Sometime around 9 Thursday morning, two Bradley Fighting Vehicles will deploy on Columbus' Front Avenue near the 13th Street Bridge.
Twenty-two soldiers will load up and head out — making four runs down Front Avenue, repeatedly going four blocks south to Ninth Street and back again, until about 1 p.m.
Circling one downtown street will take them four hours not only because they'll have to stop at the red lights like everyone else, but because they'll be testing some new equipment.
Soldiers in a Bradley demonstrator will see whether they can use only a camera system to detect enemies in the urban environment, without exposing themselves to fire. Soldiers in a conventional Bradley at times will operate with two surveying the area from open hatches.
Other Army vehicles will travel in front and behind the Bradleys, said Maj. Shane Sims, branch chief of the Futures Branch of Fort Benning's U.S. Army Infantry Center Soldier Battle Lab.
When the test is over, the two Bradleys will be parked for public display 2-4 p.m. in the Front Avenue median between the Iron Works Convention & Trade Center and the Marriott Hotel.
Civilians are welcome to watch the test, though they may prefer to see the vehicles on display, Sims said.
"People are free to come whenever, but particularly 2 to 4 is when the Bradleys are going to be set up so people can actually get on the Bradleys, talk to soldiers and ask them what's going on," Sims said. "Nine to 1, that's our time. We're actually going to collect some data on the vehicles and see how the sensors respond to all the different clutter in the area."
The soldiers involved in the experiment are from the 1st Battalion of the 29th Regiment, 197th Infantry Brigade, he said. The Alpha Company is light infantry and the Bravo Company is mechanized infantry. Soldiers portraying enemy combatants will appear along the route, he said. They will not carry weapons.
The Bradleys will run on rubber tracks to avoid damaging the pavement, Sims said.
E-Mail
Print
