About

INVITATION

On 14th-16th October 2010, the Czech Republic will be hosting the second FUTURE SOLDIER Exhibition and Conference in Prague at the PVA Exhibition centre. Officials and Industry attending will be able to meet relevant procurement staffs from most NATO nations' armed forces and Partnership for Peace countries, dealing with military field equipment and personal equipment items. This exhibition follows very successful events such as the NATO CCPE 2000 Prague, NATO Exhibition Slovakia CCIE 2003 and FUTURE SOLDIER Czech Republic 2008. It is now organised under the auspices of the National Armaments Director of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic.

SCOPE

The uniqueness of this event is based on the partnership with MoD and Army representatives from the NATO and PfP countries meeting the representatives from international industry and research communities all engaged in the specific subject of supporting the soldier in the field (the Dismounted Soldier). The dedicated subject matter is just as relevant to Police and Security forces involved in similar environments as the military. The exhbition is supported by a specialised subject-matter conference presenting new concepts in personnel protection, load carriage situation awareness and communication, CBRN protection. The event is hugely enhanced by the concurrent attendance of the NATO AC 301 (CCIEP) Working Party committee meeting in Prague during the exhibition. It is expected that experiences learnt from recent international trouble spots, including Afganistan will be presented.

PARTICIPANTS

The FUTURE SOLDIER exhibition concept is highly focused, attracting the attendance of subject matter specialists in defence and standardisation. It is attended by representatives of national acquisition centers, industry, research agencies and accademia from NATO and PfP nations, as well as Mediterranean Dialogue countries. Other international countries with developments in soldier technologies are also warmly invited to attend. The private and public sector are able to come together to appreciate the ever more demanding requirements for modern military equipment involving innovation, technology trends, interoperability, and operational readiness.

HISTORY

The international exhibition of battlefield and individual combat equipment, focused on NATO and PfP member countries and provided by Government forces, have been held at three yearly intervals since 1985. The first run took place in Portugal in 1985, then in France (1988), followed by the United Kingdom (1991), Canada (1994) and Norway (1997); however all these were without private sector participation. This became involved in 2000 with a highly positive response from individual NATO member countries in the manufacturing and commercial field. In 2000 this concept met with the great support of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic.

The 2000 international exhibition in Prague was a major success among exhibitors and subject-matter specialists alike. Consequently, the next event in the series was organised in Central Europe where huge developments in military activity were taking place following the end of the Cold War. Thanks to the interest and understanding by the Ministry of Defence of the Slovak Republic and relevant NATO bodies, the 2003 event was held in Nitra, Slovakia, combining the NATO Workshop and CCPE exhibition, with a session of NATO AC-301 committee.

Following this, the Czech MoD invited the NATO community to attend a newly titled Future Soldier Exhibition and Conference in Prague in 2008, and based on the success of this, have extended an invitation to the international community for this event called FUTURE SOLDIER, to be hosted biennally in Prague until 2014, combining the Future Soldier activity with an Urban Peacekeeping theme.

CONFERENCE

The conference is designed to highlight those similarities and shared environments of both military and public security forces, and help to find out the ways of cooperation and coordination which could save overall national costs by avoiding expensive duplication. The conference gives delegates the opportunity to participate and demonstrate new ideas and to compare their development and research results directly with associated national and commercial information.

PHILOSOPHY

The overarching concept for the exhibition is to provide a friendly environment where the User meets the Expert in the relatively restricted market sector of battledresses, accessories, protective equipment, communication technology and all other components of the integrated Future Soldier. The uniqueness is that it does not diffuse this with weapon systems and heavy military hardware found in other military exhibitions worldwide.

NOMENCLATURE

  • Operational and protective clothing
  • Body armour
  • Load carriage
  • CBRN protection and personal detection
  • Common communications systems
  • Electro optical sighting and vision
  • Digital mapping and situation awareness
  • C4I management and structures
  • Personal weapon systems
  • Non-lethal weapons and riot control
  • Power sources
  • Friend and foe recognition
  • Simulation and virtual reality for training
  • Battlefield/Infrastructure support equipment, shelters, logistics
  • Digital Battlefield