Recently,
Landry and colleague Murray Hamlet were tasked to come up with another
solution for a load carriage problem. They took the frame and suspension
from the Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, or MOLLE, Medium
rucksack and affixed a panel that allows a Soldier to add a variety of
equipment or modular packs to accommodate unwieldy ammunition, medical
or electronic loads, depending on the situation.
"This is just a pack board, or a foundation for an entire range of
tactical equipment beyond that of what we call the Soldier's fighting
load," Landry said. "Anything that is MOLLE compatible, you're
going to have the ability to have a suspension system that's designed
to support upwards of 60 pounds that you can truly tailor specific to
what your tactical mission is."
The Modular Backpack Panel, or MBP, transforms the MOLLE Medium, intended
to carry up to 60 pounds of essential gear for 72 hours, into an even
more versatile system, Landry said.
"We've had calls from various organizations that carry all kinds
of odd loads," said Landry, adding that the rucksack sometimes was
in the way. "Anybody who's carrying large, crew-served weapons would
find this application useful, the mortar guys, who are carrying a base
plate, the tube, the various rounds, etcetera. They could utilize a modular
setup to support those unusual loads."
As Landry pointed out, the MOLLE's frame, made of injection-molded plastic
originally used in automobile bumper technology, has already proved itself
over 15 years in the field.
"Car bumpers have to survive that huge range of temperatures, extremely
hot and extremely cold," said Landry, "and that made perfect
sense to us."
To that sturdy frame, Landry added the adaptable panel.
"It's very basic load carriage capability," Landry said. "They
still need to carry their basic, critical individual equipment. So we
will provide a set of larger pouches, which will attach to the panel but
still allow the larger items to be carried."
That includes water, which presented an early stumbling block for Landry,
until he added a little something to the MBP.
"You've got a pocket inside here that's designed specifically for
the hydration system," Landry said. "It's got a little bit of
extra room, so you can actually put some smaller items -- cold-weather
clothing, wet-weather gear, ration components, things like that, down
inside here."
Landry, a former 82nd Airborne Division pathfinder, can't wait to get
the MBP into the hands of light infantrymen.
"That is my customer," Landry said. "It's the guy that's
got to carry this on (his) back, and, obviously, light infantrymen are
kind of the soul of that. That's where we get our best information on
things like that, because they're out there carrying it. Let's see where
we can make it fit, and let's see what improvements we need to make to
it."
Landry and Hamlet will use the feedback from the infantry and others to
refine the prototype's design.
"The great thing about this job is, every day is something different
and you can always improve," Landry said. "Everything can get
better, and we can do that here." |
