Value of Jake as a ready innovation base

Ever wish, upon hearing that yet another of our soldiers or Marines has been killed or wounded while operating in dangerous areas of Iraq or Afghanistan, that you were seeing more truly new innovations and breakthroughs in tactics to meet the threats our warfighters are facing – to reduce the chances it will happen again?  

Such a powerful and understandable sentiment seems to be operating in the minds of millions of Americans who hope that by our large and growing defense budgets, the troops will increasingly get what they need in the way of equipment to do their missions, and more safely.  To a considerable degree, that is the case, but much of this is relative to defensive technologies rather than new offensive tactics and capabilities that can serve to better accomplish missions and shorten conflicts.

What if there were something more we could be doing, something that might make a real difference – and provide a base for bold new tactical innovation and adaptation – both for the safety of our guys on the ground and for their success?  I have seen the interest of our military experts and my guess is that millions of Americans would press Congress to be assuring we were doing it.

It turns out that there is something American leaders can do to transform the effectiveness and survivability of infantry soldiers and Marine "ground-pounders," troops who are obliged to perform today’s tough jobs in urban settings and elsewhere pretty much the same way their grandfathers did in World War II.  It involves a systems platform known as "Jake" – an infantryman’s personal mobility, sensor pack, weapons and robotics platform, maybe best described as a "Segway on steroids."

The invention of the Jake is a classic American story.  It is the brainchild of Russell Strong, a highly proven leader in concept development and engineering of agricultural and industrial equipment, an innovator known in his industry as "Mr. Tractor" for his revolutonary designs for major corporations both here and in Europe.  As a side project, he started in 1999 trying to perfect a means of providing revolutionary mobility for wheelchair-bound individuals.  When a prototype was operated by veterans of Vietnam and Somalia, they urged him to consider adapting this design for their comrades fighting today’s wars – and tomorrow’s.

The result is a compact unit with two Humvee-size primary wheels for one soldier or more and up to a 2,000-pound pallet of gear, extending with today’s technologies into also being a soldier’s ready robot – big robot – to take on high risk tasks, scouting maneuvers, resupply or deception tactics.  This platform relies on its agility, speed and ability to operate in a "swarm" to open unprecedented options to troops fighting in alleys and other areas or working to interact constructively with civilians, while deterring attacks. 

Today’s advances in hybrid-electric drives provide ability to move stealthily in combat and with minimal disruption in crowded marketplaces.  Each unit can also serve as a source of electrical power for the military, or emergency response, something always in short supply in forward operating positions. And, the unique modularity of this platform allows mission-configuring also for 4WD, 6WD and track units to handle varied terrain and greater payloads, all with shared logistics of common parts and technology modules to simplify sustainment of operations by our troops.

Institutional Resistance

I have heard visionary military leaders like the Army’s retired Vice Chief of Staff, Gen. Richard Cody, speak of the Jake as "the warrior transformer" and "Smart Horse". Interestingly, the more junior the personnel, the greater the appreciation for the contribution such devices might make, now and in the future.  Some preparing to deploy to Iraq have, when shown an early Jake prototype, pleaded with Mr. Strong to let them take it along.

So, what’s the problem?  The very qualities that make the Jake such a potentially transformative asset are too foreign, or without proof of concept, to overcome natural reactions of resistance within the institutional military. If the concepts are understood, there is still concern for turmoil risks of its early adoption.  Like IBM, which once famously failed to appreciate that the day of the large, immensely expensive mainframe computer was giving way to the era of PCs and proliferating software, the armed forces need to appreciate that Jake represents the advent of an era when "networked" or "distributed" warfare is the norm – not something to just pay lip-service to. 

For their part, many defense contractors recognize that Jake could enable them finally to overcome the weight-barrier to equipping foot soldiers with more firepower, technologies designed to defeat varied threats and snipers and the integrated support of unmanned aerial vehicles.  In the absence of a stated military requirement for Jake, however, few are willing to provide the $10-15 million required to develop and equip the first next generation prototypes needed to evaluate this platform and begin further evolving concepts with our Services for its utilization. 

The Bottom Line

As things stand now, without the Pentagon’s ability to get "outside the box" in a path for such a systems-based concept, or intervention from Capitol Hill, the whole effort to realize the Jake’s promise could come to naught.