A week from today, the first combat unit will get new ENVG-B goggles, which combine binocular night vision with computer-assisted cross-hairs linked wirelessly to the rifle. It’s a test case for the Army’s new high-speed approach to modernization.

In a massive simulated conflict, the human players adapted rapidly to futuristic technologies and tactics. But their command-and-control software couldn’t keep up.

It’s one small test for a robot, one tactical leap for robot-kind.

The Army wants a single seamless data system from home base to the front line. That’s even harder than it sounds.

Gone are the days of a stately, deliberate, laborious acquisition process in which the Army would plan out the future in detail before going to industry. “We’d almost always guess wrong,” said Maj. Gen. David Bassett. “Eventually we’d deliver yesterday’s technology tomorrow.”

Army foot soldiers are going into battle with more and more electronics, wirelessly networked both to each other and to distant command posts. So can GI Joe be hacked?

Sun Tzu said all warfare is based on deception. Today, that means electronic deception.

The Army is already struggling to man its new cyber units — and now it wants to expand their ranks and responsibilities for a new mission.

Iron Man-style powered armor has proven impractical. New flexible, wearable electronics offer an alternative path to help the infantry.

Future soldiers will need to download huge amounts of intelligence data — then disconnect and go dark, like a submarine diving underwater to hunt its prey.