its kind fielded to conventional forces.
• But, the ENVG-B also came with other technology, such as the Family of Weapon Sights - Individual that lets soldiers shoot from the hip and around corners.
• By the end of the year, this tech will be linked to the Nett Warrior device, allowing for augmented reality capabilities designed to boost individual soldier and squad performance.
• And down the road, soldiers will be able to see live video feed from operational Soldier Borne Sensor drones right in their goggles. And while the Army has yet to field this tech, it is already thinking about how to build on it.
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The US Army is changing the way it looks at equipping soldiers for battle, shifting from simply adding more and more gear to integrating systems, and one of the best examples is what the service is doing with its new night-vision goggles.

With the new goggles, the Army didn't just acquire new night-vision technology. It also integrated other new technologies such as connected weapon sights that turn any soldier into a top marksmen and network devices that allow for the sharing of data across augmented reality platforms.

And down the road, the service intends to incorporate the new squad-level mini-drones into the mix while moving everything into a plug-and-play open architecture that will allow for the addition of new capabilities as technology advances.

"For years, dismounted Soldiers have been overburdened by equipment which, while highly effective, often isn't integrated with other equipment," Brig. Gen. Anthony Potts, Program Executive Office Soldier, explained in August.

That's changing.

"Adding more does not help, but integrating is really what can drive progress," Maj. John Nikiforakis, a former Army platoon leader who serves as the Assistant Product Manager for the new Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular (ENVG-B) program at PEO Soldier, told Business Insider.

"We're not fielding just one piece at a time anymore. We are trying to field whole sets of equipment that enable that squad to be more lethal," he added, explaining that while all these systems can be used individually, "when you put them all together, that is when you get the most bang for your buck."

Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular (ENVG-B)

In late September, soldiers with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas became the first to get their hands on L3's ENVG-B.

A replacement for the AN/PVS-14 monocular night vision device (MNVD) that has been in use for nearly two decades, "the ENVG-B is the most advanced night-vision goggles fielded to conventional forces to date," Nikiforakis said. "There's nothing even close to it."

The new night-vision goggles offer improved situational awareness and depth perception for greater mobility, high resolution white phosphor tubes (a significant improvement over the green phosphor tubes), and thermal imaging for improved target recognition in the face of various battlefield obscurrants.

The new ENVG-B can be mounted on the Integrated Head Protection System (IHPS), a Ceradyne Inc. product developed as a replacement for the Enhanced Combat Helmet. It was first fielded earlier this year to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.

Family of Weapon Sights - Individual (FWS-I)

The ENVG-B is wirelessly connected to BAE System's FWS-I, displaying the weapon sight reticle (crosshairs) in the goggles so that the soldier can fire from the hip or around a corner or over a barrier accurately without looking. This development was fielded along with the ENVG-B in September.

Read more: A Marine tore up distant targets while lying on his back and shooting backwards over his shoulder with the help of this new weapons tech

Not only does the FWS-I allow for rapid target acquisition and reduce exposure to enemy fire — because a soldier doesn't need to expose themself to get a visual around a corner or obstruction — but it has dramatically improved soldier marksmanship.

Brig. Gen. Dave Hodne, the director of the Army's Soldier Lethality Cross-Functional Team, told reporters last October that he "can't imagine, right now, any future sighting system that will not have that kind of capability."

The FWS-I, like the ENVG-B, runs on AA batteries, but the Army is in the process of developing a standardized tethered battery for improved performance.

Nett Warrior

The ENVG-B has the ability to connect to the Android Tactical Assault Kit (ATAK) software on the Samsung Nett Warrior end-user device carried by soldiers for augmented reality capabilities aimed at providing better squad-level performance.

Using the Nett Warrior device, which was first introduced a few years ago, soldiers can pre-plot targets, pre-plot friendly forces, and connect with other service members integrated into the tactical network.

Important mission points and objectives, such as a target house, can be digitally marked on a map on the Nett Warrior device and then broadcast into a soldier's field of view in their goggles, and all connected squad members can see the same thing.

This capability was actually tested successfully back in April at Fort Drum with the 10th Mountain Division.

The soldiers who received the ENVG-B and FWS-I in September do not currently have this ability, but by the end of the year, the Army will have soldiers with full capability sets.

Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS)

A next step for the Army may be connecting the FLIR Black Hornet personal reconnaissance drones, which were fielded as part of the Soldier Borne Sensor (SBS) program, to soldiers in the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina a few months ago, to the ENVG-B so that soldiers can see live video from these tiny unmanned assets in their goggles.

Read more: The US Army wants to combine its powerful new night-vision goggles and its new pocket-sized spy drones so soldiers can see the battlefield like never before

While there is currently no set timeline on fielding this technology, an attempt by PEO Soldier to explore the art of the possible, the Army has managed to successfully link the two systems.

"If you were to take it out today and use it, you could see a video feed from the camera on the SBS drone in your night vision goggles without issue," Kevin Brown, the Assistant Program Manager for SBS at PEO Soldier, told Business Insider.

This technology works by sending a wireless signal from the SBS drone to the wireless antenna on the ENVG-B, which then relays the data to the Nett Warrior device. The end-user device then broadcasts the video feed in the goggles in real time. The video the drone operator sees can also be shared wirelessly with every connected member in the squad.

What's next?

The Army doesn't want to just stop there though.

"The fact that the squad leader can see what the SBS drone sees with their ENVG-B is outstanding," Nikiforakis told Business Insider. "But how come the headquarters element can't see the same feed? How come that same feed can't be sent forward to attack aviation?

"That interconnectivity, the ability to send data across the battlefield," he said, "that is where we should be going. Me seeing one thing is great, but what if I can bring in enablers to enhance that lethality and to really not fight a fair fight."

The service's ambitions here play directly into the larger plans for every sensor-every shooter connectivity for multi-domain operations that the Army, as well as other services, have been looking at more closely as they prepare for high-end warfare against near-peer threats.

The Army is also pursuing an Adaptive Squad Architecture (ASA) system, something loosely akin to the open architecture for app development for smart phones and related products, to permit the seamless integration of new technologies as they become available to the warfighter.

PEO Soldier has plans to eventually integrate the ENVG-B and its affiliated systems into the ASA.

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• The Army showed off its Close Combat Assault Ration at the Association of the United States Army this week in Washington, DC.
• The CCAR weighs less than 40% of a an Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) and is expected to replace the First Strike Ration (FSR).
• The CCAR "is a significant improvement in combat feeding," Douglas Tamilio, director of the Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, said Tuesday.
• The Army is expected to start field-testing these next year and then hand them over to soldiers a few years later.
• Click here for more BI Prime stories.

The Army showed off the future of battlefield combat meals at the Association of the United States Army this week in Washington, DC, revealing that it is still on track to begin field-testing the Close Combat Assault Ration next year.

"You all are familiar with MREs," Douglas Tamilio, director of the Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, said Tuesday.

The Close Combat Assault Ration "is a significant improvement in combat feeding" for units in environments with limited supply lines. "It will be the first time that soldiers are ready to carry seven days of meals," he added.

MREs replaced the older Meal, Combat, Individual Rations (MCI) in the early 1980s and served as the preferred self-contained, individual field ration for decades. The on-the-move First Strike Ration became an option for troops in 2007. The future is the CCAR.

Each CCAR ration offers up to 3,500 calories, sufficient for a 24-hour period.

To get the same amount of calories, a soldier would need to consume roughly three Meals, Ready-to-Eat (MREs) or one First Strike Ration, which is a little larger than one MRE. One CCAR, however, weighs 40% less than a MRE and more nutritious.

In an expeditionary environment, soldiers can easily carry seven days of meals, as seven CCAR packs are much easier to work with than 21 MREs.

In this Army graphic, it is easy to see the difference between the MRE and the CCAR with regard to squad supply demands.

The Army is looking at field-testing the CCAR next year and possibly fielding it as a replacement for the First Strike Ration by 2023.

So far, the service has primarily been conducting taste-testing, and the soldier response has been positive, an Army spokesperson told Business Insider at AUSA, adding that while the CCARs may not be as diverse as the MREs, there will still be menu options.

SEE ALSO: The US Army 'quietly fielded' a lighter yet tougher combat helmet that can offer increased protection against sniper fire

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• Raytheon announced that it has won the $384 million contract to deliver the new Low Tier Air and Missile Defense Radar.
• Army leaders revealed at the Association of the United States Army, where Raytheon had a full-scale floor model of its LTAMDS solution on display, that it had selected a vendor, but it held off on announcing the winner as the service and the company were still hammering out a deal.
• Incumbent Raytheon defeated a Lockheed Martin-Elta Systems team and Northrop Grumman to win the contract for what will eventually replace the Patriot radars that have been in service for decades.

Raytheon announced Thursday that it has been selected by the Army to build the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), a replacement for the Patriot radar that has been in service for decades.

The company, which also built the Patriot air-and-missile defense system radars introduced in the 1980s, says it will receive over $384 million to deliver six prototypes of the next-generation system, a 360-degree Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar powered by refined Gallium Nitride (GaN), which Raytheon says strengthens the signal and improves sensitivity.

At the Association of the United States Army event in Washington, DC, Raytheon unveiled a full-scale floor model of its LTAMDS solution.

During the conference, Brig. Gen. Brian Gibson, head of the Army's Air and Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team announced that the Army had selected a vendor for the LTAMDS program, but it refused to say which company had been selected as the service was "still actively negotiating."

Read more: The Army says it has picked who will build the Patriot radar replacement, but it isn't saying who the winner is

Incumbent Raytheon was competing against two other players, namely a Lockheed Martin-Elta Systems team and Northrop Grumman. The three competitors went head to head in a "sense off" event at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico earlier this year.

"Our clean-sheet approach to LTAMDS reinforces Raytheon's position as the world's premier air and missile defense radar capability provider," Ralph Acaba, President of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, said in a press statement.

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• The US Army is preparing to move to the next stage of development for its Robotic Combat Vehicle - Light (RCV-L).
• Four defense teams led by HDT Global, Oshkosh Defense, QinetiQ NA, and Textron Systems have made it through the white paper submission and oral review process and been selected to respond to the request for prototype proposals expected next month, the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) announced recently.
• The Army is expected to award contracts for the RCV-L next spring.

Four defense teams have been selected to move forward to the next phase of development for the US Army's light robotic combat vehicle.

HDT Global, Oshkosh, QinetiQ North America, and Textron Systems have moved past the white paper submission and oral review phases and have been invited to compete to develop prototypes for the Robotic Combat Vehicle - Light (RCV-L), one of three RCV variants that the Army is interested in procuring, the National Advanced Mobility Consortium (NAMC) announced Friday.

The solicitation process for the RCV-L project, one of four priorities for the Next-Generation Combat Vehicle program, the second highest Army Futures Command priority, is being carried out in two stages.

The first stage involved a request for white papers (RWP), which was issued in mid-June, and an oral review. The second stage will be a request for prototype proposals (RPP). Only four defense teams out of a larger group of initial participants have been selected to participate in the second stage.

The RPP is expected to be issued around Thanksgiving. The Army will issue contracts next spring for the delivery of four non-developmental RCV-L surrogates for evaluation, test, and manned-unmanned teaming experimentation, a Federal Business Opportunities notice from May explained.

Before the solicitation process began, defense firms attended an industry event at Texas A&M System's RELLIS Campus, where they conducted robotic combat vehicle technology demonstrations aimed at informing the requirements for the RCV program, Defense News reported.

To participate, the university revealed, the various firms had to present all-terrain vehicles capable of speeds between 15 and 75 mph able to carry payloads of at least 1,000 pounds out to a distance of at least 500 meters in any and all weather conditions.

The Army has characterized the RCV-L as an expendable platform designed primarily for reconnaissance that can be transported via CH-47 or C-130 and ready for combat within 15 minutes of disembarking.

The RCV-L is expected to travel at speeds of at least 25 mph in order to keep pace with its unit and associated vehicles and carry a payload of at least 1,200 pounds. The Multi-Mission Payloads (MMP) the vehicle will carry include lethality packages consisting of cannons and missiles for combat operations.

The RCV-L is also expected to have silent drive and 360-degree sensing capabilities.

At the Association of the United States Army conference in Washington, DC last week, Textron Systems, subsidiary Howe & Howe, and partner FLIR Systems unveiled the Ripsaw M5, a modular, scalable RCV platform able to serve as an RCV-L and RCV-M (Medium) pitch.

Read more: Textron, Howe & Howe and FLIR roll out a small robot tank that can deploy drones in bid to build the Army's new robotic combat vehicle

At the conference, QinetiQ announced its partnership with Pratt & Miller, and HDT showed off its Hunter WOLF (Wheeled Offload Logistics Follower) unmanned ground vehicle. QinetiQ, Defense News reported, has plans to offer the Army a variation of its Expeditionary Modular Autonomous Vehicle (EMAV).

It is unclear at this time what Oshkosh Defense intends to bring to the table.

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• The US Army has awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $162.4 million contract to deliver 624 Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET), which are essentially robotic mules designed to carry soldier gear on the battlefield.
• GDLS' Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) was selected over the bids of three other program competitors, specifically Howe & Howe Technologies' Grizzly RS2-H1, Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. and Neya Systems LLC's MRZR-X, and HDT Global's Hunter Wolf.
• Fielding is expected in the second quarter of fiscal year 2021.

The Army recently announced that it had awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $162.4 million contract to deliver 624 Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport (SMET) vehicles to unburden soldiers on the battlefield.

Infantry soldiers have been know to carry anywhere from 60 to 120 pounds of gear, to include water, ammo, and other necessary equipment. The Army wants to lighten the load.

The SMET, an eight-wheeled robotic "mule" that can carry up to 1,000 pounds up to 60 miles in a 72-hour period and reduce soldier weight by more than 100 pounds for increased agility, mobility and overall lethality, is designed to fill a critical capability gap.

The payload requirement for the SMET, which can operate as an unmanned platform controlled by a handheld remote or a manned asset, is based on the demand for an infantry squad, which usually consists of around nine soldiers.

Furthermore, the vehicle is a mobile charging station able to generate three kilowatts of power while stationary and one kilowatt while moving to keep devices and equipment fully charged while soldiers are in the field.

The Army issued directed requirements for a rapid material acquisition of a robotic vehicle that could lighten the load for soldiers in April 2017 and then began Phase I assessments at Fort Benning, Georgia in September of that year. In November 2017, the Army reduced the number of competitors to four for Phase II technology demonstrations.

The contenders were put to the test by Infantry Brigade Combat Teams with the 10th Mountain and 101st Airborne Divisions during a seven-month period in 2018.

GDLS' Multi-Utility Tactical Transport (MUTT) was selected over the bids of three other program competitors, namely Howe & Howe Technologies' Grizzly RS2-H1, Polaris Industries Inc., Applied Research Associates Inc. and Neya Systems LLC's MRZR-X, and HDT Global's Hunter Wolf.

"The MUTT did very well ... it was the clear favorite among the soldiers," Lt. Col. Rob Brown, the military deputy of the Robotics Requirements Division at the Maneuver Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate, explained to Military.com.

Delivery of SMET vehicles to IBCTs is expected to begin around the second quarter of fiscal year 2021.

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• Pentagon officials were reportedly shocked by a "Fox & Friends" report Monday that President Donald Trump planned to intervene in three war crimes cases by Veteran's Day.
• Secretary of Defense Mark Esper plans to urge Trump not to intervene, according to CNN.
• Included in the information packet will be the details of each case, as well as arguments that in none of the cases were the accused troops acting out of patriotism, as Trump suggested.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Secretary of Defense Mark Esper plans to urge President Donald Trump not to intervene in the cases of three members of the military accused or convicted of war crimes, CNN reports. 

Three defense officials told CNN that the Pentagon would send an information package to the president explaining why he should not intervene in the cases of former Army Lt. Clint Lorance and Maj. Matthew Golsteyn, a Green Beret, and Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher. The officials told CNN that the information would be delivered as soon as possible; administration officials told CNN that Esper planned to discuss his concerns with Trump before Veterans' Day on Nov. 11. 

Pentagon officials were reportedly shocked by a "Fox & Friends" report Monday that Trump planned to intervene in the cases. He has tweeted about the war crimes allegations, saying, "We train our boys to be killing machines, then prosecute them when they kill!" Gallagher was acquitted of premeditated murder charges, but found guilty of taking a photo with a slain ISIS fighter; Lorance is currently a 19-year sentence for murder; and Golsteyn is awaiting court-martial on murder charges.

Pentagon officials are concerned that Trump doesn't understand the gravity of the crimes Gallagher, Lorance, and Golsteyn were convicted or accused of, or the potential effects his intervention could have on military justice. CNN, citing administration officials, reported that Esper will attempt to convince Trump that he should follow the recommendations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice in the cases. 

Included in the information packet will be the details of each case, as well as arguments that in none of the cases were the troops acting out of patriotism, as Trump appears to believe, and recommendations that Trump should follow the recommendations of the UCMJ — with the acknowledgement that the final decision is up to the president. 

'Undermining the authority of command'

Trump has been heavily involved in the case of  Gallagher, who was accused of killing a teenage ISIS captive, as well as shooting at Iraqi civilians, both war crimes. He was acquitted of those charges in a military court, after the prosecution impugned its own witness and surveilled the defense without a warrant. Another SEAL testified to killing the young ISIS fighter; Gallagher was found guilty of posing for a photo with his body and demoted. 

Trump has also gotten involved in the cases of Lorance and Golsteyn. He has ordered that charges against both be reviewed; Lorance is serving a 19-year sentence at Ft. Leavenworth in Kansas for ordering an enlisted soldier in his platoon to fire at three Afghans on a motorcycle in 2012. Two of the men died, and Lorance was charged with murder, the Army Times reports. Lorance and his attorneys have maintained his innocence, arguing in an appeal that at least some of the men on the motorcycle had been linked to insurgent activity. 

Golsteyn's case has not yet gone to trial. He is accused of murdering an alleged Afghan bombmaker in 2010, and the Army maintains that, during a CIA polygraph test, he admitted to shooting the man, burying him, and later returning to burn the body. Golsteyn and his attorneys maintain his innocence, with one of his attorneys calling the alleged confession of Golsteyn killing an unarmed man "a fantasy." However, the Army Times reports Golsteyn did admit to a version of the events he allegedly told CIA interviewers during a Fox News interview. 

Golsteyn has pleaded not guilty, and his attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, has said that the death occurred during a mission that Golsteyn's superiors ordered. 

Should Trump intervene in the cases, the integrity of the UCMJ would be called into question, as well as the leadership of military authorities. Countries that host US troops could become more wary about the behavior of those troops, and of the military's ability to prosecute crimes, according to the officials CNN interviewed. 

"We all view this possibility as undermining the authority of command," one official told CNN.

Insider reached out to the White House and the Pentagon for comment, but did not receive a response from either by press time. 

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• An attorney for Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn said that President Donald Trump has "committed" to ending Golsteyn's prosecution for war crimes. 
• The attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, told Insider that his team had been in touch with the White House through intermediaries, but declined to identify them in further detail. 
• Secretary of Defense Mark Esper made a case to Trump on Tuesday that he should not intervene in three high-profile war crimes cases, two of which have already been decided.
• Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories. 

An attorney for Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn said that President Donald Trump has "committed" to ending Golsteyn's prosecution for war crimes before his upcoming trial. 

A press release from Golsteyn's attorney, Phillip Stackhouse, sent to reporters on Thursday, says that "President Trump has committed to ending the dubious, long-delayed prosecution of the decorated Green Beret." Golsteyn stands accused of murdering an unarmed alleged Afghan bombmaker in 2010, and is set to face trial in February 2020. 

"News that the president is preparing to clear Maj. Golsteyn is encouraging," Stackhouse says in the release. "It's time to end this runaway prosecution which is contaminated by bogus 'new' evidence, compromised Taliban 'witnesses' purportedly found by a now-disgraced military investigator, and unproduced emails related to the case that go all the way to Gen. Mark A. Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff," Stackhouse said.

In a phone call with Insider, Stackhouse said that his team had been in contact with the president "through intermediaries," but wouldn't elaborate on the identity or identities of the intermediaries. Insider reached out to the White House for further information about the intermediaries, but did not hear back by press time. US Army Special Operations Command spokesman Lt. Col. Loren Bymer referred Insider to the White House for comment on Stackhouse's statement.

Stackhouse said he had received assurances that the president would take action in his client's case on Sunday, before a "Fox & Friends" report claimed that the president planned to intervene in Golsteyn's case and two others. On Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper met with Trump to convince the president to allow the Uniform Code of Military Justice judgements to stand in all cases. When asked if he would still be confident asserting that Trump will intervene in his client's case, Stackhouse told Insider, "I feel comfortable saying that."

"Am I really interested in what [Esper] has to say? No," Stackhouse said.

High-profile war crimes accusations

The president has publicly discussed ending Golsteyn's prosecution, but as yet there has been no public announcement of his decision. Trump has also expressed interest in intervening in the cases of  Navy SEAL Chief Eddie Gallagher and Army Lt. Clint Lorance, both of whom were accused of war crimes. Gallagher was acquitted of killing a teenage ISIS fighter and shooting at civilians while serving in Iraq. He was convicted of taking a photo with the young ISIS fighter's body and demoted. Trump has publicly mulled restoring Gallagher's rank.

Lorance is currently serving a 19-year sentence for ordering the murder of two unarmed Afghans, and for the attempted murder of a third, in 2012. Lorance and his attorneys have maintained his innocence, and his lawyers asserted in an appeal that the Afghan men were connected to terrorist networks. 

"Maj. Golsteyn was originally cleared in this incident for which he now stands accused," Stackhouse said, referring to a 2010 investigation by the Army Board of Inquiry, which found no conclusinve evidence that Golsteyn violated the rules of engagement in the incident, and recommended a general discharge for him. The board did, however, find him guilty of conduct unbecoming of an officer, the Army Times reports.

"He should have been separated or medically retired because of service-related injuries and allowed to move on with his life and family. Instead, the Army has secretly pursued him for seven years. The origination and true motivation of this prosecution remains a mystery," Stackhouse wrote. 

After a bomb blast killed two Marines on Golsteyn's 2010 deployment to Afghanistan, his forces detained a man who a local tribal leader identified as a bomb-maker. Because of this identification, the tribal leader was concerned about Taliban reprisal attacks against him or his family, according to an Army investigation from 2011. The account alleges that Golsteyn led the unarmed suspect off base and shot him, coming back later to burn the corpse in a trash pit, Army Times reported.

Golsteyn relayed information about his involvement in the death of the Afghan man to CIA interviewers in 2011, the Washington Post reported in 2015. In 2016, he confessed to a version of these events on Fox News.

SEE ALSO: Trump's Syria and Afghanistan drawdowns are playing right into the Taliban's hands

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• The US Army, like the other service branches, faces the possibility of an extended continuing resolution because of Congress' inability to pass a budget.
• The Army anticipates "severe impacts in all six of modernization priorities," Army documents obtained by Business Insider said.
• The service said $8.8 billion could be affected by a yearlong continuing resolution, including 79 new start investments valued at $1.9 billion, 37 production-rate increases valued at $1.6 billion, 46 military construction projects valued at $1.9 billion, a planned increase of $2.8 billion for operations and maintenance, and an added $600 million for military-personnel expenses.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Congress is running out of time to reach a budget deal, and the US Army is bracing for "severe impacts" to its modernization and readiness plans as the threat of an extended continuing resolution looms large on the horizon.

"We all know that we are currently under a CR, and it's possible that the CR gets extended — we don't know for how long," Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin told reporters on Wednesday, adding that "our adversaries that exist around the world probably are not operating under the same constraints."

The Army is undergoing its largest modernization in more than four decades as it shifts its focus to great-power competition, but these efforts are at risk, with Congress at impasse and the deadline for passing the annual National Defense Authorization Act only weeks away.

The Army would "experience severe impacts in all six modernization priorities," Army documents obtained by Business Insider said, referencing the military branch's plans to achieve advancements in long-range precision fires, next-generation combat vehicles, future vertical lift, network capabilities, air and missile defense, and soldier lethality.

In the event of a six-month continuing resolution, the Army anticipates delays to 31 planned production-rate increases, putting programs like the Black Hawk helicopter and Stryker armored-vehicle upgrades at risk.

The service would also likely see delays in the procurement of new assured positioning, navigation, and timing capabilities, as well as postponed development of the Individual Visual Augmentation System, a next-generation heads-up display for soldiers.

"If you get to a yearlong CR, it'll probably be easier to lay out the things that won't be impacted than it would be to lay out the things that will," Gen. John Murray, the head of Army Futures Command, told Business Insider earlier this week. "It's going to impact across the board."

If the Army were forced to continue operating at fiscal year 2019 spending levels throughout fiscal year 2020, 79 new start investments valued at $1.9 billion, 37 production-rate increases valued at $1.6 billion, 46 military construction projects valued at $1.9 billion, an increase of $2.8 billion for operations and maintenance, and an additional $600 million in military-personnel funding would all be affected, documents listing endangered Army programs said.

The Army expects delayed procurement of the Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense system, as well as impediments on the development of land-based hypersonic missiles and next-generation combat vehicles.

In the documents obtained by Business Insider, the Army said programs like the Extended Range Cannon Artillery, Precision Strike Missile, and even the conceptual Strategic Long Range Cannon — key projects for the Army's top long-range precision fires priority — would be put at risk, along with plans for the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft, the Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle, and Army network operations.

Beyond the disruption of the Army's modernization efforts, a yearlong continuing resolution would "hamper recruiting and retention incentives" by reducing active-duty and reserve component entitlements by $597 million, assuming Congress does not allow for bonuses and special pay in continuing-resolution legislation.

If lawmakers fail to pass a budget, it would also result in the Army being unable to award 4,400 new family and single-soldier dwellings and delay maintenance and repair of more than 250 Army family housing units.

The Army reported that $8.8 billion in its fiscal year 2020 budget request would be affected.

The continuing resolution, service documents said, "disrupts major training exercises and events, slows the growth of readiness and execution of maintenance, curtails hiring and recruitment actions, and adversely impacts contracting negotiations."

SEE ALSO: Facing an extended CR, the Pentagon says these US military programs will take a hit if Congress can't pass a budget

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• The US Army, which is undergoing its largest modernization in decades, is facing the possibility of an extended continuing resolution as Congress struggles to pass a defense budget.
• In the event of a long-term continuing resolution, the service's plans for advances in network technology would suffer a "significant impact," Gen. John Murray, head of Army Futures Command, told Business Insider this week.
• A long-term continuing resolution would severely impact the Army's ability to effectively deliver, develop, integrate, and assess important network-modernization efforts, an Army official told Business insider, explaining that the work being done is essential to providing commanders with secure, capable communications in contested environments.
• If Congress fails to pass a budget by the November 21 deadline, the Army, like the other services, could be looking at a six-month, possibly yearlong, continuing resolution, which could negatively affect more than $8.8 billion in Army funding.

The Army is pursuing an ambitious modernization plan, one that is heavily dependent on advances in network technology, but Congress' inability to pass a budget and the threat of an extended continuing resolution are putting the service's plans at risk.

"The network is a cross-cutting capability," Gen. John Murray, the head of Army Futures Command, told Business Insider this week. "It would be a significant impact," he said of the possibility of an extended continuing resolution.

The military has been suffering the effects of a short-term continuing resolution for the past few weeks, but if Congress fails to find a solution before the November 21 deadline, the armed forces would be restricted to the 2019 fiscal-year spending levels for six months, if not the entire fiscal year.

Under a yearlong continuing resolution, the military would be limited to last year's $718 billion as allocated rather than receive the $738 billion in the 2020 fiscal-year request.

For the Army, which is undergoing its largest modernization in more than four decades, a continuing resolution could mean as much as $8.8 billion in funds for new start investments, production-rate increases, military construction, operations and maintenance, and personnel could be lost, Army documents obtained by Business Insider said.

A number of developmental programs, including the network, could be affected.

A long-term continuing resolution would severely impact the Army's ability to effectively deliver, develop, integrate, and assess important network-modernization efforts, an Army official told Business insider, explaining that the work being done is essential to providing commanders with secure, capable communications in contested environments.

The Network Cross-Functional Team (N-CFT) under Army Futures Command would lose the funding necessary to begin fielding a new network capability set in 2023 because the team's experimentation efforts are new start investments.

A long-term continuing resolution would affect new capabilities such as low and medium Earth-orbit satellite capabilities, data management, new waveforms, command-post mobility, and network management, among other things.

Another potential effect is a limitation on the Army's ability to field modernized radio equipment. Of particular concern is the HMS Manpack radio program, which could be limited to only $3.7 million of the 2020 fiscal-year request for $35.6 million under a 12-month continuing resolution. In this situation, operational testing in the 2020 fiscal year and fielding in the 2021 fiscal year could slip back.

An extended continuing resolution could also affect the procurement of Integrated Tactical Network communication-enhancement equipment, which was to go to four Brigade Combat Teams in the 2021 fiscal year. Under a continuing resolution, that delivery would probably slip several months, if not longer. "Without this equipment, the Army will be forced to delay resolving critical communication gaps, which currently exist in light infantry formations," an Army official told Business Insider.

A continuing resolution would also leave plans for improvements to the Tactical Server Infrastructure, which supports mission-command applications, at only 26% of its 2020 fiscal-year appropriations, hindering procurement and fielding plans, leaving soldiers with bulky, vulnerable equipment. The extended continuing resolution would also affect cryptographic systems and network operations software.

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NOW WATCH: We can thank the US military for the smelliest weapon in the world

• The Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Airborne (SOAR-A) is the elite aviation unit that flies special operators like Navy SEALs and the Army's Delta Force into the most dangerous and secretive missions the US conducts.
• The 160th, nicknamed the Night Stalkers, operates religiously my their creed, which says they'll be there within plus or minus 30 seconds of any operation time, and they'd "rather die than quit."
• Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.

The Army's 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Airborne, (SOAR-A), has earned the nickname "The Night Stalkers."

Operating under the cover of night or the shadows of dawn, these elite pilots are responsible for getting special operators into and out of some of their most secret and dangerous operations.

Night Stalker pilots go through rigorous training to become mission-ready to fly in the most challenging conditions, including bad weather and enemy fire, all while relying on infrared and night-vision equipment to navigate through the darkness.

While many of the 160th SOAR's operations are secret, it's widely understood that they were involved in the 2011 raid that killed Osama bin Laden.

Read on to learn more about the elite aviators that "would rather die than quit."

SEE ALSO: Here's what we know about Delta Force, the super secretive troops who went after ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi

The Night Stalkers fly a few different helicopters, including the MH-60 Black Hawk.

The 160th has over 3,200 personnel and 192 aircraft.

The Night Stalkers operate different versions of the Black Hawk, outfitted for dangerous and covert operations. In fact, all the aircraft the 160th uses are "highly modified and designed to meet the unit's unique mission requirements," according to the Army. 

All the MH-60s the Night Stalkers use have in-air refueling capability, extending the aircraft's ability to operate over long distances.

The Night Stalkers's MH-60 Direct Action Penetrator (DAP) is a Black Hawk specially outfitted with an M230 30 mm automatic cannon. When the aircraft is modified to the DAP, it can move only small numbers of troops, according to US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).

All of the Black Hawks the 160th flies have a cruising speed of 140 mph and a top speed of 200 mph, The Washington Post reported in 2014, when the aircraft were used in a failed attempt to rescue American civilians in Syria.

The Night Stalkers also fly the MH-47 Chinook.

The 160th operates two variants of the MH-47 Chinook, a special-operations variant of the Army's CH-47 Chinook.

The MH-47E is a heavy assault helicopter with aerial refueling capability, as well as advanced integrated avionics, an external rescue hoist, and  two L714 turbine engines with Full Authority Digital Electronic Control that enables the MH-47E to operate in high-altitude or very hot environments, according to SOCOM.

The Night Stalkers fly the MH-47G Chinook as well, which has a multi-mode radar to help pilots navigate challenging conditions, as well as two M-134 "minigun" machine guns and one M-60D machine gun for defensive fire.

The MH-47 is used for a variety of operations, including infiltration and exfiltration of troops, assault operations, resupply, parachuting, and combat search and rescue. 

The 160th was born out of tragedy.

The Night Stalkers were formed after the botched attempt to rescue hostages from the US embassy in Tehran in 1979, known as Operation Eagle Claw.

During that operation, eight US service members were killed, and the need for a specialized group of aviators became apparent.

The 160th was formed in 1981, composed of soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell in Kentucky, and was officially designated the 160th Special Operations Aviation Group (Airborne) in 1986.

What we know as the modern 160th was officially activated in 1990.

The Night Stalkers have been active in every military operation since Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada in 1983. The unit lost pilot Michael Durant during the Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia in 1993.

The tempo of operations increased significantly after the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.

"At the height of Iraq, those guys were doing two to three missions a night," a 10-year veteran of the unit with multiple tours to Afghanistan and Iraq told Insider. 

"Once the mission has been accomplished, the only reward is another mission," he said.

Once Night Stalkers are finished with a mission, "they're not going to Disney World. They're going back to wherever they came from. They're going to train again."

Night Stalker training simulates the challenging environments they're going into, as well. 

Women in the 160th see combat too.

"It's just not all guys. At least the 160th has female pilots. They're rowing the boat. They're in the battle," the Night Stalker veteran told Insider.

The 160th's motto — "Night Stalker's Don't Quit!" is attributed to Capt. Keith Lucas, the first Night Stalker killed in action.

"The purpose of that organization is to serve the most elite special forces in the United States," a veteran of the unit told Insider.

"That unit's gonna be on time, and it's gonna fly like hell to serve the ground forces," he said.

The Night Stalkers have a reputation of being on time within 30 seconds of every operation and say they'd rather die than quit.

The Night Stalkers' motto — often shortened to "NSDQ!"— is vitally important to the team.

"It binds people that have been serving in that organization till now," the veteran said. Lucas was killed in 1983, during Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada.

MH-6 and AH-6 Little Birds are also part of the 160th's fleet.

These aircraft are small and maneuverable — perfect for use in urban combat zones where pilots must fly low to the ground among buildings and city streets.

The MH-6M and AH-6M are both variants of the McDonnell Douglas 530 commercial helicopter.

The MH-6M is the utility version that can also be used for reconnaissance missions. The AH-6M is the attack version and is equipped with Foward Looking Infrared, or FLIR, which shows crewmembers an infrared video of the terrain and airspace.

Here's an AH-6M training for a combat mission

And an MH-6M extracting a soldier from the water.

• Tim Tebow attempted a military obstacle course with two Army Best Ranger Competition winners.
• Tebow, a great athlete, was crushed by both men.
• Tebow first lost a race to scale four walls.
• He then made it just one-third of the way through a grueling monkey-bars-style challenge that involved ropes and nets.
• Watch the video below to see just how fit some servicemen and servicewomen are.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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NOW WATCH: 5 things about the NFL that football fans may not know

• US Army Futures Command is a newly-established four-star command aimed at the rapid development and fielding of new technology for future warfare.
• The command, backed by tens of billions of dollars in funding, is looking to engage traditional defense firms, as well as non-traditional companies, to achieve its modernization goals.
• Business Insider recently asked Gen. John Murray, the head of Army Futures Command, who industry needs to know to do business with the command. Here's what he had to say.

For the US Army, Futures Command is a newly-established four-star command aimed at the rapid development and fielding of new technology for future warfare.

For companies interested in doing business with the Army, it is a multi-billion market opportunity.

Business Insider recently talked to Gen. John Murray, the commander of Army Futures Command, about who companies need to know to do business with the command. These are the 15 big players companies want to get to know.

The names are in bold in the organizational chart below.

"That's a lot of people to get to know," Murray told BI, adding that who firms need to know depends on the type of company.

"If it is more toward the small business or start-up, I would say [start] here in Austin, [Texas] with Col. Rosanoff and Beth [Scherr]. That would be the right place," he explained. "If it's more toward the traditional defense [contractor], it's probably best to focus on that cross-functional team director/[program manager] relationship."

Army Futures Command achieved full operational capability in July, just one year after its headquarters was stood up in Austin, Texas to facilitate the Army's largest modernization effort in more than four decades.

The command is currently tackling more than 30 signature systems projects spread across six priorities overseen by eight cross-functional teams.

The command, headquartered in Austin, recently delivered its first major achievement, when it fielded the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular with the Family of Weapon Sight - Individual to soldiers in the 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley in Kansas.

In its first year, Army Future Command grew from having only about a dozen people to having tens of thousands of people working at the command, largely through a realignment of existing modernization commands. Furthermore, the command is pursuing its ambitions with an estimated $30 billion in fiscal 2020 funding available for investments in new innovations.

And now is a good time for companies to connect with the command. Army Futures Command, now that it's reached full operational capabilities, is looking to engage industry partners, both traditional and non-traditional, to advance its modernization priorities.

"There's lots of things we need to spend more time focusing on, and I think one of those is formalizing and getting a better handle on the connections with small businesses and entrepreneurs," Murray said. "That being said, I also realize there's no way the Army is ever going to modernize without the continued relations and improving relationships with the defense primes."

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NOW WATCH: A podiatrist explains heel spurs, the medical condition Trump said earned him a medical deferment from Vietnam

• Business Insider recently participated in a Soldier Touchpoint event, an exercise intended to inform the development of new technologies, at Fort Pickett in Virginia.
• During the technology demonstration and soldier-centered evaluation, we were given the opportunity to see firsthand what the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) heads-up display can do.
• Using the HUD built by Microsoft, we planned a mission, took photos of sensitive information found on the battlefield, identified and registered detained enemy combatants, translated signs, and battled our way through a dark building full of threats.

The US Army is partnering with Microsoft to develop a mixed-reality heads-up display for the dismounted soldier, and Business Insider recently had the chance to put this device to the test at Fort Pickett in Virginia.

Microsoft was awarded a $480 million contract in fall 2018 to develop augmented-reality headsets for ground troops. The tech giant, which beat out competitors like Magic Leap, has been working closely with the Army to develop the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS).

IVAS is a heads-up display based on Microsoft's HoloLens that offers soldiers immediate access to dozens of valuable combat tools in a digital space, such as mapping, orienteering, target tracking, facial recognition, and text translation.

As IVAS is still a work in progress, the Army is not quite ready to compete with the fictional Tony Stark and his Iron Man suit, but, as Business Insider saw firsthand, the base software is already capable of performing complex tasks that soldiers say would benefit them today.

At the recent Soldier Touchpoint event, a soldier-centered evaluation intended to inform the development of new technology, our squad used the headsets to plan a mission using 3D augmented-reality maps, take photos of sensitive information on the battlefield, identify (with confidence readings) and register detained enemy combatants, and translate Russian signs.

As we stormed a building at our objective, we were also able to conveniently use all the capabilities of the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular, the most advanced night-vision goggles today, using Microsoft's see-through waveguide-display technology together with the digital low-light and thermal sensors developed by various other companies.

At the heart of all night-vision goggles is an analog image-intensifier tube that has to rest in front of the user's eyes. When they are turned off, the user must move the goggles out of the way because it is impossible to see through them.

With IVAS, the sensors are digital and positioned along the brow line, creating a low-profile display with a wide field of view (roughly 80 degrees instead of 40) users can see through day or night, with low-light or thermal-sensing capabilities available as needed.

IVAS, like the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles - Binocular, also connects to the Family of Weapon Sights - Individual, which moves the reticle into the display for rapid target acquisition, improved marksmanship, and effective engagement with reduced exposure to enemy fire.

During the training operation, we were able to use the Family of Weapon Sights - Individual and the heads-up display's thermal-imaging capabilities to put fire on a threat holding a civilian hostage in a dark room without putting ourselves or our squad mates in danger.

After clearing all targets inside, we exited the building under the cover of our own smoke, the heads-up display's digital sensors allowing us to see through the obscurant without any problems.

The assortment of combat capabilities available to us during the exercise were supported by on-body computing devices, as well as mobile-network units, and powered by a conformable wearable battery offering about 6 to 8 hours of power.

The Army, together with Microsoft, tested the IVAS Capability Set 1 earlier this year. The IVAS headset we worked with during the most recent Soldier Touchpoint event was Capability Set 2. The Army plans to test Capability Set 3, the first all-weather, ruggedized, and form-fitting IVAS heads-up display, next summer, with the Capability Set 4 testing expected at a later date.

The Army anticipates fielding IVAS in 2021, though the possibility of an extended continuing resolution could delay the ongoing work on IVAS, pushing this system's delivery to the war fighter back several months, if not years.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: We can thank the US military for the smelliest weapon in the world

• Business Insider recently participated in a soldier touch point event, an exercise intended to inform the development of new technologies, at Fort Pickett in Virginia.
• During the technology demonstration, we saw how the Army's new heads-up display — the Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) — can help soldiers train using synthetic training environments in digital space.
• We stormed a building, battling enemies invisible to anyone without the HUD, and then did an immediate after action review using augmented reality.
• "It is feedback like they haven't had before," Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, director of the Synthetic Training Environment team, said. "[Soldiers] see this as a viable training methodology for training close combat. The [after action review] piece of this, they would take this right now the way it is."

The US Army is working with industry partners, namely Microsoft, to develop a mixed reality heads-up display, one that can give soldiers and squads access to tools that will let them train for battle like never before.

It was former Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis who said that US troops need to fight "25 bloodless battles" before their first fight. Augmented reality is how the Army is getting after that.

The Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS), a multi-purpose HUD, is a signature system project for the Soldier Lethality (SL) team at Army Futures Command, but the Synthetic Training Environment (STE) team is currently also exploring ways to use the technology to help soldiers train and rehearse for battle.

At a recent IVAS soldier touch point event at Fort Pickett in Virginia, Business Insider experienced firsthand how IVAS will be used as a training tool for soldiers.

During the event, a soldier-centered exercise intended to inform technology development, a squad consisting of this reporter, another journalist, Gen. John Murray, head of Army Futures Command, Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Joseph Martin, and James McPherson, who is the under secretary of the Army, raided a completely empty building.

For those of us with the experimental IVAS headsets, HUDs based on Microsoft's HoloLens, the building was far from empty.

There were enemy combatants programmed to fire on our position and take cover when fired upon, civilians that would respond to voice commands, and even animals, in our case, dogs and goats.

Armed with weapons modified with special trackers, we could fire bullets and throw grenades in digital space. After no more than about five minutes of instruction, we were in the fight, with the generals leading the charge and shouts of "frag out" and "got him" echoing through the halls.

You could see your muzzle flashes and the explosions of grenades. You could see bullet holes in the wall where a shot missed. You could hear the cries of fallen enemies.

While the simulated warfare was fascinating, much more interesting was the after-action review, which began just a few minutes after we finished the raid.

We gathered around an empty table, but for those of us still wearing the IVAS headsets, it wasn't empty at all. There was a 3D augmented reality version of the building we just stormed. Inside were little people representing the members of our squad.

Able to play, pause, fast forward and rewind like a home movie, we watched our team work its way through the building. We could see which way we were facing when we turned a corner and whether or not our rifles were pointing the same way.

"If you are a squad leader, you can really understand how your squad is maneuvering through this space," an Army official explained.

In that same digital space, there was also an augmented reality leaderboard where we could see how each squad member performed (how many enemies killed, how many civilians killed, whether or not they were hit, etc). You can also see how an enemy was killed, specifically who took the shot and where the bullet hit.

Virtual reality trainers have been around for years, but the current experimental setup is like nothing seen before. The Army has been chasing this capability for over a decade, but the technology just wasn't available until now.

"It is feedback like they haven't had before," Maj. Gen. Maria Gervais, director of the STE cross-functional team, said. "[Soldiers] see this as a viable training methodology for training close combat. The [after-action review] piece of this, they would take this right now the way it is."

As the Army works to further develop this technology, it intends to expand it to the company level, as well as push for increased realism, such as a materials mod so that thin plywood barriers will not serve as adequate protection from a grenade.

"This is cutting-edge technology," Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville told lawmakers earlier this year, explaining that IVAS and augmented reality training environments are "going to transform the way we train soldiers and the way soldiers operate in combat."

"What it's going to allow our Soldiers to do is to go into [augmented] reality and train on a mission they're about ready to accomplish," the general added. "We're excited about it."

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NOW WATCH: A podiatrist explains heel spurs, the medical condition Trump said earned him a medical deferment from Vietnam

• FLIR Systems was recently awarded a $109 million contract to deliver Kobra robots to serve as the Army's new Common Robotic System - Heavy (CRS-H), an unmanned ground robot built to help EOD units.
• The award marks the first big unmanned systems win for FLIR since it acquired Endeavor Robotics for $382 million earlier this year.
• In recent years, FLIR has evolved from a world-leading sensor company to a more diverse firm achieving success in the small and mid-sized unmanned system space due to its acquisition of Endeavor as well as Aeryon Labs and Prox Dynamics.

FLIR Systems, a leader in advanced sensing technology, won a $109 million Army contract for a ground robot to help Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) teams, the company's first big unmanned systems win since it acquired Endeavor Robotics for $382 million earlier this year.

FLIR's Kobra robot has been selected to serve as the Army's new Common Robotic System - Heavy (CRS-H) vehicle.

This unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) can climb over obstacles, lift up to 330 pounds, stretch to a height of more than 11 feet, and stow down for compact storage despite weighing over 700 pounds, according to FLIR.

The Kobra as a CRS-H solution was developed with Army and soldier feedback. "Soldiers have been kicking the tires on this Kobra for the last year and a half," Joseph Ailinger, the director of public relations for FLIR's Government and Defense team, told Business Insider.

Delivery of 248 CRS-H vehicles is expected to begin in the third quarter of FY 2020, the Army revealed in its second robotics program of record contract announcement in two weeks. The Army recently awarded General Dynamics Land Systems a $162 million contract for 600 Small Multipurpose Equipment Transport vehicles, robotic mules to unburden soldiers.

David Ray, the head of FLIR's Government and Defense team, told Business Insider the win validated the decision to buy Endeavor. "The CRS-H is the first of many programs we hope to win as part of this acquisition," Ray said.

Endeavor won a $158.5 million Army contract two years ago to deliver a Man Transportable Robotic System Increment II (MTRS Inc II) solution. The Centaur UGV, now a FLIR program, is serving in this capacity.

At the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) conference held in Washington, DC in October, FLIR showed off a variant of the Centaur that could field Black Hornet drones, a FLIR rotary wing unmanned aerial system (UAS) developed by Prox Dynamics, which FLIR acquired in 2016 for $134 million.

The Army started fielding Black Hornet drones earlier this year.

FLIR is starting to emerge as a prominent player in the small and mid-sized unmanned systems space as a result of its acquisition of Prox Dynamics in 2016, Aeryon Labs for $200 million in January, and Endeavor in March.

"We wanted to go from just building world-class sensors, which FLIR is really good at, to moving more into the solutions business, opportunities where we could vertically integrate," Ray explained to Business Insider.

"Through a series of strategy discussions across the business, it quickly became apparent that one of the areas we thought we could excel would be in the unmanned space."

"If you look at how our military customers buy, they buy by platform," Ray told Business Insider.

Rather than remain beholden to the larger Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), platform producers, FLIR decided to expand in order to "bring customers integrated solutions as opposed to products that have to be integrated into other systems," Ray explained.

"Sensing has become such an important part of everything on the battlefield. That's where our strength was. So, how could we combine word-class products from a hardware and platform perspective with the sensing capability we had? We saw that come together for us in the small unmanned space."

FLIR is currently looking at a variety of unmanned systems.

At AUSA, FLIR, in partnership with Textron Systems and its subsidiary Howe & Howe Technologies, unveiled the Ripsaw M5, a potential solution for the light and medium variants of the Army's Robotic Combat Vehicle.

Functioning like a drone mothership, the unmanned Ripsaw M5 has the ability to deploy other unmanned assets, including FLIR's R80D SkyRaider and SUGV, drones developed by Aeryon and Endeavor and equipped with FLIR sensors.

FLIR is currently exploring similar opportunities for robotic surface ships and larger aerial drones, the aim being the creation of combat and reconnaissance systems that can carry multiple vehicles for enhanced surveillance.

The company, as part of its efforts to create an open plug-and-play architecture, is working on a common controller that can not only be used across multiple platforms to make training and maintenance easier, but can also allow a single user to control more than one unmanned system at a time. "We want one plus one to equal ten," Ray said.

"FLIR as a whole will continue to be acquisitive," he told Business Insider, explaining that the company aims to continue to grow exponentially and make progress on its four pillars: sensors, decision support, airborne ISR, and unmanned systems.

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NOW WATCH: We can thank the US military for the smelliest weapon in the world

• President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress have made a big fuss over Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman wearing his military uniform on Capitol Hill during the impeachment inquiry.
• But Vindman is an active duty Army officer and is following regulations by wearing his uniform to impeachment hearings.
• Trump and his GOP allies have zeroed in on the uniform to suggest Vindman is being performative, which he vehemently denies.
• "The uniform I wear today is that of the United States Army," Vindman, an Iraq War combat veteran, said on Tuesday. "We do not serve any political party. We serve the nation."
• Follow along with our live coverage of the hearings here.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

President Donald Trump and his Republican allies in Congress have zeroed in on Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman wearing his military uniform to impeachment hearings amid his participation in the inquiry.

The implication from the president and congressional Republicans is seemingly that Vindman, an Iraq War combat veteran and active duty Army officer, has used his dress uniform as a prop as part of a partisan performance.

But Army regulations state that"when an invitation calls for business attire, the appropriate Army uniform is the service or dress uniform." The regulations further state: "All personnel will wear an Army uniform when on duty, unless granted an exception by the commander to wear civilian clothes. "

In short, Vindman has been following US military protocol, and it would be a violation of Army regulations for him to show up to congressional hearings out of uniform.

And Vindman — the top adviser on Ukraine on the National Security Council — in his testimony on Tuesday vehemently denied his involvement in the inquiry was motivated by partisan leanings. 

"The uniform I wear today is that of the United States Army," Vindman said. "We do not serve any political party. We serve the nation."

GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee zeroed in on Vindman's uniform in Tuesday's hearing. 

Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah, for example, mentioned that Vindman wore the uniform "even though you wear a suit" to the White House. He also questioned why Vindman earlier in the hearing corrected Rep. Devin Nunes, the ranking member on the committee, on his current rank in the Army.

Stewart said: "Do you always insist on civilians calling you by your rank?"

"I am in uniform wearing my military rank, I just thought it was appropriate to stick with that," Vindman replied.

He added: "The attacks I've had in the press and Twitter have kind of eliminated the fact that...or marginalized me as a military officer."

Trump on Vindman: 'I understand now he wears his uniform when he goes in'

Meanwhile, Trump at the White House on Tuesday explicitly mentioned Vindman's attire in comments to reporters.

The president said: "I don't know him, I don't know, I don't know – as he says, Lieutenant Colonel. I understand somebody had the misfortune of calling him mister and he corrected him. I never saw the man, I understand now he wears his uniform when he goes in, no, I don't know Vindman at all."

Trump also mocked Vindman for wearing his uniform in an interview last week, stating: "You know him. He shows up in his uniform for the first time ever."

The remarks from Stewart and Trump echoed the headline of an article from the far-right news outlet Breitbart. The article, published in late October, is titled: "NSC Official Alex Vindman Testifies in Full Military Uniform, Despite Not Wearing One to Work Every Day."

Democratic Rep. Sean Maloney on Tuesday rebuked Republicans for focusing on Vindman's uniform. 

"It seems like if anybody gets to wear that uniform it's somebody with a breast plate with those commendations," Maloney said in defense of Vindman.

Vindman was on the July 25 call between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that led to a whistleblower complaint that ultimately sparked the impeachment inquiry. The Army officer's first-hand knowledge of the call and expertise on Ukraine have made him a key figure in the scandal that's threatening to upend Trump's presidency.

• Read more of Insider's impeachment coverage:
• Here's who's scheduled to testify in this week's impeachment inquiry hearings
• Think Trump will get impeached? Gambling sites say the odds are in your favor
• Trump could be impeached and removed from office but still win reelection in 2020
• Over half of the House of Representatives support the impeachment inquiry against Trump — see all of them here
• Everything you need to know about Trump's impeachment process: What's happened, who the players are, and what comes next

SEE ALSO: Alexander Vindman ended his opening statement in Trump's impeachment hearing with a message to his father: 'Do not worry. I will be fine for telling the truth.'

Join the conversation about this story »

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• US President Donald Trump's decision to pardon three service members accused or convicted of war crimes was influenced by outsiders, including "Fox & Friends" host Pete Hegseth over top military officials, The Washington Post reports.
• Trump had already made his decision by the time military leaders spoke with him, according to the Post, after having seen Hegseth champion an Army officer accused of murdering an Afghan man.
• Trump "doesn't seem to have a great deal of actual respect for professional expertise," constitutional law professor at Cardozo School of Law and national security expert Deborah Pearlstein previously told Insider, despite his declared love for the military. 
• Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.

President Donald Trump's decision to pardon three warfighters accused or convicted of war crimes went against the advice of his top military officials, relying instead on the advice of outsiders, including Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, The Washington Post reports. 

Military officials, including Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Secretary of the Army Ryan McCarthy both spoke with the president and attempted to convince him to let the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ), the judicial system under which SEAL Eddie Gallagher and Army Lt. Clint Lorance were tried, run its course and let their convictions stand — or, in the case of Green Beret Maj. Mathew Golsteyn, let him be tried in the first place. 

But, the Washington Post reports, it was the intervention of outsiders, including "Fox & Friends" host Pete Hegseth, that convinced Trump to grant clemency in the controversial cases. Indeed, Trump in his Oct. 12 tweet announcing a review of Golsteyn's case tagged the Fox host's Twitter account, "@PeteHegseth."

Trump had already made his decision by the time military leaders spoke with him, according to the Post, after having seen Hegseth champion Golsteyn and his family on television. 

"I think from the moment that Julie Golsteyn [Maj. Golsteyn's wife] made her first media appearance, the president had already made up his mind about what he wanted to do,"one official familiar with the matter told the Washington Post.

"But he also was presenting an opportunity to be convinced otherwise."

The Post, citing a current and a former administration official familiar with the matter, also reports that Hegseth spoke on the phone with the president several times regarding his intervention in the cases. The White House was also given information about the cases from the nonprofit group United American Patriots, which advocates for servicemembers who have been charged with war crimes, according to the group's chief executive David Gurfein.

These decisions are the latest evidence that Trump often sides with external advisors over his own officials like Esper and McCarthy, who are both US Army veterans. Hegseth is also a former Army officer, who served in Iraq. He did not resopnd to a request for comment by Friday.

Trump "doesn't seem to have a great deal of actual respect for professional expertise," constitutional law professor at Cardozo School of Law and national security expert Deborah Pearlstein previously told Insider, despite his declared love for military officials. 

"His instincts are anathema to what the modern American military's instincts are," Pearlstein said. 

The Post reports that Trump left top military officials out of the decision until just two weeks ago to issue the pardons for Lorance, who was serving a 19-year sentence after being convicted of ordering members of his platoon to shoot at unarmed Afghan men, killing two; restore the rank of Gallagher, who was accused of murdering a teenage ISIS fighter and shooting at Iraqi civilians, and convicted of posing with a photo with the corpse of the teenage captive; and dismiss charges before the trial of Golsteyn, who was accused of murdering an Afghan man.

Gallagher was acquitted of the most serious charges, after the case against him fell apart and another member of his platoon confessed to killing the ISIS captive. Lorance's supporters stressed that evidence in his favor had been withheld during his trial, and an initial investigation into Golsteyn's case did not substantiate the accusation that his actions broke the law of armed conflict.

SEE ALSO: Trump officials are quietly negotiating with the Taliban — which is now ranked the world's deadliest terror group

SEE ALSO: These are the countries where Russia's shadowy Wagner Group mercenaries operate

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NOW WATCH: We can thank the US military for the smelliest weapon in the world

• The US Army is overhauling its approach to talent management as it modernizes its force, turning away from industrial-age processes where soldiers were perceived as interchangeable parts.
• "The way the Army maintains its competitive advantage is by maximizing the potential of every soldier that we have," Maj. Gen. J.P. McGee told Business Insider.
• While industry outreach and feedback has been limited, the service has gotten a few good ideas from some companies and organizations like UPS, Google, and a symphony orchestra, the general said.

The US Army is modernizing, and that means changing the way it manages its people as much as it does developing new weapon systems for future warfare.

"The way the Army maintains its competitive advantage is by maximizing the potential of every soldier that we have," Maj. Gen. J.P. McGee, the director of the Army Talent Management Task Force, told Business Insider.

The service is pushing to create a talent-management approach for the information age, a modernized officer selection and assignment system not codified in industrial-age practices that see soldiers as interchangeable parts, but instead focused on the unique attributes and talents of each soldier.

"In the business world, people will say very explicitly that they are in a war for talent," McGee told Business Insider. "They don't say they are in a competition. It's not a game for them. It's a war for talent because it's life or death in terms of whether or not their company's going to survive. I think the Army needs to adapt that mindset as well."

The Army is overhauling its approach to talent management as it modernizes its force, and while industry outreach and feedback has been limited, the service has gotten a few good ideas from some companies and organizations, like UPS, Google, and a symphony orchestra.

"There's probably not a direct lift from industry into the military or into the Army," McGee said. "But there are concepts and ways of looking at problems and how to do things that could be really, really important and helpful for us."

With the ongoing talent-management overhaul, the Army is increasingly prioritizing preferences, especially with the new Army Talent Alignment Process that matches officers with desired positions in much the same way that medical-school students are matched with their respective institutions, but that creates a problem when it comes to filling positions in places no one really wants to go.

"UPS is a tremendously large company," McGee said. "It has got bases all around the world. They have easy-to-fill locations and hard-to-fill locations. Some of the interesting conversations were about how they try to manage that and incentivize people to go to hard-to-fill locations."

One option for the Army is a broader use of brevet promotions, a kind of honorary promotion.

"We see that as a way of recognizing highly talented individuals but also to incentivize putting officers in some of our hard-to-fill locations," the general said, adding that "there's always been a geographic component to preference and where officers would like to live."

In addition to emphasizing preferences, the Army is also making big changes to the battalion-commander selection process. The service is tossing out the legacy practice in favor of the more comprehensive Battalion Commander Assessment Program (BCAP).

The new BCAP will involve cognitive and noncognitive assessments to include written and verbal tests, a fitness evaluation, and a psychological assessment. There's also an interview with five senior officers. With this change comes the need for capable, competent panel members.

A lesson the Army learned from Google in another conversation was that it is important to track the successes of the people involved in the hiring or promotion process to determine if these people tasked with finding the right people for the job have the ability to do so.

At Google, McGee said, the company takes steps to "determine how well they can actually find the right people who are going to contribute to the mission. I find that compelling, and we're trying to see how we can do that with this battalion-commander-assessment program."

Something else the Army is trying with the BCAP is the blind panel interview, something the service apparently learned from a symphony orchestra.

Symphonies, McGee told Business Insider, will sometimes erect screens between the candidate and the interviewers. A performer will come in, play, pack up, and leave without a face-to-face exchange between the two parties.

The goal, the general said, is to address an "issue called introductory bias, where the minute you walk in the door, you shake hands with the candidate, you make your initial opinion of them in that first 10 to 15 seconds, and then you spend the next 30 minutes confirming every bias that you have."

The blind-interview process eliminates this challenge, creating an environment where interviewers can better focus on what matters most.

While the Army has learned a lot from the civilian world, it is also looking to recruit talent through its direct-commission program, which allows the service to bring in talented people from industry and commission them as officers.

With new authorities from Congress and under the leadership of Army Chief of Staff Gen. James McConville, a driving force behind the Army People Strategy, the effort to overhaul the Army's approach to talent management is gaining momentum.

"It is a tremendously exciting time to be in the Army," McGee told Business Insider. "And it is certainly a tremendous time to be a part of this task force."

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NOW WATCH: We can thank the US military for the smelliest weapon in the world

• The Maunsell Army and Navy forts were built and placed in the Thames Estuary in 1942 to help protect London from airstrikes and sea raids during World War II. 
• After the war, the forts became the headquarters for pirate radio stations.
• Today, the forts are abandoned and dilapidated, but you can visit them by boat. 
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

All over Europe, there are monuments to remember World War II, and miles off the coast of the England, there's one that not many know about. 

The Maunsell Army and Navy forts in the Thames Estuary once guarded the UK against bombs, but today, they are dilapidated, abandoned structures that you can only reach by boat. 

Keep scrolling to learn more about these forts and what they look like today. 

During World War II, London's ports were vulnerable to German bombings by air and by sea.

The country needed to develop a plan to protect themselves from the Germans on the coast.  

The answer was to build forts out at sea so that foreign planes and boats could be destroyed before reaching the coastline.

Guy Maunsell, a civil engineer in England, designed forts that could be built on land and then installed out at sea in 1942.

They were located eight miles off the coast and acted as guards.

In all, there were four Navy forts and three Army forts placed in the Thames Estuary. The three Army forts were called Nore, Red Sands, and Shivering Sands. Only two still stand today.

The Army forts consisted of seven towers connected by steel walkways.

Each of the towers stood on four concrete legs. The buildings on top of these legs were made of steel, had two floors, and measured 36 feet by 36 feet. 

Each of these forts housed weaponry and sleeping accommodations for the soldiers.

At any given time, there were 265 men living on each fort. For many, an assignment at the forts was cold, isolating, and long. 

The forts turned out to be successful in protecting the country from threats.

While in operation, the forts shot down 22 planes and 30 bombs.

By the 1950s, the forts were abandoned, but they were given a second life in the '60s as radio headquarters.

They were pirate radio stations.

While some of the forts were destroyed by storms, others still stand in ruin today.

Although the buildings are still standing, they have remained unoccupied for decades.

If you take an hour boat ride off the coast of the UK, you can visit the waters surrounding the forts.

Photographer Scott Amling took a boat out to the forts in 2018 and experienced the decaying buildings for himself. 

Although you can't go onto the forts anymore, it's clear these buildings are in varying states of decay.

"The forts had this rust and patina on the surface of the metal sides and you could see how they were constructed in plates riveted together," Amling told Insider. "The winter fog and lack of visibility added to the mystery of the forts."

The walkways that once connected the towers are now dilapidated.

The catwalks are no longer safe. 

Some parts of the steel forts are completely overrun with rust.

"[It's] hard to imagine that men were stationed out there in these iron cans above the water firing anti-plane guns at the German bombers and mostly at night," Amling said. 

Although the buildings are in ruins, they still stand as a memorial to World War II — and the brave soldiers who served their country.

Even though they don't look like much these days, the Maunsell forts once helped keep the UK safe.

• Read more:
• The abandoned Gwrych Castle in North Wales is 200 years old and said to be haunted. Take a look inside.
• Take a look inside the famously creepy Winchester House, which has 160 rooms, staircases that lead to nowhere, and doors that open into walls
• I toured two Ellis Island hospitals that have been abandoned for almost 65 years. Here's what they're like inside.
• Built in 1829 and abandoned since the '70s, Philadelphia's Eastern State Penitentiary is one of the creepiest places in America. Here's what it's like inside.

• Mark "Billy" Billingham spent 27 years in the military in the Parachute Regiment, with the Special Air Service (SAS) as a Mountie troop leader, sniper, and jungle warfare instructor.
• Since leaving the armed forces, he's worked as an A-list bodyguard to Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise. He's now a consultant on Channel 4's "SAS: Who Dares Wins."
• We asked Billy to rate the realism of popular military scenes in movies, including "American Sniper", "Commando", "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down."
• Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Mark Billingham: Stop! First thing, totally unrealistic. He just fired a nuclear weapon from his shoulder.  

Mark Billingham: I'm Mark "Billy" Billingham. I spent 27 years in the military, nine in the parachute regiment, 17 to...plus years with the SAS. Since leaving the armed forces, I then became head of security for a number of A-lists, including Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. And I'm currently now working in the TV industry as an adviser on "SAS: Who Dares Wins."

"Black Hawk Down" (2001)

Mark Billingham: The equipment and the Little Birds, what the helicopters use, is probably quite right. That's exactly how you ride into battle, like these do. Flying down the streets the way that we see there is probably a bit unrealistic, bearing in mind it's a hostile environment. Now, don't get me wrong, these things can fly under washing lines, they're unbelievable, but I just find that a little bit unrealistic. I'm guessing because of the timelines they had to move in daylight.

OK, the second phase I'm looking at now, they're coming in in the Black Hawks and delivering the troops by what we call fast rope, which is the ropes from the side of the aircraft. The unrealism again in my eyes is they're dropping right onto the target, broad daylight, and you're basically a sitting duck.

As for running out in front of a 50-cal weapon, I think that's a little bit OTT. The grenade launcher from the small-arms weapon there is totally overkill. What it would do is fragmentation, a little bit of a noise; it certainly wouldn't burst into flame.

"6 Days" (2017)

Mark Billingham: OK, so the first incident you see there is what they call a coach option, where they're about to storm a coach for whatever reason, believing there's terrorists on it. Now, the drills and skills and the equipment, back in the day, is actually very correct, pretty spot-on.

What we call rehearsals and what they're rehearsing there is close-quarter battle, clearing a building, a stronghold where hostages may be held. The drills and the skills, again, exactly as they would have. This is a very sort of light roll; they'll do this five or six times. This is a walk-through/talk-through, then they'll do it a little bit faster, and then eventually they do it in full equipment. So, what I'm seeing there is actually pretty accurate.

The effects of a grenade is exactly that. The only thing missing was probably the noise. There's a little bit more noise to it, but there's not big balls of fire, there's no walls falling in and falling down, that's exactly as it is.

"Commando" (1985)

Mark Billingham: It's an Arnie movie, the way he's dressed is just ridiculous, it's all about, "Look at my image," as opposed to what I'm trying to do. He's got weapons and guns all over him.

He just fired a nuclear weapon from his shoulder. I mean, that is just ridiculous, you know. I've never even seen that sort of rocket launcher anyway. And the other thing is the enemy are running along and firing from down here, from the hip for some strange reason and running in front of each other, but no one seems to be shooting. It's just f------ ridiculous, you know, he stood behind a couple of leaves and no one can hit him.

Wow. One of those nuclear grenades again that seem to just destroy everything in a 50-mile radius. Totally unrealistic.

"Bravo Two Zero" (1999)

Soldier: Of course you're afraid. You get your...

Mark Billingham: OK, my biggest criticism there is you're on operations, you're already in the enemy territory behind the lines, and your weapons should already be done and ready to go. If they're not caught out in the open then it's a bad use of ground. They should have been in cover.

What the anti-tank weapons could do that they've just fired, which is the 66, again totally unrealistic, unless it's a fuel bowser, it wouldn't burst into flames, so that's just for effect.

"American Sniper" (2014)

Chris Kyle: He has eyes on our guys.

Dandridge: Can you confirm it's him?

Chris: It's him. Oh, it's him.

Mark Billingham: Right. You know, people do long-distance shots, and to say that's over a mile and being able to confirm firstly that's the target is, I would say, virtually impossible. Because of the distance, no matter how good the sights are, and also it's a desert terrain, you'd normally get the heat rising so there'd be some sort of distraction between. If it's not the heat naturally coming off the ground, then out there it's heat from the buildings. It may be a miracle day where it was totally calm and there's no heat rise, which I find...I've never known it, having been a sniper.

You can see it's a target, I'll give him that, and, you know, it's worth a shot.

You may have seen him fall; it doesn't mean he's been hit. It doesn't mean he's dead. So they're the questionable things, I would say, but however, an amazing job, and amazing things that snipers can do. It is possible.

"Bodyguard" (2018)

David Budd: Stay down! The bullets can pierce the windows, but they can't get through the armored metal. Control, Sierra Zulu Seven Nine, status: zero Thornton Circus. Control, Sierra Zulu Seven Nine, status: zero Thornton Circus. Lavender....

Mark Billingham: His sole job is to protect that principal, so, reality, rather than curling up in his own seat, I would have crawled into the back and got hold of her because you don't know what she's gonna do. Is she gonna panic? Is she gonna raise her head into the glass? He really should have reacted better by being on top of her, getting her down low in the rear wheel and protecting her.

David: Shooter's located on roof of Pascoe House, one, zero, zero.

Mark Billingham: If he got her out of the vehicle, get down with her and get her moving, he's now starting to, you know, try and take control of the vehicle, which he should have done from the start, to be honest. And again, realistically, he's already said there's one sniper, which how he identified was a bit unrealistic. He should have just took her up a side street, you can't see everywhere from any sniper position, so.

Right now, the biggest problem with this, if you're a bodyguard, well, his primary role is to look after a principal. He's now left her unattended, all on her own, to go and be a hero. Then he took himself out of the vehicle, leaving her vulnerable, then he's now left the vehicle to become a hero. Where is she? She's on her own. Totally not doing a bodyguard's job.

"Patriot Games" (1992)

Jack Ryan: Camp 18.

Operator: Enlarging.

Jack: Enlarge primary target.

Operator: Enlarging.

Mark Billingham: OK, that's a view initially from the operations room as an operation is taking place, which again is pretty realistic in terms of the atmosphere inside the operation room, when it's going down. Everybody's watching all the radars, watching the TVs, listening to the communications, and everybody's got their heart in their mouth and not really saying a lot.

Operator: Airborne support approaching.

Mark Billingham: Put a little bit more detail, and I've never actually seen it myself, but it's pretty realistic.

"Lone Survivor" (2013)

Mark Billingham: The wearing of shades, it's very much an Hollywood thing. That doesn't happen. So, as you're moving through shade, you lose all perspective. All right, so that's the only fault that we see with the equipment and movement from the start.

Soldier: You mean fall off?

Soldier: Yeah.

Mark Billingham: What they were actually doing, again, is not unrealistic as in terms of tasks that the military would do. It would be done a lot more covertly. It was a little bit loud, they were not cammed up. For whatever reason, which I find a little bit unrealistic is the bunching up, where they all just come together knowing full well that they're being shot at. The big drill is to stay away from each other, 'cause the more together, the bigger the target. Where the rocket-propeller grenade, the RPG-7, landed and all of a sudden everybody's catapulted in the air, totally unrealistic. What it actually does, it would blow you off your feet to a degree, but you'd be covered in shrapnel and probably have body parts missing. So it's a little bit Hollywoodized with the rolling down the hill and all the rest of the stuff.

Marcus Luttrell: Oh, my rifle.

Mark Billingham: The weapon is not a massive priority really. If it was a person left behind, yes. They've been in contact, they've managed to break contact by falling back, and now they're hidden again. They've really given their position away again by talking too loud and not moving and getting the hell out of it.

"Who Dares Wins" (1982)

Mark Billingham: Stop! They're flying through the air, hanging off the bottom of an helicopter, no. That does not happen. OK, some of the explosive entry drills, the window charges, pretty realistic, the door, shotgun drills on the door, again, realistic. Also there's grenades being thrown around in there. Most of this is stun grenades as opposed to fragmentation grenades. The equipment they're wearing, from what I can see, again is pretty realistic. The synchronized abseiling down the wall is a little bit dramatic. 'Cause it takes a while to set up an abseil and do all that sort of stuff. You just wouldn't have time to be able to do that. It's not like you see in "Spider-Man," where you can just attach it and go. Gotta get into position, and then once it goes [snaps] noise, and then you go, but it's not synchronized abseiling.

"The Longest Day" (1962)

Mark Billingham: Did people get hung up on churches and trees? Yes, they did. You know, when they jumped into and around villages, you got blown all over the place or you were dropped in the wrong place, so that can happen. The way that probably happened is a little bit, sort of, again unrealistic. You know, you come down with one hell of a smash and you'd probably get badly injured as opposed to bounce around like you're on a bouncy castle. He's still got his reserve parachute attached to him, and the way to get down is pull that parachute, 'cause then it'll drop down to the ground. Unattach one side and then climb down it. For whatever reason, he decides to watch the show going on below him for a while, and then decides, "Oh, maybe I should get out," and then starts cutting himself away, so. There's bullets and bombs going off all around him, but the German still let the knife fall, which is a bit weird.

"Saving Private Ryan" (1998)

Private Ryan: Over the side!

Mark Billingham: The chaos of it all, the ridiculous sort of obstacles you come up against, which is not just bullets and bombs, the water getting off a boat. So I think this is portrayed really, really well. And having seen the tracer lines of the rounds going through the water, although I've not been shot at underwater, I have seen the effects of firing through water, and that, in my eyes, in my opinion, is pretty realistic.

Producer: Somebody tried to disprove on YouTube that bullets couldn't hit people if they were going through water because —

Mark Billingham: I've seen people shot in the f------ water. I mean, it goes off at a tangent, but if you, you're firing at a bunch of people, you're firing randomly, it's quite likely that something, somebody's gonna get hit. You know it's the same as just firing into a crowd. It's indiscriminate. The realism of the sounds of bullets going past you, that's shown really, really well. The chaotic-ness of what's going on around you, and not just the fact that you're being fired at.

Producer: Military movies, you have a bit of a bit of a love-hate relationship with them?

Mark Billingham: When I do find I'm watching anything military-orientated, I do tend to be a little bit critical about the scenes. If I had to say I had a favorite movie that is military-based, I would say it's "Heartbreak Ridge," purely because of the influence of Clint Eastwood, and obviously it's based on a real story. It's a little bit dramatized, but it's actually a quite good movie, in my eyes.

Produced by Ju Shardlow

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