Progeny Systems, a company that specializes in developing advanced technology for the United States Department of Defense, recently visited marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejune, N.C to get their opinion on future advanced military technology.
Lt. Col. Randy G. Pugh, an intelligence officer for the II Marine Expeditionary Force had this to say on the Official U.S. Marine Corps Website:
“The idea was to bring together the engineers that are building these different systems with the people that are going to eventually use these systems. So that rather than waiting to the end when you hand a Marine something and say this is what I think you want. You’ve asked them all along the way your building it.”
Progeny is apparently working on advanced surveillance technology to help with war efforts. Among the technology on show, most of which were working prototypes: “Dozens of stands displayed weapons that included unmanned aerial vehicles, face recognition software and surveillance cameras”.
The company got feedback from Marines to help better optimize the technology for real world use. One of the prototypes– a UAV described as looking like a mini airplanes was apparently what drew the most attention from marines:
Lightweight, quiet, and able to last up to 24 hours – there were reasons why the Marines were impressed.
“It’s definitely exciting,” said Sgt. Ryan C. Schatz, an artillery scout observer for 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. “The UAV is something basic, quick to launch and a good way to get intelligence. In Iraq I saw some that were noisy and detectable. It’s cool to see the different versions coming out.”
A few days back we told you about U.S. Army captain Jonathan Springer who designed his own iPhone app to help soldiers in combat using the military grid reference system (MGRS) used by NATO Armed Forces and U.S. Military. The app is currently being used by troops in Australia, Canada, and the U.S., and has been downloaded over 8,000 times. Get the full story here.
With the recent popularity of games like MW3 and BF3 bringing more popularity to the FPS/Military genre, could the Marines be a potential testing ground for gaming in the future as well?
Craig Hunter – who has written 1178 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Craig Hunter is a main contributor for the Jace Hall Show and has been an avid gamer for over 15 years. He also freelances for a number of websites and magazines covering mobile products and emerging technologies.

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