From Beowulf to Captain America, the idea of supersoldiers has
captured the human imagination for time immemorial. But after years
of mixed results (the less said about LSD
tests, the better), how close are we today to creating the
One surprisingly revealing source of insight is the official site
from Darpa, the US military's official department for innovation.
Throughout its various project pages, it lists a number of (clearly
unclassified) initiatives currently in development, designed to
give its troops the upper hand in combat scenarios.
It's perhaps telling that a lot of the technology focuses on
longer range participants in battle, perhaps in the hope that
snipers and jet pilots are possibly in less direct risk where the
financial investment would be wasted. One such project is the OneShot -- a laser-based augmentation that replaces "spotters"
who would traditionally help a sniper make their shot by
compensating for conditions like crosswinds and visibility
On the other hand, there do seem to be a number of projects
designed to help vulnerable warfighters operate more safely. The "
cognitive technology threat warning system" is a composite
human/software system that makes use of "flat-field, wide-angle
optics, large pixel-count digital imaging, and cognitive visual
processing algorithms" to help identify threats at ridiculous
It's not just about devices for the battlefield. The perfect super
soldier should be able to adapt to new skills and reach advanced
levels of preparation as quickly as possible. The Accelerated Learning project is designed to "identify the
neural basis of expert performance by integrating behavioural data
with neurophysiological measures". Through techniques like
"preferential brain network activation" and "neurally optimised
stimuli", they're aiming to double the speed of developing new
skills -- which might be a skill they want to pass on to
educational establishments somewhere down the line...
If that's not enough, perhaps it's time to consider more
biological options. Transcranial magnetic stimulation creates an
electric field with the aim to destabilise or hyperstabilise
neurons in the brain, supposedly "switching off" some higher levels
of mental processing and increasing concentration.
Or you could go earlier and try to emulate scientists' work with
supersoldier ants by introducing hormones during gestation in
the womb. Naturally, we wouldn't expect to be hearing much on human
trials of these techniques -- morally, you're heading off the deep
end with this kind of approach. But again, stranger things have
happened in history.
While the full Captain America realisation of supersoldiers
remains seemingly far off, we shouldn't underestimate how much
modern warfighters are integrating technology to complement and
upgrade their senses. And as its sophistication increases, it's
easy to see why the military would be considering more ways to
integrate this more directly with their human resources.