Modern infantry equipment

Hibrion

Hi, I'm looking for info on the equipment modern infantry soldiers are expected to carry in the field. It doesn't have to be specific but US and British forces would suit the best.

Does anyone know where such information can be found reliable enough to be referenced in an academic environment?
Thanks

concussion

The relevant miltary's official government website should be good enough if you want to simply list the equipment used. E-tenders and newspaper articles about equipment orders should be good sources of information.

Seeing as it's a for an academic study, see if you can get access to Science Direct if you want peer-reviewed articles. I'm not sure what you're looking for but there's a lot of info on training, injuries from load bearing, kinematics etc.

Edit:
The Royal United Services Institute would be another good place to look

www.rusi.org

"UK Platoon Weapons and the Weight Capability Myth"
www.rusi.org/downloads/assets/Owen,_UK_Platoon_Weapons.pdf

Manic Moran

Well, I can tell you what I'm carrying... Do I count as an official source?

However, for something officially official, the Natick website should do nicely for the US side. Natick is the Soldier System Center, he R&D Facility for infantrymen. Does everything from the design of the new uniform to load weights.
http://www.natick.army.mil/about/pao/pubs/warrior/04/janfeb/index.htm#a2 for example. (Load study)

My Internet's running a bit slow, but if it's the study I recall reading, it's quite a good example of what used to be carried in Afghanistan in 2004.
http://www.military.com/NewsContent/0,13319,FL_ruck_022304,00.html. I'm sure you'll be able to find it if you hunt around a bit. The soldier load problem is quite public in the US, so you should be able to find quite a few fairly reputable sources.

Of course, what's worn in 2010 and what's worn in 2004 are not going to be entirely identical. We've had six years of warfare to change it...

NTM

Original Steyr

Manic Moran wrote: »

Well, I can tell you what I'm carrying...

What are you carrying Sir?

BigDuffman

There is a good doc (that was in connect / an cosantoir so ok for civvie use I assume) showing basic admin in the field knocking around I think I have it on .PDF file somewhere,

Hibrion

Thanks for the replies, going to look through all the links now. Just incase you want to know the info is for a paper I'm giving relating to Greek infantry in the 5th century, I need some useful comparisons to set the weight which they carried into perspective for those without any knowledge of the military.

Manic, out of curiosity what are you carrying, would be interesting to see if what the sources say is really what happens on the ground, as it so often isn't.

Thanks

concussion

A rough approximation would be 20 kg for rifle, webbing and rucksack full of essential equipment (clothing, sleeping system etc). Then another 20 kg for ammunition, water, food and body armour. More again if you're carrying support weapons or their ammunition. The weight of amn can be found online, an example would be over 30 kg for 200 rds of 12.7 mm Heavy Machine Gun in comparison to a few kg for 200 rds for 7.62 mm GPMG.


Attached is the article in An Cosantoir - it was published in the DF magazine so there are no issues with it being Restricted information.

Manic Moran

Sounds about right.

Bear in mind, I'm an officer so I get to travel light (Indeed, as a staff officer, I don't even carry a radio).

Top to bottom...

Helmet, night vision device, flashlight, ballistic glasses, flashlight, seat belt cutter, flashlight/laser pointer, small cuddly hedgehog, 30 rounds 9mm in two mags, GPS, grenade pounch with munchies and ear plugs, ground commander's pointer (GCP-1B), IR strobe, 1-quart canteen w/ water, 240x 5.56mm in 8 magazines, first aid kit, canteen cup carrying whatever (usually camera or the night vision. Or spare batteries), gerber multitool, body armour (officially with front, back and side plates, but the side plates went away long ago) pens, an additional 15 rounds of 9mm, sidearm (w/ 15 rounds inside), rifle (w/ EOTech holosight, 3x FTS magnifier, PEQ-2 night aiming device, high-intensity green laser, grip-pod), notepads, tourniquet, flashlight.

That's just if I'm getting out of the HMMWV for thirty seconds. Then you can add in backpacks, a camelback, rucks, whatever if longer.

NTM

Delancey

All that equipment must represent a significant $ investment for each soldier ..... must be thousands of bucks ?