FFW (previously known as Objective Force Warrior) is an Advanced Technology Demonstration managed by the U.S. Army's Natick Soldier Center that is developing revolutionary Soldier technology solutions for transition to the Land Warrior III SDD.
The goal of the FFW System of Systems program is to dramatically increase soldier and small combat unit survivability, lethality and sustainability in all terrains and conflicts.
FFW has the ambitious goal of integrating and demonstrating emerging advanced state of the art technologies for the soldier of 2010 and beyond, while minimizing the Soldier's battery weight incurred to power these technologies.
InHand's contract touches on two critical areas for future war- fighters: the soldier's main computing platform hardware and embedded software design and overall soldier-based power management capabilities.
"The next generation of soldiers will carry significantly more computational power into the battlefield, yet to achieve maximum effectiveness, the size and weight of the electronics and power sources must be kept to an absolute minimum," notes Carol Fitzgerald, Natick Soldier Center Technology Program Manager for the FFW program.
"As a result, soldier-based power management is one of the most critical areas of the FFW effort."
"FFW's system-wide power management requirements match up well with InHand's technology solutions," says Andrew Girson, InHand's CEO.
"As part of the FFW team, InHand is working with FFW's Soldier Borne Systems team to help design and implement the soldier's main computer and to ensure a smooth integration of our BatterySmart real-time power management technologies into this computer and other soldier-based systems."
The current phase of the FFW program runs through 2007. InHand is providing the following products and services to GDEE: a customized version of its BatterySmart dynamic power management software; a customized version of its upcoming next-generation low-power computing platform electronics; and system consulting and services focused on soldier power management and battery life extension.