UNCLASSIFIED

FROM: Scott Mitchell, futuresoldier@ghostrecon.net

TO: Undisclosed Recipients

SUBJ: UPDATE: Future Soldier Live Action Video (HD) Assessment

1. Thanks to HQ and the Charlie Oscar's connections, I got a sneak peak at the HD version of the Live Action Video. (Yeah, okay...the video is available to everyone now - no big deal, I know). It didn't reveal too much over the lower quality version, but there were a few things I noticed.

After looking at the lo-res version, the first thing I had already planned on looking at when the hi-res was released was the rooftop sniper's hi-tech scope. The scope shows some intel on Ivan Kerenski but I wasn't able to read it the first go around. Now I can. It's interesting what it says (a summary provided after the picture):

The N.U.T.D. has issued a covert clearance to TERMINATE Ivan Illitch Kerenski. He was found guilty on all accounts of genocide, rape, arson, theft. He is currently active in the region of Moscow, Russia and is suspected to have resumed his slaughtering after his escape from the N.U.T.D. prison. He is believed to possess the prototype unit of the Russian UGCV Class K Ground Drone.

Okay...well I don't think in this instance the N.U.T.D. is short for Nigerian United for True Democracy. Perhaps it's a fictitious NATO or similar organization? The acronym UGCV likely stands for Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle, which is a real term used today.

Something else that caught my attention - long time fans of Ghost Recon are familiar with the primary / secondary weapon loadout. You get two slots and that's it. Many people used to hate this, because most soldiers would usually always carry a pistol no matter what their primary configuration was.

Granted this is just a live action video and doesn't reflect actual game footage, it's interesting to note that several of the Ghosts are carrying multiple weapons. The sniper when sniping has his assault rifle slung on his back, but later when he regroups with the rest of the team, he has the sniper rifle slung on his back and is carrying his assault rifle.

One of the other Ghosts can be seen in several shots with what appears to be a pistol gripped shotgun on his back. Again, this could be merely cinematics, but one has to wonder if this was intentionally done to mirror an in game capability. Also, the Engineer has a sidearm on a thigh holster or possibly mounted on his vest/armor.

There were a few jokes made about the Engineer's drone remote control looking like an Xbox 360 controller. It's an interesting observation. I will say that I have seen on several occasions, private contractors create specific hardware capabilities using commercial off the shelf items including gaming joysticks - one of my personal favorites - a mod that allows a submarine periscope to be controlled (motion and optics) by a CH Flightstick and viewed on a computer monitor. True story.

The Cross Com view shows a battery level indicator? (Is power going to be an issue - will EMP affect Cross Com)

The Ground Drone has a temperature level indicator, a signal level indicator and ammunition counter. Assumption is the barrel get's too hot, weapon system shuts down; drone gets too far away from the Engineer, then the communications signal is lost; and the ammo counter suggests the drone will carry approximately 30,000 rounds (the counter can be seen decreasing from around 27,000 rounds). This is all just best guess - none of it is confirmed yet. Well, except for the ammo counter.

CONCLUSION

In my initial assessment, I made a comment about the enemy drone appearing to deactivate when the Engineer to the right of it was eliminated. After looking at the higher quality video, what I suspected was an Engineer may just be a regular soldier. When he is shot, he drops his weapon, not a remote control. Was I wrong? Perhaps. It wouldn't be the first time. I stand by my initial assessment that it is very ironic how in sync the drone and the soldier are when they fall. Maybe just a coincidence I suppose, but I still think it's fishy.

It's odd that the US Army drone operated by the Ghosts doesn't require a whole command center to operate it. Also, looking at the Russian Drone Command Center, no one appears to be using a similar remote control. Granted, the above sniper scope intel has identified this as a prototype, so perhaps that is the explanation.

There is still much to be learned about the ground drone, both the Russian and US versions.

//SIGNED//

Scott Mitchell, futuresoldier@ghostrecon.net