ABSTRACT
The appearance of soldiers and in particular foot soldiers to their adversaries has always been of importance. Making the soldier look more aggressive, powerful and threatening has given a psychological edge within combat. The innate behaviour of animals demonstrates a period of potential combatants “sizing up” their opponent. In humans appearances have traditionally been altered by using; war paint, tribal tattoos, armour and uniforms to convey a more frightening image to potential aggressors.(see figure 1 and 2) Traditionally threatening behaviour ranging from banging weapons on shields to bayonet practice has been used to intimidate the opposition and raise soldiers Modern warfare and equipment development has not given aesthetics a high priority. The changing nature of the role of soldiers within society, has highlighted the need for the semantics of soldiers equipment to be addressed. In disaster relief operations for example soldiers may need to appear less aggressive. This paper presents a pilot study undertaken with Royal Marines where alternative weapon designs were presented, based on existing SA80 assault rifle architecture. The sketch concepts presented reflected different aesthetic
styles ranging from highly aggressive to friendly. The designs were presented to twelve marines, with qualitative and quantitative data gathered via discussion.
