http://www.military.com/daily-news/2...battalion.html

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...re-infantry-b/

The U.S. Marine Corps is attempting a unique experiment that pairs the deadly — but typically loud — fire power of an infantry battalion with silence.

Maj. Gen. John Love of 2nd Marine Division out of Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, is gathering data on the way suppressors improve battlefield communication and efficiency. Early testing at Marine Corps Air-Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms indicates that suppressing everything from M4 rifles to .50 caliber machine guns can dramatically assist U.S. warfighters.

“What we’ve found so far is it revolutionizes the way we fight,” Gen. Love recently said at the Marine Corps Association Ground Dinner, Military.com reported Tuesday. “It used to be a squad would be dispersed out over maybe 100 yards, so the squad leader couldn’t really communicate with the members at the far end because of all the noise of the weapons. Now they can actually just communicate, and be able to command and control and effectively direct those fires.”

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Well, it's about time. Imagine if the Army had included integrated suppressors on the M1 Garand in WWII.