Threat assessment for the dismounted combat soldier

For obvious geopolitical reasons the importance and impact of the role of the dismounted soldier in the world theatre has increased drastically over recent years. As a consequence, the operational complexity the dismounted soldier has to deal with stretches along the complete range of violence, from the traditional soldier task up to peacekeeping and humanitarian aid, dealing with military and non-military opponents in symmetric as well as asymmetric confrontations.
The increased political awareness of the position of the dismounted soldier has resulted in a national momentum of the soldiers modernisation programs. One aspect to deal with will be the threat encountered. It is evident that due to the changing environment and the operational employment of the dismounted soldier the usability of the NATO ‘Battlefield Threats and Hazards to the NATO Dismounted Soldier System’ document
[1] is limited for present day situations.
It is for this reason that within the Dutch Soldier Modernisation Programme (SMP) a study was initiated to define present day dismounted soldiers threat spectrum. To this end an expert meeting with Army specialists was organised. This paper presents the results of the expert meeting. Besides these results the lessons learned of the expert meeting are included, which might be even more important to deal with during a symposium. A combined international effort will result in an extension of the current NATO threat document to present days circumstances and thus improves the effectiveness of protection of
the man in the field.