We go back to looking at some gear for the future warfighter today. Since the start of the 21st Century, the stuff that we just saw in the movies in the previous century such as those from Universal Soldier and even Terminator, are starting to be seriously developed and deployed for use by soldiers in the battlefield. With aims to have a fully networked and connected warfare, even individual soldiers will be expected to carry more and more electronic devices to the field.

This means more cables, wires, processors, and batteries for them worry about. This also means more weight to carry, especially with batteries, and wires that can just get the soldier entangled and sometimes confused which cable goes to what device.

To help resolve that problem BAE Systems are proposing their Broadsword family of soldier products that will lessen the load and worries while at the same time increasing the capability of the soldiers. According the company, these are selectable products that use open standards which will allow their customers to control their selection and acquisition of products.

The main component of the Broadsword family is the Spine which use the latest e-textile technology to manage power and data connectivity to the devices put into use by the soldier. Woven into conductive yarns, Spine is a garment insert that also has embedded data and power management or to put simply a computer. The Spine is more of a ballistic vest which can take in the Spine's technology and has ports for USB connections and power supply. A smartphone app can also be used to monitor the Spine's status such as power levels, signal strengths, and which ports are useable.

To provide the juice that will power the devices connected to the Spine is the Central Energy Store. This is a big lithium ion battery pack that comes with its integrated charger.  While being charged, the Li-Ion battery can still provide power to the devices. An optional Inductive Seat Charger then charges the batteries when the soldiers is seated inside the vehicle without worrying about the charge cables and charging ports. The charging process starts immediately as soon as the soldier gets seated. Inductive Pouch chargers are also available and these charge the devices when they are inserted into or set beside the pouches without the need any special connection.

Now included in the Broadsword Family of Products is the Q Warrior Helmet Mounted Display which we wrote about in February 2014. Just like the jet fighter pilot's Heads Up Display (HUD), the Q Warrior also displays tactical information in the monocular see through display. It will be able to plug-in to the Spine and be manage with the soldier's smartphone.

No details yet which military will soon first adopt the Broadsword, though we are expecting it to be adopted by some U.S. and British units. Only recently, it has been put on display at the recent AUSA 2014 which was held early this October.