My colleague Colin Clark and I stumbled across a cool technology — Global Situational Awareness — at the Navy League conference. Offered by DRS Technologies, it’s a geospatial information system that also allows sharing of data from almost any source — UAV videos, schematics, photos, SAR, IR etc. — on a pretty simple touchscreen. The imported data can be overlaid on the geospatial data and used for mission planning and a host of other applications.
As software engineer Michael Bridges shows, you can call up a region and slap on it overlay after overlay, showing you topography, elevation, streets and highways. If you don’t like a bird’s eye view, he’ll flip the image on its side, any side.
Want to see what a Predator is watching, or perhaps cameras mounted on a guard post or tower? A tap of the menu along the side of the screen and the streaming video appears on the map screen. Another menu tap and Bridges can use a finger to plot a pathway reflecting the movements of opposing forces. A commander using the Integrated Tactical Command and Control Console could send all, or just part, of the images before him to the computer screens of other commanders.
The console’s hardware has been under development for about three years, the software about one, Hodges said. Currently, the system can handle about 10 applications at the same time, but the company already is working on an even more muscular system that could handle an infinite number of applications.
The base is comprised of U.S. Geological Survey maps, he said, but a commander with his own data, collected by his own people and sources, would be able to load it into the system and work with it on the oversized map.
Bridges said the console may get a tryout at this year’s Trident Warrior exercise, which the Naval Network Warfare Command conducts to test the Navy’s newest communication technologies.
The touch screen allows fast and simple manipulation of the data. For the rest, the video demonstrates it better than we can describe it. Anderson Cooper and CNN – eat your hearts out.
A determined enemy approaching alone from the sea may soon find himself intercepted and tracked by a torpedo-shaped drone that will sound an alarm, flash lights and spot his exact location in the water.
The model now on display at the Navy League's Sea Air Space symposium in Maryland, submerged in a water tank and bearing a slithery Moray Eel along its sides, is being developed by SAIC as a non-lethal warning system.
What they're developing is a candidate technology for a solution to deterring swimmers, said Jim Pollock, mission capability manager for the War on Terror, Naval Undersea Warfare Center, and project manager for the Integrated Swimmer Defense Program. "It's not necessarily a solution that the Navy has picked at this point."
The roughly 5-foot long Reusable Unambiguous Swimmer Warning Vehicle can do up to 8 knots. Once launched, it heads directly for its target, slowing down when near it and rising to the surface where it continues to circle the suspect swimmer's position and relaying it to handlers aboard ship or in port.
The system is equipped with GPS for surface tracking and a three-axis digital compass for underwater work.
For now, the system is being developed purely as a defense, warning tool, which is how it was packaged when it was submitted for budget approval.
But the mission of the Integrated Swimmer Defense System is to develop a means of thwarting combat divers and swimmers, so it's likely whatever interceptor drone eventually is built and fielded will also come with a lethal option.
The Predator, after all, began as a surveillance drone only, but now carries out combat attacks armed with two AGM-114 Hellfire missiles.
-- Bryant Jordan
SWATS That Sniper!
"Where'd that shot come from!?"
That's a question most troops ask themselves when a sniper or a small band of bad guys pop off a few rounds and scurry -- that is, assuming the triggermen missed.
It turns out the Army is taking the shot detection dilemma pretty seriously and has fielded limited quantities of Humvee and MRAP-mounted sniper detection systems and even detectors mounted on troops.
According to Lt. Gen. James Thurman, the Army has fielded the so-called "Boomerang" sniper detection system on Humvees in Afghanistan. These systems detect the crack (the bullet going by you) and the bang (the bullet leaving the muzzle) and correlate distance and bearing pretty accurately and display that information on a simple digital readout in the Humvee.
These systems have been around for a while and were of limited use in Iraq since the walls of tall buildings and other urban debris tend to interfere with the acoustics of the shot. But in the rugged hills of Afghanistan where shots are taken at a greater distance, the Boomerang has found a home.
But Thurman also added during a hearing this morning on Capitol Hill that the service has fielded the so-called Soldier Wearable Acoustic Targeting System, or SWATS, to the 56th National Guard Stryker Brigade Combat Team serving in Iraq. He said about 100 have been fielded and about 350 have been purchased from SAWTS manufacturer QinetiQ.
Here's a company description of the system:
Designed for both mounted and dismounted infantry, QinetiQ’s miniature, low-profile acoustic Ears family of wearable, sniper detection and gunshot localisation solutions is based on a miniature single integrated acoustic sensor.
The palm-sized, 6.4-ounce sensor can be coupled with an individual operators’ interface or used in vehicles and at fixed locations. It responds with the direction and distance in less than a tenth of a second from the first gunshot being fired, without being confused by surrounding sounds, to accurately locate snipers in a 360o view, even when in use on a vehicle moving at speeds over 50mph.
For his part, Marine Lt. Gen. George Flynn played down the technical approach.
"The best counter to a sniper is another sniper, and we make sure that we train our snipers to be the best and most deadly on the battlefield."
Urrrr!
[Photo: QinetiQ]
-- Christian
Pouches, Pouches Everywhere
It's been two days drinking from the tactical gear fire hose here at Blackhawk's corporate HQ in Norfolk.
When people think of Blackhawk, they usually think about pouches, belts, holsters and packs. And that's not surprising because the vast majority of what Blackhawk does is design and manufacture a pouch or attachment for just about everything you could possibly need -- or imagine you need -- in a fighting situation.
Tom O'Sullivan, the company's product director for Nylon gear explains that they can take an idea out of thin air and in some cases have a working prototype within a few hours. They can make custom products for elite units with specific needs, adapt existing products from, say, the outdoor market and ruggedize them for military use or they can imitate military issue to satisfy a trooper's preference to keep his own gear the way he wants it.
The sheer amount of pouches, packs and web gear -- including attachment systems -- is down right intimidating. How O'Sullivan and his crew keep these products straight is beyond me.
Clearly the Urgent Needs Statement money and discretionary funds available to units for their own gear needs has helped companies like Blackhawk carve out quite a niche in the military market. Company officials declined to say how much they make since they're a private company, but from the looks of their HQ with its glass facade, lunch room, well-appointed gym and pro shop, there's money coming in.
It's also interesting that Blackhawk has carved out quite a bit of international business as well. O'Sullivan is on his way to Australia to chat with their military about some upcoming contracts. They've built products for Tier One units for both the U.S. military and, interestingly, the Brits, Italians, Aussies and Germans.
I guess in the end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have really helped create huge business opportunities for companies like this that were started by a couple guys in specialized units -- in this case SEALs -- who wanted more out of the gear they were issued and found themselves in a market that's just exploded since 9/11.
-- Christian
New Army PEO on the way
A tipster told me this morning and I have confirmed with the Army that Brig. Gen. Mark Brown will soon be leaving as the commanding general of PEO Soldier to be replaced by Brig. Gen. Pete N. Fuller.
[Brown is pictured left]
Army spokesman Lt. Col. Martin Downie told me Brown will soon become Deputy for Acquisition and Systems Management, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics and Technology) in Washington, though Downie wasn't able to tell me when this would all go down.
Fuller, currently the Deputy Commander for Systems of Systems Integration, United States Army Research, Development and Engineering Command at Fort Belvoir, will take Brown's place.
I don't know Fuller, but I've chatting with Brig. Gen. Brown a bit over the short time he's been PEO Soldier and he seems like a technically proficient acquisition officer who's a straight shooter. He told me during an interview about the Dragon Skin testing that he wanted his relations with the media to be "open kimono" -- a far stretch from the edicts of his predecessors who kept information about programs that effect almost every Joe to themselves.
I wish BGN Brown the best of luck and look forward to keeping the spirit of openness going when Fuller takes the helm as PEO Soldier. He's going to have tighter budgets, a changing administration and lots of recapitalization issues hitting him full force when he arrives, and we'll look forward to talking with him as he decides how to re-equip the force for a new paradigm.
-- Christian
The T-shirt from Space
OK, so I saved the best for last.
One of the most impressive products I ran across at the Modern Day Marine expo was this material called Outlast. It's almost too good to be true, and for the last week I've been testing a few products made with Outlast and I'm pretty impressed.
So here's the deal. Under Armour made a big splash in the military community a few years ago with their moisture wicking fabrics -- particularly their t-shirts that in the extreme heat of an Afghan or Iraqi summer, kept troops relatively cool compared to straight cotton. My experience (I wore the same material from Patagonia back in the summer of 2003) was that the shirts didn't do much better than cotton for keeping you cool until you took off your body armor, when the moisture was able to evaporate and cooled your body much quicker. I had boxer shorts made out of the same material and hated them. It's commando all the way for me from now on, baby.
Sure, the Under Armour-like material (Patagonia calls it Capilene, UA calls it HeatGear) worked great if you weren't wearing anything over it -- walking to the chow hall or working in the hooch -- but its strength came when you doffed your gear and let the sweat melt away.
Then an IED hit...literally.
Because of the risk burns from the melted synthetic material in the flame flash of an IED blast, the Army and Marines Corps banned Under Armour base layers on patrol. The troops still love them and that hasn't stopped the services from using them. Problem is, the Nomex or Nomex-like materials in the combat shirts now are still a little on the hot side.
That's where Outlast comes in. The material is impregnated with "micro-encapsulated Thermocules" that actually absorb body heat and feel cool to the touch. It's what's called a "phase change" substance that goes from a solid to a liquid as it's warmed. Thing is, it's so small in the fabric that you don't even notice it. And it really works.
If you grab a piece of the fabric in your hand and ball it up, you feel the cool against your skin. There's a limit to how cool the substance gets...eventually it warms up to the temperature of your skin, but if you stop exerting and take a short break, the material cools back down. I've tried a sample of the material in one of the harshest environments in the world: my shoes. Trust me, you NEVER want to go there when my hot feet are aboard, but the Outlast impregnated footbeds have been able to regulate the steam bath of my inner shoes to a degree that it doesn't insult the olfactory.
The potential for the material is limitless (it was originally designed for the temperature extremes of space suits)...think about it as a liner for your body armor, a replacement for your base layer shirt on patrol, lining a cold weather parka so you don't over heat, flight suits...It's not often that I run across something that seems like a game changer in a lot of ways, but so far as I can tell with my own "field test," Outlast seems to work pretty darn well.
-- Christian
Army 1 and 1 with Senate Authorization Bill
Here are a couple other things I picked up from the SASC Authorization markup.
So it looks like senators included the $102 million the Army wanted for another Land Warrior deployment.
This time it's for an entire brigade, rather than a single Stryker battalion. Lt. Col. Ken Sweat, who's been working on the Land Warrior system for longer than it was even called "Land Warrior," told me in Iraq last winter that if they got the money, the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division would get the next Land Warrior suite. This is huge news for a program literally on life support and a big win for LW backers who helped folks like me get over to Iraq to cover the system in combat.
Sweat told me 5/2 would be equipped with Land Warrior Next-Gen -- which will include a Blackberry-like soldier control unit instead of the ruggedized mouse device they have now. They'll also move the helmet electronics assembly off the helmet and place the unit on the soldier's chest, they'll shave weight by combining the navigation box and the computer and they'll ditch the GPS unit for Joes and use instead a radio location device so they can be tracked by unit leaders.
Of course, the money still has to make it through the House, then a joint committee markup, but it's a positive first step.
Also, the Senate put its foot down on the Stryker Mobile Gun System. You'll remember my story about the MGS from some interviews I did in Iraq. Now, I know there are some strong fans of the vehicle, but the Joes I talked to hated it.
The SASC lawmakers included language in their version of the bill to require "the Secretary of Defense to ensure that the Stryker Mobile Gun System (MGS) is subject to testing to confirm the effectiveness of actions taken to mitigate the deficiencies identified in Initial Operational Test and Evaluation and Live Fire Test and Evaluation..."
That's a blow to GDLS and the Army, who both think the MGS is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm agnostic on the whole thing and can only go with what the Joes told me. And it looks like the Senate is going to also.
When Taliban forces attacked a police checkpoint in central Afghanistan under dark of night in late 2006, special-operations Master Sgt. Andrew Martin called in air support and then slapped a high-tech cloth-like device on his helmet for protection.
Fresh from labs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, the device transmitted light from a powerful light-emitting diode, or LED, that pulsed through a fiber optic bundle, giving off infrared signals visible to pilots wearing night-vision goggles.
"The pilots were able to very quickly pick it up," recalled Martin, who has since retired from the Air Force. "What didn't happen was additional questions from the pilots asking me my location."
The new technology - called Target Recognition Operator Notification system - was designed to easily identify friendly forces and avoid casualties from friendly fire.
Martin liked the equipment so much he used it on about 35 missions over six months. He said it is better than strobe lights, which can be mistaken for machine-gun fire, or reflective tape, which is difficult to see from the air.
"U.S. forces have been dogged by the difficulty of finding each other in the fog of battle," said Loren Thompson, a defense analyst with the Lexington Institute in Arlington, Va. "What this new innovation allows is easy identification of friendly forces without helping the enemy do the same thing."
I have plenty of that IR glint tape -- and it's stitched all over my jackets and gear -- but I gotta tell you, I'd rather have something a lot bigger like this.
So I spent a good amount of time while I was in the sandbox with the Army's 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment which is outfitted with Land Warrior equipment.
There were decidedly mixed reviews of the thing, and I gotta tell you, I could feel the frustration from the guys hefting that extra 17 pounds.
Take a look at our lead story today on Military.com for more details.
CAMP ABLE X-RAY, Iraq --- It was billed as a revolutionary new tool that promised to give Soldiers an added edge in the fight, with a heads-up displayed map, a see-around-corners rifle sight and speed-of-light communications.
And on its first deployment to combat, the decades-old Land Warrior system did win over many of its detractors. But as the Soldiers carrying Land Warrior’s burdensome boxes and wires on their backs labored into their seventh month of deployment, some are beginning to question whether this version of a system the Army worked so hard to get to the field is worth the price.
"It's like a 17-pound GPS unit," said a Soldier assigned to Alpha Company, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, the first Army unit to ever deploy to a war zone using Land Warrior. "We don't use half the things it's supposed to be able to do."
Fielded as an interim solution to the long-term goal of providing the individual combat Soldier with an improved, digital option for greater situational awareness, the current Land Warrior suite has proven its worth in some of 4/9's operations, Soldiers say.
On targeted raids and complex "kinetic" operations, the Land Warrior's capabilities blossom -- with detailed photo-realistic maps displayed on a small screen attached to each helmet, real-time locations of target houses, and friendly personnel at a Soldier's fingertips and short text communications with battle managers in the rear.
And that's just the kind of thing the Land Warrior was designed for: maneuver warfare against a dispersed enemy.
"The one thing that it has done is allow speed to be the primary advantage," said Maj. Ryan Wolfgram, operations officer for 4/9. "Now we can spend less time on the objective. It reduces the confusion of getting to the right spot at the right time."
Problem is, that's not the kind of battle Soldiers at this base in downtown Baqubah are fighting anymore. Instead it's a daily grind of house calls, checking in on the city's residents to see if they've had a full day's worth of electricity, running water and consistent trash removal from the streets...
Defense Tech news usually consists of whiz-bang gear bordering on science fiction. But sometimes new equipment doesn't have to sound like something out of Star Trek to make a transformational-ish change on the battlefield.
The M326 120-mm Mortar System was developed by BAE Systems to make it easier for Soldiers to quickly set-up and take down the M120 120-mm Mortar system on the battlefield.
The M326 is a simple and rugged device that can be easily attached to the M1101 Trailer, High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) or a variety of other vehicles that serve as a prime mover for 120-mm mortar systems. It significantly reduces mortar crew workload by using a hydraulic system to hoist the fully assembled M120 Mortar, which weighs more than 300 pounds, into and out of the trailer or vehicle used to haul the weapon.
Today's combat zones are more fluid and shifting than ever, and mobility and reaction time are often key elements to victory. This system is designed to allow heavy mortar teams to set up with less effort, engage enemy forces more quickly, and pack up and go in record time.
Some mechanized forces use mortar carrier vehicles, such as the M1129 Stryker mortar carrier. Light infantry and other units that are primarily foot-based, however, don't have this option. The M326 should help get the big tubes into the fight quite a bit more quickly.
“Keep your head down” is good, sound advice when you're being shot at.
But in combat, that's not always an option.
Sometimes you’ve gotta return fire like a "Hail Mary" pass - over a wall or around a corner – without necessarily being able to see your intended target.
But one of the combat accessories making a showing at this year’s “Air and Space” conference sponsored by the Air Force Association in Washington, D.C., could take away a lot of the guesswork from firing from behind obstacles, replacing it with a specialized sight that operates like a periscope.
The ParaScope Urban Combat Sight, developed by MTC Technologies of Dayton, Ohio, and being sold by Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc., has been two years in the testing - including by Marines in Iraq, said MCT Senior Vice President Robert D. Shuey III.
The device is mounted behind any existing scope - including night-vision optics - projecting the target image, with the targeting laser dot, back through it at any angle.
Shuey said the feedback from the Leathernecks has been positive.
"If you ask us if we like it, the answer is yes. If you ask for it back, the answer is we lost it," he said of the Marines’ response.
The company has been doing small-scale production of sights - fewer than 1,000 - but is now beginning to ramp up their manufacturing.
The sight is made up of multiple prisms, Shuey said, but is solid and ruggedized; no sand gets in to interfere with it or block vision.
Best of all, it requires no power source – meaning no batteries to lug around - and it'll pinpoint objects up to 100 meters away, he said.
-- Bryant Jordan
(EDITOR:Jordan is a freelance military reporter based in Washington, D.C., and is a contributor to Military.com and Defense Tech.)
Army Gets Sweet New Combat Threads
PEO Soldier has now begun to outfit its troops with a sleek new "combat shirt" that is comfortable under body armor and also has flash-resistent properties to stave off the severe burns that can result from roadside bombs.
It looks pretty cool, and I know from interviews with PEO Soldier officials that they put a lot of thought into this new uniform item. I gotta say, one thing that's been a result of continued combat operations with such an adaptable enemy is the near-constant refining of services' gear. The Soldier of today looks pretty darn different from the Soldier of Kosovo days - or even from those of the kick off of OIF.
The flame-resistant ACS is in development for use under body armor. It is designed to replace two layers, the Army Combat Uniform jacket and moisture-wicking T-shirt, thus reducing bulk and heat stress.
"As providers of the world's best equipment to the world's best Soldiers, we collect and rely on Soldiers' input and ideas to constantly improve all of our products," said Brig. Gen. R. Mark Brown, Program Executive Officer Soldier. "All of our clothing and equipment is battle-proven and live-fire tested. Those labels can't be earned in a laboratory."
The ACS features a mock-turtleneck, long sleeves in the universal camouflage pattern, flat seams that reduce bulk and chafing and built-in anti-abrasion elbow pads. The shirt is moisture-wicking, anti-microbial and odor-resistant.
The latest version of the shirt includes upgrades based on Soldier feedback collected since the shirt was first distributed in the spring for limited-user evaluations.
"Even though we developed the Army Combat Shirt to be lighter, more comfortable and breathable, we listened to Soldiers who tested it and said they wanted it to be even more breathable and comfortable," said Maj. Clay Williamson, assistant product manager for clothing and individual equipment. "The fabric that made up the torso of the ACS was replaced with a fabric that provides breathability that is off the charts."
However, to retain modesty, the original fabric was maintained in the mid-chest area. Both fabrics have a four-way stretch.
Another change that increased breathability was replacing the elastic cuffs designed to keep out sand with adjustable cuffs similar to ACU jacket cuffs. The cuffs can be loosened for ventilation or tightened to keep out sand and other debris. Changes were also made to the neck band.
Although the ACS was designed to be worn under the Interceptor Body Armor, test participants noted the short breaks between patrols made it impractical to change into the ACU jacket. They wanted changes to the ACS that would identify them and their unit. In response, hook and loop tape was added to the right sleeve to accommodate a name tape, rank and infrared flag. The left sleeve also sports hook and loop tape for a unit patch.
The ACS with the most recent improvements will be available in late September for follow-on user evaluations. The shirt is still a developmental garment, and further fielding will be determined by the Department of the Army.
The Army is set to deliver a new combat optic to its Soldiers that could take "owning the night" to a whole new level.
The new "enhanced night vision goggle" will allow Soldiers to see an object, even if it's obscured by dust, foliage or other debris, by combining the image intensification technology of current PVS-14 NVGs with heat-sensing thermal data.
"Image intensification gives you great resolution. ... The thermal gives you improved target detection in all light conditions and through obscurants," said Lt. Col. James Smith, the Army's product manager for Soldier sensors and lasers.
"You put those two together and you get the combined effect to give the Soldier much greater situational awareness and target detection capability," Smith told Defense Tech.
Current NVGs magnify "ambient" illumination - such as light from stars and the moon - to help brighten the surroundings so troops can see objects in the dark. But if something's hidden behind trees or it's raining or dusty, standard night optics can't cut through.
Thermal imagery, on the other hand, illuminates an object's radiant heat, pulling away the mask of darkness even in the most light-deprived environments.
Smith said the service plans to field the new optic to units beginning in February, but he would not say which troops would get it first, citing "operational security" concerns.
The ITT Corp.-built PSQ-20 costs about three times more than the PVS-14, running the Army about $10,000 per optic, so, it's not for everyone. Only select troops such as engineers, military police and unit leaders will be issued the new optic.
The ENVG is also significantly heavier than the PVS-14, Smith admitted, weighing in at about two pounds. But to mitigate the added weight's impact, engineers have designed a system to mount the optic's battery pack on the back of a Soldier's helmet, helping distribute the weight more evenly and reduce neck strain.
"We've received a lot of positive comments on the suitability and wearability of the ENVG from Soldiers" after incorporating the rear-mounted battery, Smith said.
The PSQ-20 can be switched between standard image-intensification mode, thermal or a combined mode which shows the object's thermal signature as an outline on a green background.
The thermal imaging can help a trooper see in places where there's no light, such as in caves or windowless buildings, without activating a rifle-mounted infrared beam to illuminate the target - a move that could tip off an NVG-equipped enemy.
Program officials at PEO Soldier are also working on night optics a generation beyond the ENVG. Smith said his team is looking to take the thermal and image-intensification properties of the PSQ-20 and present them as a digital image.
Think of it as a digital camera on steroids.
Instead of looking through a true-optical scope, a trooper would see a computer-processed image of his target. The advantage, officials say, is that Soldiers could overlay mapping data and other statistics on top of the image they're looking at, increasing situational awareness. Soldiers could also transmit the digital image they're seeing through the optic to commanders in the rear or unit leaders in the patrol.
"The digital format will allow for interoperability with the 'ground Soldier system,' " Smith said. "The exchange of imagery - other imagery that can be presented within the digital version of the ENVG - will all be enabled."
But officials admit they're still a long way from fielding the digitally-enhanced goggle. For starters, the technology hasn't caught up with the clarity needed for the goggle and the weight of the guts needed to digitize the image is still problem, Smith said.
"The PVS-14 has outstanding resolution," Smith explained. "So one of the things we're working really hard on is to get the resolution of the digital information higher."
Army officials say they hope to field the digital NVG by 2011, and it will most likely go to units equipped with Land Warrior-like futuristic combat equipment.
All the ten-pound brains have made their way to Anaheim, Calif., for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency technical symposium this week to sling the latest in gadgetry and gizmos – both fanciful and practical.
While DT has concentrated this week on the here and now (or at least the almost here and now), there’s a band of diligent journos pouring over the latest wares that would make even Buck Rogers grin.
Daniel Engber of Slate writes -- If some devices seem impossibly advanced, others come off as weirdly passé. The RPGNets system is designed to protect light tactical vehicles from rocket-powered grenades. Hanging from the ceiling is a giant net with a grenade tangled in the weave like a sockeye salmon. According to the display, this advanced research program aims to "leverage net technology" against enemy weapons by manipulating the size of the mesh and the diameter of the lines. Do we really need DARPA to invest in high-tech nets?...
…Meanwhile, research seems to have progressed on the brain-controlled prostheses that were introduced (in concept, at least) two years ago. At one display area, a pair of armless volunteers and a young veteran missing his right hand demonstrate some fancy new models. We don't yet have bionic arms that hook up directly to the cortex, but one machine uses electrical signals from the muscle tissue remaining in a patient's stump to drive a mechanical hand: After extended training, the veteran could open and close his metal grip by imagining the movements. Another makes use of a foot-operated control mechanism hidden in a normal-looking shoe…
And Popular Mechanics chimes in… One of the first announcements at this year's three-day DARPATech conference is going to be hard to top: the first portable, self-contained surgical robot will be deployed in the next two years. Brett Giroir, director of the research agency's Defense Sciences Office also announced that the system, called Trauma Pod, has successfully "treated" a mannequin during a test, with no complications.
A single human will operate the robot remotely during surgery, but Trauma Pod will be able to perform a number of functions, such as fluid administration and surgical assistance, autonomously. The goal is to stabilize injured soldiers as quickly as possible, and previous Trauma Pod designs have included related systems that evacuate the patient. Giroir said that a prototype will be delivered to troops within two years. The exhibit hall opens in another few hours, so check back for more Trauma Pod details and updated images.
-- Christian
Land Warrior Battle Brief
The Soldiers slip around the edge of the wall, stacking up against a rusty metal door blocking access to the compound. With a heavy punch of a boot, the entry is ripped from its hinges and the Soldiers pour into the hard-packed dirt yard in a flow of lethal green.
After a look around, the insurgent they were sent to nab isn't there.
Time to look in another house.
In the past, resetting the squad, briefing them on the next target, moving in an orderly and safe fashion to the new house and conducting another search would have taken precious minutes a wary enemy could use to slip away for good. But with new technology doled out to a specialized Army unit deployed to Iraq since April, the Soldiers cut that nearly in half.
A program that many see as struggling on life support, Land Warrior has for the first time proven its worth in combat. Though Soldiers still criticize the system's clunky components and groan at the added weight of batteries and other electronics, the Land Warrior suite fielded in Iraq is nevertheless helping Soldiers on the ground execute their mission more effectively.
"First I thought that's a lot of equipment, that's a lot of weight," said Sgt. 1st Class Ruben Romero, a Land Warrior program official who deployed to Iraq previously without the system and is now helping Soldiers use it in combat.
"But as I got introduced to Land Warrior and started using it, I thought: 'Man, I could have used this my first time.' "
Funding for Land Warrior was zeroed out by the Army in its fiscal 2008 budget submission this year, but money for the Iraq deployment comes from funds allocated in 2007.
Program officials are quick to point out the fielding of the current components of Land Warrior in Iraq is not an "experiment," they are continuously adding capability to the system based on advice from Soldiers in the field and technological advancements.
Army officials delivered over 200 Land Warrior systems to Soldiers of the Fort Lewis, Wash.-based 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division's 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team back in 2006 to train with the system in preparation for their deployment to the hotly-contested provinces north of Baghdad. The components are divided into two basic categories, one for mounted Stryker Soldiers and one for dismounted infantrymen.
The dismounted system consists of a small, helmet-mounted display that can be flipped down in front of the Soldier's eye or removed from view like a night vision optic. Attached to the display is a lightweight computer housed in a pouch worn on the Soldier's back that can store map data, GPS location information and position details on the rest of the team and their targets.
All of that information can be displayed on the helmet-mounted screen, and Soldiers can toggle through different features using a mouse-like device attached to the front of their body armor vest.
"When these guys go outside the wire ... you'd be hard pressed to find a paper map anywhere," said Lt. Col. Brian Cummings, Land Warrior product manager who's overseeing its employment in Iraq. "Their leaders can tactically know where they are in relation to the mission and where the Soldiers are at any given time."
There's also an encrypted radio that can transmit voice and a limited amount of data, such as email and text messages, to other members of the unit or to commanders back at the forward operating base.
Unlike previous versions of the Land Warrior system that envisioned a hard-shelled "turtle back" containing all the electronics and mission computers, the system fielded to Iraq units can be tailored for each mission. If a Soldier will be riding in a Stryker, for example, he can plug into the vehicle's onboard systems and leave his computer back in the hooch.
The dismounted system also includes a video optical weapons sight that can display target information on the helmet-mounted screen, allowing Soldiers to lift their weapons above a compound's wall and see what's behind without exposing themselves.
"Yes it's another piece of equipment added to your weapon system that makes it heavier," Romero explained. "But being able to use it to peek around corners rather than poking my head around the corner ... I feel more comfortable now."
Program officials have recently added the capability to display video taken by battlefield robots searching for improvised explosive devices on the helmet-mounted display and are working on the potential to transmit video obtained from the weapon sight back to base for instant evaluation.
Though the future of Land Warrior is still in fiscal limbo, the system has so far turned doubtful Joes into unwavering proponents.
"This is something that we should build more of and make improvements on and get it to every Stryker unit in the Army," Cummings said.
Tracking eye movements can let a computer know when someone is paying attention and identify exactly what they are interested in, but it's also a tricky business. Most systems work by using a camera and image recognition software to identify a person's pupils and work out the direction of their gaze.
In real-life situations, however, tracking systems can be easily confused by rapid head movement or spectacles.
Now, the Office of Naval Research is looking for better ways of tracking eyes in the hope of developing military applications, such as tracking a fighter pilot's gaze.
So it has a funded James DiCarlo, a neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, US, to develop a magnetic contact lens.
A soldier would wear the lenses and a magnetic sensor attached to the side of his or her head. The sensor picks up any changes in the local magnetic field and works out how the wearer's eyes are moving.
The system should work regardless of head orientation and movement, lighting condition,s or "face furniture" such as goggles or glasses. The team says the magnetic lenses could also let disabled people control equipment such as wheelchairs.
(Gouge: RC)
-- Christian
Attack of the Battery Man!
Just thought I’d forward a new Pentagon announcement intended to prompt a competitive solution to the problem of lightweight power generation for the increasing number of electronic devices carried by grunts and Joes in combat...
The Director, Defense Research and Engineering, John Young today announced a public prize competition to develop a wearable electric power system for war fighters. The competition will take place in the fall of 2008 and the prizes are $1 million for first place, $500,000 for second place and $250,000 for third place.
The essential electronic equipment that dismounted warfighters carries today - radios, night vision devices, global positioning system - runs on batteries. This competition will gather and test the good ideas for reducing the weight of the batteries that service members carry. The prize objective is a wearable, prototype system that can power a standard warfighter's equipment for 96 hours but weighs less than half that of the current batteries carried. All components, including the power generator, electrical storage, control electronics, connectors and fuel must weigh four kilograms or less, including any attachments.
Prizes will be awarded to the top three teams in a final competitive demonstration planned for the fall of 2008. At this "wear-off," individuals or teams will demonstrate their prototype systems under realistic conditions. The top three competitors that demonstrate a complete, wearable system that produces 20 watts average power for 96 hours but weighs less than 4 kilograms (~8.8 lbs) will win the prizes.
A public information forum will be held in September in the Washington, D.C., area to brief potential competitors on the technical details, the competition rules, and qualification requirements. Competitors must register to participate in the prize program by Nov. 30, 2007. The competition is open for international participation; however the individual or team leader must provide proof of U.S. citizenship. Details on the forum, as well as contest registration and rules are posted on the Defense Research and Engineering Prize Web site.
Researchers behind the Army's top 10 greatest inventions for 2006 were recognized recently at a ceremony in Arlington, Virginia. The Army's Greatest Inventions for 2006 are:
Blow Torch Counter Improvised Explosive Device System, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. This vehicle-mounted system detonates IEDs at safe stand-off distances, minimizing vehicle damage and Soldier injuries.
"It's fairly easy to operate, and it gives a sense of security to the Soldiers when they're on convoy duty," said Maj. Brian Hackenberg, who helped develop the system.
Integrated Robotic Explosive Detection System, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Capable of crossing rugged terrain, this remotely operated system incorporates an explosive trace detector onto a robotic platform.
Plastic Shaped Charge Assembly for Remote Destruction of Buried IEDs, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. Remotely emplaced, the PSCA destroys known or suspected unexploded ordnance with higher accuracy than similar devices currently in use. Its low-fragmentation plastic housing eliminates collateral damage.
Humvee Crew Extraction D-ring, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala. Combat locks on the up-armored Humvee provide security for Soldiers but often get so damaged the doors can't be opened. The D-ring provides solid anchor points for the hooks of a tow strap, chain or cable to pull open damaged doors.
"There was an issue of Soldiers getting trapped inside Humvees that had been damaged for whatever reason ... enemy fire or being flipped. Soldiers had problems getting the doors off these up-armored Humvees so we took their advice and created the D-ring," said Wesley D. Patterson, who is part of a Fast Assistance in Sciences Team that deploys to help Soldiers solve problems that can be resolved within six months.
M1114 Humvee Interim Fragment Kit 5, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. This kit was fielded as a ballistic improvement for the M1114 Humvee in April 2006. A prototype door solution with fabrication and mounting instructions was provided within one week with automotive testing and safety certification.
Remote Urban Monitoring System, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, Fort Belvoir, Va. RUMS hardware combines emerging technologies in Wireless Local Area Network technology, night-vision cameras and unattended ground sensors to eliminate false alarms. Tripped sensors transmit an alarm signal to the camera module and operator after video and audio from multiple camera modules confirm the unattended ground sensor's alarm signal.
Constant Hawk, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. Constant Hawk is a surveillance capability that uses an electro-optic payload to collect intelligence and identify areas that require increased surveillance by other assets.
OmniSense Unattended Ground Sensor System (pictured), U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md. OmniSense is an unattended ground sensor system used to detect and classify personnel and vehicles in perimeter defense.
EM113A2 Rapid Entry Vehicle, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, N.J. The REV provides rapid entry, non-lethal crowd control and rescue-squad insertion capabilities into areas requiring non-lethal intervention. The vehicle increases Soldier survivability through improved situational awareness and the ability to move and fire from within an armored vehicle.
BuckEye System, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Miss. BuckEye uses a digital camera to produce geospatial information for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. It also produces high-resolution 3D urban mapping.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Michael Harper said the BuckEye System has been instrumental in allowing a maneuver commander to rapidly map battle space through high-resolution imagery and to collect elevation data to give a 3D view.
"What it gives to Soldiers is added situational awareness they need to fight in an urban terrain," he said. "BuckEye has essentially mapped almost every major city in Iraq thus far."
Back in the day (the late 80’s for me) the only thing available was the LBE (Y-harness) and pistol belt. While the LBE itself wasn’t good for much, it did help take the weight of the loaded pistol belt off your hips, and my pistol belt was loaded. I carried 5 three-mag pouches, 2 canteens, and a butt pack (in addition to the regulation bent neck flashlight, compass, NOD bag and first aid pouch.) In the pack went an MRE, socks, NBF powder and small toilet kit, alcohol pens and tape for maps and such, and trioxane tabs for cooking water.
For years this arrangement worked because all of the dismounted stuff I did was truly dismounted. We might get delivered somewhere in a deuce and a half or hummer, but we didn’t patrol in one; all that we did on the ground.
Then came “modern” times, where everything you do is “mounted”, even getting to the point that you can’t go 50 feet without having to get back into the truck. That, coupled with the fact that “uniformity” was now our primary focus (meaning you had to have your kit on when ever you got more than 5 feet from your vehicle) meant that a change in how I carried my equipment was in order. As much as I liked the canteens (with their attendant cooking stand and cup) and the butt pack, they both had to go.
There was simply no way I could ride in a Humvee wearing my LBE with those canteens sticking out of my back like 2 cancerous tumors, and going through the chore of donning, removing, and stowing the LBE every time I got in and out of the vehicle was not only a waste of time and a big pain in the ass, but it was tactically unsound; you ought to dismount the vehicle in a fighting condition.
So I started looking for an LBE replacement. The one I settled on was the RACK (Ranger Assault Carrying Kit.) Developed by Specialty Defense, I’m told that it was developed specifically to meet the Ranger’s requirements for “assault” oriented gear. The RACK, in effect, is a MOLLE apron. All it is is a wrap around vest with MOLLE loops on it for you to attach bags and pouches too.
What you attach, where you attach, and how much you attach is completely up to you. In addition, everything on the RACK is in your front plane, meaning you can see it and get to it without having to grope behind you, and with nothing behind you, you can wear it while in a vehicle without any discomfort or loss of mobility.
As great as I think the RACK is, it isn’t without limitations. While the RACK is easy to wear in a vehicle because there’s nothing behind you, that does limit the amount of stuff you can carry. I could carry more with my old LBE-pistol belt rig than I can with the RACK, but I couldn’t carry it all the time, so the trade off is now, if I go on walkabout, I need a bail-out bag as well (Camelbak in my case) to carry a few additional essentials.
The RACK, by today’s standards, is also relatively old technology – there are systems out there that are much more advanced than my lash up, made of more exotic materials and what not, but mine’s bought and paid for, and I’m disinclined to spend modern money to upgrade something that currently still meets my mission requirements.
I have been in the Army 17 years now and twice deployed to a combat zone and I have yet to be issued a bayonet. The reasons for this generally fall into two categories.
First, commanders consider the bayonet too dangerous to use (soldiers might hurt themselves), and second, the bayonet is accountable property and you’ll be paying for it if you break (read use) it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not all fired up to go out and stab someone with a bayonet, but there are times when you need a potentially sacrificial instrument to chop, hack, dig, probe, or test the proverbial waters with, and the last thing I want to do is get slapped with a $120 statement of charges because I used my shiny new M9 bayonet to probe a recently plastered section of brick wall looking for contraband and the tip broke.
Say hello to the kukri.
The kukri is the fighting knife of the Nepalese Gurkhas. A traditional kukri is hand-made in Nepal out of leaf spring steel (I’m told that Mercedes-Benz springs are the best) and is a combination hatchet, short sword, and fighting knife.
While mine is by no means "traditional" (mine was made in India I believe) what it is, however, is a most excellent piece of kit, which I have used time and time again for all those jobs for which an issue bayonet would have been the ticket, were such a bayonet available. Moreover at $40 a shot (a traditional kukri will run you $150 or more)
I'm not losing any sleep if I chip the blade on my kukri (which I have done, trying to hack through a undiscovered piece of rebar.)
It’s a deadly problem that has plagued U.S. forces in every conflict. And though military officials have been highlighting it for years, they still haven’t found a solution everyone can agree on.
Friendly fire accounts for enough U.S. and allied casualties that it’s a cause of grave concern among commanders in the field – with ever-more lethal and precise weaponry sitting in the U.S. arsenal, mistaken targeting carries with it a deadly guarantee.
One company that’s trying the lift the cloud of doubt has developed an innovative way to identify friendly forces in a fraction of a second.
Brought to you by the same folks who make the Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System - or “MILES” gear - used in field exercises, the new Optical Combat Identification System developed by Cubic Defense Systems presents a simple solution to a nagging problem.
“A few years ago we got to thinking about other applications of laser technology and that led us to do research in other wavelengths unrelated to MILES,” said Steve Sampson, VP in charge of advanced programs at Cubic Defense. “The nature of warfare has changed and it’s required that out whole application of technology has had to refocus.”
Cubic has developed and tested a system that works both on vehicles and, more importantly, can be placed within the gear of dismounted troops. The way it works on a dismounted Soldier is through a laser “interrogator” mounted on his rifle and “smart reflector” embedded in the target Soldier’s gear. When a trooper targets a potential enemy, he presses a button that activates an eye-safe laser beam that shoots to a man-sized target as far as one kilometer away.
The smart reflectors mounted in the Soldier’s equipment – which are matchbook-sized devices placed to allow 360-degree coverage – absorb the laser beam, remodulate it, and send back a signal that tells the shooter he’s a friendly. The answer can be displayed in the Soldier’s rifle sight.
And it all happens in less than a tenth of a second.
“For years the Army focused on combat ID on the high-value, big armored platforms … but we’re not having big armored tank battles in downtown Baghdad anymore; it’s dismounted, urban warfare,” Sampson said. “Only in the last few years has laser technology gotten to the point where we can field something that is practical in size, weight and power for a dismounted Soldier or Marine.”
The man-portable OCIdS gear includes batteries that can run for “thousands of interrogations” on the gun-mounted laser and “tens of thousands” of replies on the reflector, which uses a watch battery-sized power supply, Sampson explained. Vehicle-mounted interrogators can send and receive the laser signal over several miles using much greater onboard power generation.
Engineers at Cubic are still working to refine the system, spending about $20 million since 2005 to test the new combat ID technology. Another round of Army field tests are scheduled for this summer. Though Sampson doesn’t expect a formal Army requirement for a system like his until around 2009, Cubic hopes to offer the man-portable system for less than $2,000 per soldier and around $20,000 per vehicle.
Sampson also said the technology in his OCIdS gear can be adapted for long-range communications – not just combat ID - but he was cagey about revealing the details.
“What we are able to accomplish today, physically wasn’t possible a few years ago,” Sampson said.
Our boy Eric Daniel who runs the Kit Up! section of Military.com posted a pretty cool entry the other day on a favorite little piece of war bootie he seized while on duty in Iraq.
I know everyone at Defense Tech seems to get a kick out of Soldiers using non-issued weaponry, so I figured I’d throw out some red meat into the ring for all you contraband lovers.
Eric writes…
One of the byproducts of conducting security operations in Iraq is you end up with a lot of confiscated weapons, and over the years, quite a respectable collection had been assembled by the various units rotating through the IA mission on our FOB. Naturally we had such staples as the AK-47, AKM, RPK, RPD, and PKM, but we also had some pretty cool specimens as well, like Dragunov SVD sniper rifles, a working DShK, RPGs, even such oldies but goodies as a couple of Mosin-Nagant M1891bolt action rifles and a PPSh-41 sub-machine gun (non-functional unfortunately, otherwise this thing would have been a blast.)
The piece d’resistance, though was a brand-new, never been fired, fully functional German MG3.
We came about this little gem after detaining a collection of Iraqi oil and pipeline security folk who were conducting illegal shakedown checkpoints out in the hinterlands. In the process of cataloguing their equipment the scribing NCO described the MG3 as some sort of Star Wars blaster rifle, and so it’s true nature went undiscovered until I happened to see it propped up against the wall in the supply room, whereupon I discerned the true nature of this fine piece of warmongery.
The machinegun itself was in a sorry state. It was bone dry (a blessing as it would turn out), packed with dust, and had never been fired. Since it had never been lubricated (that I could tell), cleaning it up was simply a matter of field stripping it, blowing the majority of the dust out and then giving it a good bath and scrub in solvent. Once clean, dry, lubricated, and reassembled, my MG3 and me went out to the range to convert some linked 7.62 NATO into heat and noise.
For those of you who have never had the opportunity to fire an MG3, it is quite possibly the finest, single barreled medium machinegun ever built. Based on the German MG42 of WWII fame, the MG3 is essentially the MG3 rechambered from 7.92mm Mauser to 7.62mm NATO. Its ROF is 1,200 rounds per minute and it is an absolute dream to shoot.
Had we simply found the weapon in a raid I would have ditched my M16 and hauled that sucker with me everywhere, but alas and alack, I had to give it back when we eventually released the Iraqis we had detained. I shudder to think now what state “my” MG3 is in, but for the week or so we were together, and the thousands of rounds we fired together, I was in absolute heaven.
Alright, so you all have probably learned by now that under new management, Defense Tech hasn’t shied away from attacking a few sacred cows here and there.
I had a little chat the other day with my good friend, inventor and ballistics expert, Dave Woroner, who said he’d been getting red in the face over the current love affair with thigh-rig holsters in the war zone and their increasing use by law enforcement personnel.
He enlisted two of his fellow gun nut buddies – noted experts in the defensive handgun business – to lay out the case against thigh rigs in favor of chest-mounted holsters. More and more I’ve seen special operations forces adopting the chest-rig concept, with regular grunts sticking to the thigh holster almost as a Western movie flashback or status symbol.
Everyone knows wearing body armor makes it difficult, if not impossible, to employ hip holsters. But Dave and his amigos argue the thigh rig is a worse option.
There comes a time to question the "status quo.” This is how we move forward as professionals - adjust, adapt and overcome.
The focus here is on where our pistols are carried. Currently beat/street officers and certain military personnel carry their pistols either in shoulder rigs or hip holsters. And for them, that is fine.
But an increasing population of military and law enforcement personnel on the front lines are opting for the cowboy style thigh holster. But the time has come to make it standard procedure to carry your pistol on your chest instead.
Here’s the deal: The drop-leg thigh holster is horrendous specifically in two areas. 1) It’s a wide-open target for retention and grab problems. 2) The doggoned thing loves to snag on everything (as Dave and John will attest below) – not to mention the greater risk of being disarmed wearing a thigh rig.
Wearing a chest rig, however, the weapon is pretty much right in your face and if you need it in an instant, you don’t have to look around for it on your leg.
Moreover, anyone who has had to run for his life with a thigh holster on knows it wobbles and wiggles all over the place - not ideal for drawing quickly on the run.
So here’s the rub troopers: Loose the thigh rigs. They’re no longer a “status symbol” and its gonna be mighty hard for an enemy to grab a pistol off your chest. The chest rig puts your handgun in a place that you will not forget under duress.
And besides, it adds a little additional armor to your vest.
I’ve spent 30 years in law enforcement, including 12 years in SWAT and five years on a drug task force. I’ve been involved in hundreds of raids and forced entries and I’ve tried all types of holsters.
I admit that I have never been a big fan of the leg or thigh holster, as I could never find an elevation where the thing was comfortable. If the rig was left low on the leg, it swung around the leg when moving and the gun snagged on every doorframe or fence railing that it encountered. Of course, a moving holster is difficult to draw from quickly.
If the gun were pulled up high and tight, the leg straps would cut off circulation to the leg as well as "pinch the boys" on occasion. The short vertical strap also limited movement in regards to how well the leg could move when climbing or running.
So, I mounted a holster on my carrier vest over my body armor in a low, forward cross draw position before such rigs were readily available.
Most carriers of the time had the holster located under the offside arm like a shoulder holster, which made rapid access difficult, but moving the gun to the front of the body eliminated this problem.
The lone drawbacks, at least in my experience, to mounting the gun to the chest was when you slung your rifle or went face down prone. Taking note of where the pistol is suspended in relation to where the long gun hangs could easily minimize these concerns.
Nothing is perfect, but I admit that if I were involved in entry work at this stage of my life, I would be holstering my handgun on the front of my vest in some place so that I would have both rapid access as well as freedom of movement.
Some will say that if the vest comes off, so will the pistol. Well, in a hot zone, the vest shouldn’t come off and in a LE situation where the vest might come off while an evidence search is conducted, the pistol can easily be transferred to a simple hip holster...maybe one of those nylon styles that will push flat when not needed.
Everything is a compromise and nothing is perfect.
When we carry pistols, openly or concealed, we like the gun to be “within the elbow arc.” That is, we want it high enough that we can strongly defend it against snatch attempts. Unfortunately, when we don heavy body armor, our normal waistline often becomes ineligible as a carrying place for pistols.
One popular option is to move the pistol down until it rests on the outside of the thigh. As with all “solutions,” there are strengths and weaknesses. A great strength is that the gun is still reachable via the strong-side hand, and the existing draw-stroke need be only slightly modified. The bad news is that this pistol is now well below the elbow and thus not particularly retainable. In addition, the system significantly adds to the carrier’s body width, so it will routinely snag it on doorframes.
Another option is the chest carry. The draw-stroke is different, and the pistol is still vulnerable, but one can get both hands on it quickly when it needs protection. In addition, it won't bang into door frames and furniture, and it can be readily concealed.
When the normal waistline is available, it should be used. High-on-the-waist is still the best carry position, open or concealed. For domestic patrol officers, this is usually the best way to go. Putting the pistol low on the thigh when the waist is available is silly.
We talked a little about radios earlier this week – and the flagging JTRS program – so I wanted to bring a recent contract announcement to your attention.
It seems that Harris Communications, an industry leader in developing secure communications architectures, has won a $422 million contract for the Special Operations Forces HF Multi-band Radio system.
Harris has developed radios that meet the Army’s JTRS concept, including the AN/PRC-152 that uses programmable software to meet the service’s secure comms requirement and can evolve with future demands.
The Harris contract is another indication that even though the networking piece of the Future Combat System plods along, service components are going ahead with their own programs to find the best secure communications solution while the Army tries to figure out where it’s going with a more “holistic” approach to multi-band comms.
After nearly two years of effort, and constant revisions based on feedback from military and law enforcement users, an inventor based in Florida has devised a new rail system that can be retrofitted to the M9 Beretta standard milspec pistol.
The rail system, developed by David Woroner of Survival Consultants Intl., allows the user to fit a wide array of sighting systems, laser pointers, pepper spray adaptors and other components to the military (and police) issued sidearm. Dave has helped me on a variety of stories over the years dealing with weapons development, body armor technology and private security contractor issues and I’m happy to see that his Wor4 TacRail is getting good feedback from users and from the Army’s Picatinny Arsenal.
From Survival Consultants…
This is the only product that is specifically designed for the Beretta "type" pistol (M9-92FS), though it will fit many other Beretta licensed out designs, such as the Taurus series of pistols of similar specifications (as well as a multitude of S. African to S. American pistol licensees…
What our research revealed is that, overwhelmingly, shooters wanted the ability to add lower railed devices such as lights, lasers, etc. and the possibility of adding an "optical sighting system" on the top rail. In the design of the TacRail, SCI recognized that any "device" (like an optic system) can fail. So SCI introduced a slot into the design so that the iron sights are still completely active and useable. The other specification requested was to make the design so that "the slide can be removed, for field cleaning, without removing the TacRail."
I’m including this post to see what feedback our DT readers have on this component system. One of the things I like most about Dave’s TacRail is the “strike face” on the special operations version of the Wor4. It’s a pointed knob just under the barrel that can be used to say that special “hello” to a resistant bad guy.
I wish him luck and am curious to see what y’all have to say about it.
In response to the deadly IED problem and the blast/heat effects of the makeshift bombs, the Army is developing a flame resistant coverall patterned in its ACU camouflage for vehicle crewmen.
The Army’s top gear buying and development command, the Fort Belvoir, Va.-based PEO Soldier, has a thorough write-up on its effort. Late last year, Marines from I Marine Expeditionary Force began wearing Nomex flight suits during vehicle operations on their own accord. When II MEF took command of the battlespace in al Anbar, the nomex suits became standard and the Corps launched its own effort to develop fire retardant uniforms and other clothing called "FROG" gear.
The Army has followed suit (excuse the pun) and seems to be homing in on a good solution for its soldiers. One of our contributors wrote an outstanding story on the ACU and suggested the fire-retardant evolution, so it’s good to see the Army moving forward on this initiative.
From PEO Soldier:
The Army has developed an improved one-piece uniform for mounted soldiers with enhanced fire resistance and durability, as well as providing better fit and function, all of which will aid against the effects of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The improved Combat Vehicle Coverall (iCVC) is being evaluated by approximately 2,000 Soldiers of the 2nd Infantry Division, the 3rd Infantry Division, and the 16th Cavalry Regiment at Fort Knox, KY. Widespread fielding is expected later this year.
Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier, headquartered at Fort Belvoir, Va, is directing the user evaluations. PEO Soldier designs, develops, procures, and fields virtually everything today’s Soldiers wear or carry. PEO Soldier is committed to increasing combat effectiveness, saving Soldiers’ lives and improving Soldiers’ quality of life.
MAJ Clay Williamson, PEO Soldier's Assistant Product Manager for Clothing and Individual Equipment, said that PEO Soldier requires rigorous testing before any article of clothing or piece of equipment is approved for use. “Everything is tested to make sure it is safe and highly effective before we field it,” Williamson said.
However, fielding a new version of the coverall does not mean the work is finished, Williamson explained. Research is ongoing so continual improvements can be made.
“All our fire-resistant uniforms are spiral-development efforts because of the urgency and nature of the threat that our Soldiers are facing. We field the best equipment that is available, and then use Soldier feedback to continue to make it even better,” he said.
The new coverall has an elastic back waist and adjustment tabs to customize fit, decrease bulk, and increase maneuverability for armor vehicle crews, thus improving mission effectiveness. The seat patch has been widened and lengthened to provide more coverage and to improve the uniform’s durability, and the uniform is made in the universal camouflage pattern.
The new coverall and other state-of-the-art equipment and clothing will be on display at PEO Soldier’s exhibit space, Booth 512 at the Armor Warfighting Symposium, April 30-May 3, 2007 at Fort Knox.
The Army’s fire-resistant clothing goes through laboratory flame testing and state-of-the-art mannequin flame testing, the latter at an independent facility at North Carolina State University. User evaluations are an important part of testing as well. “We are constantly seeking Soldier feedback to make further improvements,” Williamson said.
As part of the ongoing tests on the iCVC, an alternate Nomex-based fabric called Abrams material is being considered as a possible replacement for the current MILSPEC Nomex fabric. The new fabric, which is slightly heavier than Nomex, would double the durability of the uniform, hold up better to abrasion and offer better resistance to fading from sunlight.
Soldiers’ evaluations will continue through June, at which time their recommendations for improvement will be considered.
The Army is working on other fire-resistant clothing as well. The Flame Resistant Environmental Ensemble (FREE) will provide armored and aviation crew members with a multi-layered system that offers fire protection and comfort in a wide range of climate conditions. FREE consists of a base layer, midweight under layer, lightweight outer layer, intermediate weather outer layer, extreme cold-weather outer layer as well as hot- and cold-weather balaclavas, cold-weather gloves, wool socks, and a rigger belt. The outer layers protect from cold, wind and rain as well as fire.
With the FREE, which is undergoing user evaluations in Korea, Soldiers who have specialized jobs that expose them to fire hazards, will have the same type of extreme cold-weather gear the rest of the Army is receiving with the Generation III Extended Cold Weather Clothing System (ECWCS).
A fire-resistant Army Combat Uniform (ACU) is also being fielded. Advanced fabrics enhance fire protection without sacrificing mobility and comfort. Fielding is about to begin on a fire-resistant Army Combat Shirt (ACS), which can be worn directly under Interceptor Body Armor (IBA), reducing the need for additional layers, thereby reducing heat stress while adding comfort and protection.
The long-sleeved ACS comes with a balaclava, which adds fire resistance to the head, face, and neck areas that previously were unprotected. When Soldiers add fire-resistant eyewear and pants, they have full-body protection from burns.
All of the fire-resistant clothing is washable and maintains protective properties for the life of the garments.
This is all part of PEO Soldier’s mission to make sure that our Soldiers have the best equipment available when and where they need it.
“It’s our job to give them the best equipment that our money and technology can produce,” said BG R. Mark Brown, Program Executive Officer Soldier.
Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Crye Precision has developed one of the most impressive body armor vest designs available today. It’s a technological leap in terms of wearability, coverage and comfort beyond any designs I am aware of. The armor “chassis,”
as Crye terms it, harkens back to the Spartan cuirass and later Roman chest plates worn in combat, and the Army is tinkering with Crye’s design for its Future Force Warrior development up at Natick labs in Massachusetts.
The institutional Army has taken notice and decided to purchase Crye’s nape neck protector, presumably for its humvee gunners who are more exposed to a roadside bomb blast and sniper fire than the passengers. The neck protector has a higher profile than the standard body armor neck protector and incorporates a small ballistic plate in the back of the collar.
It’s a big victory for a small company on the cutting edge of body armor design, and it will be interesting to see how far Crye’s designs go in the future for all the services’ continuing body armor development.
-- Christian
From iPod to 'Grip Pod'
I ran across this little item today from a story in Leatherneck magazine.
As part of the Marine Corps’ Marine Enhancement Program – a sort of rapid-prototyping initiative housed in the Marine Corps Combat Development Command in Quantico, Va. – the service is beginning to field a new accessory hand-grip for the M4 and M16A4 with forward rail system that houses a retractable bi-pod.
The so-called “Grip Pod” is a bit wider than most forward grips and deploys a telescoping bi-pod with a quick push of a button. This little device could give just about anyone the same kind of stabilized precision attached to designated marksman rifles or similar specialized weapons.
What next, a forward grip with a retractable Ka-Bar?
Program Executive Office (PEO) Soldier welcomes Soldier feedback on all its products, including the Army Combat Uniform (ACU). Feedback from Soldiers has already led to several improvements to the uniform, many of which have been incorporated in ACUs delivered since March 2006.
The ACU is intended to last an average of 180 days in combat. It is made of the same 50/50 nylon/cotton blend fabric as the Enhanced Hot Weather Battle Dress Uniform (EHWBDU) and Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) with the addition of a wrinkle-free treatment. Technical testing has shown ACU fabric exceeds all of the performance requirements, including tear strength, of the BDU and DCU fabric. Soldier feedback indicates they generally prefer the functionality of ACU over the BDU, especially while wearing Interceptor Body Armor.
Operational requirements call for the ability to quickly strip the ACU of all identifying patches. Given the state of today’s technology, that means hook and loop backing for cloth patches and pins and clutches for metal badges. The ACU uses hook and loop fasteners extensively. A durability problem with some of the early production of the fasteners was identified. Incorporating an improved hook tape with stiffer backing, alternate methods of sealing the edges of the tape, and improved sewing methods significantly improved the fasteners durability.
Soldiers also identified a problem with the closure on the trouser cargo pocket. This issue was traced to the hook tape which is apparently causing the loop tape to stretch and lose holding power. PEO Soldier is working with the suppliers of hook and loop tape to resolve this. Meanwhile, the cargo pocket has an elastic drawcord with a barrel lock that acts as a backup closure.
In response to the durability of the crotch, it has been redesigned using a heavier thread, more fabric in the seam, and stronger stitches. This redesign has more than doubled the strength of the crotch. Additionally, PEO-Soldier is awarding contracts to incorporate repairs to strengthen the crotch of the earlier ACU trousers still in the supply system.
Fire resistant (FR) uniforms are the subject of a recent Operational Need Statement (ONS) to provide additional FR uniforms. PEO-Soldier developed a fire resistant version of the ACU that provides similar FR protection to Nomex, but offers improved durability, breathability, moisture wicking, and comfort. ACU production contracts have been amended to produce the FR ACU, and deliveries are expected to begin July 2007.
There has been much discussion about the Universal Camouflage Pattern used on the ACU. Extensive laboratory and field tests were conducted on 11 candidate patterns and colors during development. MultiCam, then called Scorpion, was one of the patterns subjected to a series of laboratory and field evaluations, in multiple, realistic, operational environments under varied terrain and lighting conditions in 2003-04. The camouflage pattern selected was determined to provide the best overall effective concealment in multiple, operational environments, including urban, woodland, and desert scenarios.
The lighter colors required to obtain effective camouflage in multiple environments have posed a challenge for stain removal. Extensive laundry tests of the ACUs have been conducted to determine if the ACU soils more easily that the darker woodland BDU. Tests show the ACU and BDU stain similarly, but the darker color of BDUs hid stains. PEO-Soldier has been working with industry to incorporate a stain-release finish without compromising the performance of the wrinkle-free finish or other treatments, such as permethrin.
PEO-Soldier remains fully committed to incorporating Soldier feedback in the continual improvement of the ACU.
-- Christian
A Better Cammo Pattern?
We posted an excellent story today written by one of our contributors critiquing the Army’s new combat uniform. Eric Coulson, who commands an engineer company doing some IED-busting in the sandbox, tackles the issue of the uniform’s color scheme, construction and materials.
One thing he mentions is the under-the-radar popularity among some in the military of a new pattern called “multicam.” The Army’s Natick Soldier Systems Center is looking at multicam for its defunct (sort of) Future Force/Land Warrior ensemble.
While the multicam looks good for a woodland - or even urban - environment, I wonder how it would work in the desert. The most popular desert pattern in Iraq is the Marine Corps’ desert MarPat scheme, which blends in well against the mud-brick construction of Iraqi buildings and can barely be seen through night vision goggles with a desert rock backdrop.
There are some photos out there on the net of operators wearing the multicam in Southwest scrubland, but that’s with a lot of green around. Surely the folks at Natick are hard at work tweeking the multicam pattern for multi-environment use.
The Pentagon announced yesterday its “new starts” for the 2007 Joint Capability Technology Demonstration program. The program has morphed this year from the “Advanced” Capability Technology Demonstration program to the current “Joint” one, which emphasizes a needs-based approach over a “gee-wiz, look what we found” model where the Pentagon pushes the new technologies on the services.
There have definitely been some good products emerging from this program – including laser-resistant eyewear and helmet visors – and it’s encouraging to see some useful ideas earning the DoD cash once again.
Fiscal 2007 New Starts:
Tactical Service Provider (TSP) - Mobile, wireless high-throughput broadband connections over long distances
Mapping the Human Terrain (MAP-HT) - Visualization of socio-cultural information
Joint Multi-Mission Electro-Optical System (JMMES) - Counter camouflage, concealment, and deception
Smart Threads Integrated Radiation Sensors (STIRS) - Radiation sensors for state-of-the-art maritime interdiction and battlefield radiation detection
For the full gouge on all the programs, check out the Pentagon’s JCTD site.
-- Christian
A New Kind of Vision
For all you operators out there who do a lot of snooping and pooping at night, a Boston-based company has developed a filter for NODs that can make out colors. It won’t look like that 50-inch plasma display hanging in the TOC, but for some, the new enhancements could make a heck of a difference.
Made by Tenebraex Corp., the new night vision goggles use a filter that varies the light intensity of the view through the optic, tricking your brain into seeing objects in different color hues. The Boston Globe reports the new ColorPath scopes will be available this summer, and the company hopes the services will be interested in the new technology for its medical and special operations communities.
With monochrome night vision, "blood is the same color as water," [Tenebraex co-founder Peter] Jones said.
Some medics think a color night-vision goggle will help them treat wounded soldiers faster and better.
"That's what we hope this is going to do," said Jones, "to help people do a better job of assessment and treatment."
If Tenebraex can make the sale to medics, Jones said he hopes that the technology will make its way into other military groups, such as special operations units.
Tenebraex also makes the ARDS system, a honeycomb filter that attaches to the end of optics such as scopes and binoculars. The ARDS protects the viewer from laser dazzlers and light reflection off the scope’s lens, something that can give away a sniper or platoon leader’s position in bright sun.
The ColorPath development is part of a growing trend to update the ANPVS-14 and similar night optics with new bells and whistles that lift the shroud of darkness for U.S. troops – who increasingly use the cover of night for operations. Now companies are in a race to combine image intensification (boosting ambient light) with infrared in a single goggle. Some experimental NVGs overlay the IR image with II picture to cut through dust and foliage.
These new ENVGs have yet to hit the field (at least in the open) but if the manufacturers can fix the weight and image alignment problems, this type of hybrid optic will be the next big thing.
Special Operations Technology is reporting an effort by SOCOM to fill urgent equipment needs from overseas companies. Part of the Defense Acquisition Challenge and the Foreign Comparative Test program, the snake eater community is looking at nine particular systems to fill their kit bags, SO-Tech reports .
Some of them look pretty interesting, including:
Anti-Materiel Rifle, Croatia, Republic of South Africa:
This project will evaluate anti-materiel rifles developed by Denel of the Republic of South Africa and RH-Alan of Croatia , subjecting them to a variety of tests to evaluate their performance and ultimately select one rifle with the capability to defeat materiel targets such as lightly armored vehicles, power stations, communication assets and unexploded ordnance.
Psychological Operations Radio Broadcast Platform, Norway:
This project will evaluate deployment of an FM broadcast system developed by Tyra Invest AS of Norway using a tethered balloon concept. The system to be tested can place an FM broadcast transmitter at a predetermined altitude for up to five days and transmit psychological operations messages to personnel on the ground. The system is designed to be deployed from fighter aircraft by means of a standard MK-7/20 (PDU-5B) canister.
Modular Advanced Composite Armor Kits:
This project will evaluate lightweight, advanced composite protective armor, manufactured by various qualified vendors to be determined, for special operations non-standard civilian vehicles that can be easily installed and repaired in the field by non-technical personnel without the need for special tools or equipment.
The Pentagon’s interest in putting foreign technologies into the hands of special operators is indicative of an overall procurement shift of even high-profile purchases to European-designed systems, such as the US-101 presidential helicopter and the Army’s Light Utility Helicopter . And let’s not forget that potentially one of the largest Pentagon programs ever – the replacement for the Air Force’s KC-135 fleet – could net Europe’s Airbus a more than $100 billion win.
Not only is this tech in play in the GWOT, with prom season rapidly approaching, it also looks like a mandatory system for suburban households across the heartland.
"The Track Stick receives signals from twenty four satellites orbiting the earth. With this information, the Track Stick can precisely calculate its own position anywhere on the planet to within fifteen meters.
"The Track Stick will work anywhere on the planet Earth. Using the latest in GPS mapping technologies, your exact location can be shown on graphical maps and 3D satellite images.
"The Track Stick's micro computer contains special mathematical algorithms, that can calculate how long you have been indoors. While visiting family, friends or even shopping, the Track Stick can accurately time and map each and every place you have been."
Yes. That's why I need this device. Often I wake up and wonder, "Gee, where have I been and how long was I indoors before I wound up facedown on my neighbor's lawn?"
The company's website does mention an "oh, by the way" at the bottom of the homepage: "It is illegal to track someone without their {sic} permission."
Do our special forces and the CIA know that? They certainly don't want to get themselves into any more hot water.
I'm not one of those bloggers that feels the need to play gotcha every time some big paper gets a story wrong. But yesterday's article on page one (page one!) of the New York Times is lightweight, even for a breezy feature.
It's all about the Army's new-ish combat uniform -- and how soldiers don't like the velcro on the ensemble. Which is kind of interesting, I suppose. But you'd think the fact that the camos don't actually hide soldiers in many environments would get a mention, at least. A lousy sentence. Especially since these Army Combat Uniforms, or ACUs, or supposed to be "universal camouflage." And especially since the Army just decided to sink another $72 million into the new uniforms.
The ACU (as I have seen in both the woods of Georgia and the desert & urban areas of Iraq) is pretty much crap. Yes, I agree it works well if you are lying still in a gravel parking lot or next to a large moss covered live oak. Any other circumstance, though, you are truly "Ghost Recon". I work at the Recon Surveillance Course 4th RTB at Benning, and teach camouflage here. The grey pattern sticks out like a white ghost. At nighttime it gets highly illuminated by the moon and stars. The ACU is pretty much the joke of the Army. Joke's on you. Thank God I am a Marine!
Or check out this PowerPoint presentation, on how the camo pattern for the new uniforms was picked. What eventually became the ACU's pattern (called "urban track") comes in, at best, 3rd place out of 4. Yet just about every soldier is now wearing that also-ran. Trial after trial between competing patterns were held. And then, out of nowhere, the Army picked the pattern for the ACU -- a pattern that hadn't even been in the tests. That's deserves, at minimum, a brief nod from the Times, no?
(Big ups: WT)
New Camera Sees In Bullet Time
Here's your cool gadget of the week: a video camera that can follow speeding bullets midflight. I took a look at the gizmo, built by Nova Sensors Inc for the Air Force Research Laboratory, for Wired News. I've examined Nova's goods before. But this is the first time it's ability to mimic the Matrix's bullet time sequences has been revealed.
The first videos -- which you can see via the Wiredstory -- are crude. But it's an impressive capability. Existing sniper-finding systems rely on radar or acoustic sensors. And they can be heavy, bulky, and are one more piece of kit to carry. Nova Sensors device (known as VAST) can be integrated into a thermal imager, devices which are small enough for personal use.
Effectively, it could turn every round into a tracer bullet. Anyone firing at you would give themselves away immediately, even if the muzzle flash is hidden. From Nova President Mark Massie’s comments on the sensor, it sounds as though different types of rounds may have very different signatures, so enhanced software would not only be able to pinpoint the source of a shot, it could say what type of weapon is being fired. A system that tells you that two AK-47s and one AK-74 are firing from the upper story of Building A? Sounds pretty useful.
Interestingly, right at the moment a new evaluation is being carried out using ShotSpotter acoustic sniper location system in conjunction with Boeing's ScanEagle UAVs. The idea is that the ShotSpotter indicates the location and Scan Eagle goes over to get a better look. A ScanEagle equipped with the VAST camera system would be a logical extension of this idea.
(The bad guys could try to get around it by using bullets cast from ice when they are sniping, an approach only used so far in bad thrillers as far as I know. It's possible; it gives terrible ballistics and very limited lethality, but the bullets could not be tracked by the VAST system. Or at least, not until Massie's team spend five minutes on the software and get it to pick out cold objects against the warm background as well as hot ones.)
If only Zapruder had had one of these, we would be able to see exactly how many bullets were fired at Kennedy and from what direction...
There are likely to be a lot of other applications which are more prosaic than following bullets in flight. But as a first demonstration, it’s pretty impressive.
As expected, the Army has eliminated funding for its high tech soldier ensemble, Land Warrior, in its budget for 2008. The gear -- a collection of radios, electronic maps, and next-gen rifle scopes -- was finally supposed to connect the average infantryman into the growing network for combat. But the Army never could figure out the seemingly-endless weight and usability issues.
DOD planners dream up expensive systems... while ignoring the obvious success of modern digital device formats, such as cellphones, PDAs and even iPods. You may not be able to tap out a text message on a cellphone during a firefight as easily as with the Land Warrior, but what are you doing text messaging anyways? That's what the radio is for!
But Land Warrior isn't quite dead, yet. The 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry will still be taking more than 200 Land Warrior uniforms to Iraq, later on this year. The systems were already bought and paid for, in earlier budgets. And the hope is that Land Warrior performs so well under fire that the Army's chiefs have no choice but to turn the program's cash spigot back on. "It's kind of a Hail Mary pass," one Pentagon insider tells me.
Also, as expected, the Army will trim its mongo modernization project, Future Combat Systems, by cutting "two classes of unmanned aerial systems, one unmanned ground system and remov[ing] the Intelligent Munition System [a sort of smart landmine] from the program," Inside Defense reports. Army budget director Lt. Gen. Dave Melcher says the changes will save $3.3 billion over five years. FCS will still cost taxpayers $10.6 billion in fiscal year 2008 alone, if the Pentagon's budget goes through. Plus, there will be another $222 million for the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical, which is designed to help troops on the battlefield plug into info networks through satellite, airborne and terrestrial links. That's a nearly 100% increase over the previous year.
Defense News lists some of the other items that the Army is buying this year with its $27.8 billion procurement budget:
• $473 million to buy Patriot PAC-3 missiles.
• $596 million to buy 7,000 Humvees.
• $828 million to buy 2,862 trucks in the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles.
• $483 million to buy trucks in the Family of Heavy Tactical Vehicles.
• $172 million to buy mortars rounds.
• $222 million to buy artillery rounds.
• $167 million to buy rockets.
• $132 million to buy combat service support equipment.
• $712 million to modernize AH-64 Apache helicopters.
• $705 million to buy UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.
• $191 million to buy Chinook CH-47 cargo helicopters.
• $468 million to buy Armed Reconnaissance Helicopters to replace OH-58D Kiowa Warriors.
• $230 million to buy Light Utility Helicopters.
• $98 million to buy 5,900 M4 carbines.
“We are trying to procure M4s for all soldiers in theater; the shorter weapon gives a lot more potential,” the service’s budget director, Lt. Gen. Dave Melcher said.
UPDATE 7:44 PM: "The 4th Brigade was also scheduled to test Land Warrior at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif., but now that has also been canceled," Federal Computer Week notes. "NTC is a common final stop for realistic training before Iraq deployments."
The unit will be fully supported throughout its Iraq deployment, Atherton said. The Army has funding for unit support and repair parts through 2007 and is confident they will find procurement or operating money to keep the unit alive in 2008.
Meanwhile, the program office for Land Warrior here at home will be shut down. The Army will buy replacement parts and materials to last during the duration of the deployment...
The Army is looking for alternatives to give dismounted soldiers a point of presence on the network, Melcher said. One possibility is something called the Single Infantry Transport System, which has similar capabilities, he said.
I guess I'm the last person on the Web to learn about Jeff Han's straight-outta-Minority Reportmulti-touch screens. But add me to the just about endless list of folks who find the displays beyond cool -- almost like a dream about how computers should look and act. (Here's a video of Han and the screens in action.)
In this month's Fast Company, Defense Tech pal Adam Penenberg has the lowdown on how the screens came to be -- and where we might see them in the future. Not surprisingly, the Defense Department is extremely interested. Here's a snip from Adam's story:
Suppressing a smile, Han told the assembled brain trust that he rejects the idea that "we are going to introduce a whole new generation of people to computing with the standard keyboard, mouse, and Windows pointer interface." Scattering and collecting photos like so many playing cards, he added, "This is really the way we should be interacting with the machines." Applause rippled through the room. Someone whistled. Han began to feel a little bigger.
But he was far from finished. Han pulled up a two-dimensional keyboard that floated slowly across the screen. "There is no reason in this day and age that we should be conforming to a physical device," he said. "These interfaces should start conforming to us." He tapped the screen to produce dozens of fuzzy white balls, which bounced around a playing field he defined with a wave of the hand. A flick of a finger pulled down a mountainous landscape derived from satellite data, and Han began flying through it, using his fingertips to swoop down from a global perspective to a continental one, until finally he was zipping through narrow slot canyons like someone on an Xbox. He rotated his hands like a clock's, tilting the entire field of view on its axis--an F16 in a barrel roll. He ended his nine-minute presentation by drawing a puppet, which he made dance with two fingers.
But Han is doing more than just designing the next generation of computer interfaces. He's also got a pair of contracts with Darpa...
...including one involving visual odometry: Modeling his work on the brain of a honeybee, Han has been looking for ways to make a computer know where it has been and where it is going -- part of an attempt to build a flying camera that would be able to find its way over long distances. Han has also made it to the second round of a DARPA project to create an autonomous robot vehicle that can traverse terrain by learning from its own experiences. The goal: to perfect an unmanned ground combat vehicle that could operate over rough trails, in jungles or desert sand, or weave through heavy traffic as if it had a skilled driver behind the wheel.
New Army Camos: No Place to Hide?
At the middle of 2004, the Army announced that its soldiers would get a new uniform. No longer would G.I.s have keep separate outfits for desert or woodland combat. The new, "digital" Army Combat Uniform, or ACU, would be capable of blending into them all. Slateexplained how, shortly after the roll-out:
Making the ACU as invisible as possible required developing an entirely new "digital" camouflage pattern, derived from the Marine Corps' so-called "MARPAT" camo scheme, which was launched in 2001. MARPAT is pixilated—bit-mapped on a computer, and then "printed" directly onto nylon... Unlike the old camo, digital camo suggests shapes and colors without actually being shapes and colors—like visual white noise. While it may serve a hunter well to appear to be part of a tree, a contemporary soldier needs to be on the move, and so his camouflage must help him blend into the "flow of space."
But how much does it help, really? The ACU has now been in service for 18 months or so; the entire Army should be outfitted with the camos by the end of this year. Some soldiers, gathered on the AR15 website, are complaining that the "universal" cammos aren't really suited to every environment. Yeah, the outfits do a good job of hiding people in the desert and in cities, they argue. But There's very little green in the ACU's pattern, they argue. So the things stick out like a sore thumb wherever there's even a bit of vegetation.
"I just came back from a range, where there was dry sandy areas, grassy areas and a wooded area behind it. Many soldiers still had BDUs [Battle Dress Uniforms, the old green outfits] and the rest had ACUs. Throughout the day I couldn't help but notice that no matter what the backgound was, the ACU attracted the eye and stood out quite obvious, whereas the BDU really only stood out in the sandy areas. What was also quite obvious was the fact that I wasn't the only one that noticed it. From the colonel on down, there were rather drastic remarks on the uniforms ineffectiveness. Not so much bitching about durability, velco, etc., just the colors. It was obvious that at some time, some place, this garbage will get soldiers killed."
"I just returned from A-stan where we were on of the last units to be issued DCU's [the old Desert Combat Uniforms]. When the ACU's started showing up there was quite a stink about the "multi environment" claim as it stuck out badly. The SF guys would wear the "target identification cloth" (ACU) inside the wire but when on an operation would wear BDU or DCU depending where they were going. Only the office and supply pogues at Bagram thought the ACU's were the "hip" thing to wear.
Then there's the conspiracy theory. Different uniform designs were tried out, including a "multicam" pattern from Brooklyn's Crye & Associates, before the Army picked its digital camos. Some say Crye's design (see left) did a better job hiding soldiers -- but wasn't picked, regardless.
"During testing the ACU was thrown out during the first round at Natick [Soldier Systems Center]. A Multicam type of uniform had won in the final testing. As was told by Natick labs, all research was set aside... the final "choice" [was made] with absolutely no soldier feedback or testing... There are hundreds of emails and letters daily as to the ineffectiveness of the ACU. However, leadership is turning a blind eye to these very valid complaints. For what reason is unknown. Political I would guess."
UPDATE 2:17 PM: Just to be clear, there are definitely situations where the ACUs work very, very well. For instance, check out this picture David Axe took at the National Training Center last July. One soldiers' legs are practically invisible.
Darpa Preps for "Baghdad 2015"
The current TomDispatch has a great round-up of Darpa's research into the future of urban warfare. But man, do you have to put up with a lot to get to the good stuff.
The article's main thrust is that the Pentagon is readying itself for a "low-intensity world war of unlimited duration against criminalized segments of the urban poor." There's an "assumed need to be in the urban Iraqs of the future, [so] the question for the U.S. military becomes a practical one: How to deal with these uppity children of the third world."
Yeah, I'm rolling my eyes, too. Like the failed-state jihadists of the world will just go about minding their own business... if the U.S. just stays out their slums. Sure. Worked like a charm, before 9/11.
Besides, the U.S. has been fighting in cities since... well, since before there was a U.S. (George Washington tangled with the Red Coats in New York City, for example.) And we've never been all that good at it. The fact is, American armed forces have almost always preferred a stand-up fight -- an open war -- to some close-quarters, urban combat. That's what are training is oriented around. That's what our gear is made for. But the guys plotting to hurt us and our allies are in cities. So it's into urban canyons our military must go.
The article winces about American military talk of prepping for "Baghdad 2015" and urban fights of the issue fights. "Today, it's Baghdad; tomorrow...it could be Accra, Bogota, Dhaka, Karachi, Kinshasa, Lagos, Mogadishu or even a perennial favorite, Port au Prince." But given how badly "Baghdad 2007" is going, doesn't the Pentagon -- and especially, its research arms -- owe it to the rest of us to get better at those kinds of conflicts? Especially when Baghdad is only one in a long list of urban operations (Mogadishu, Srebrenica, Kabul) the U.S. has found itself in over the last few decades? Wouldn't anything less would be... well, a dereliction of duty?
Anyway. After several more paragraphs, we get to the meat of the story, on "the wide range of efforts to visualize, map out, and spy on the global mega-favelas that the U.S. has, until now, largely scorned and neglected." Most of these programs won't be new to close readers of Defense Tech. But it's interesting, and helpful, to see 'em all in one place. Items include...
VisiBuilding: This is a program aimed at addressing "a pressing need in urban warfare: seeing inside buildings" by developing technology that will allow U.S. forces to "determine building layouts, find anomalous quantities of materials," and "locate people within the building..."
UrbanScape: This program aims "to make the foreign city as ‘familiar as the soldier's backyard'" by providing "the warfighters patrolling an urban environment with an up-to-date, high resolution model of the urban terrain that can be viewed, manipulated and analyzed."
Urban Hopping Robots... a semi-autonomous hybrid hopping/articulated wheeled robotic platform [like this one, maybe -- ed.] that could adapt to the urban environment... and provide the delivery of small payloads to any point of the urban jungle while remaining lightweight, small to minimize the burden on the soldier.
Close Combat Lethal Recon This deadly, loitering explosive expressively for use in urban landscapes will expand a soldier's killing zone by reaching "over and around buildings, onto rooftops, and into open building portals." Think of it as a smart grenade or, according to DARPA Director Tether... "a small mortar round with a grenade-size explosive in it. A fiber-optic line unreels from its back end and provides the data link that allows the soldier to see the video from the munition's camera and to fly it into the target."
If it works -- and that's always a big if, when you're talking about a Darpa project -- that does sound like a nasty weapon. Not just in a city. But in any environment.
FWIW, The story leaves of of its list two of the creepiest Darpa programs geared towards urban fights. "Combat Zones That See" tries to strap cheap cameras together, giving soldiers watch over an entire city at once; the "Integrated Sensor is Structure" program aims to do the same thing -- with a giant, all-seeing blimp. And then there's Darpa's next robotic road race. It's through... a city! (Cue scary music.)
Ad: Discovery Channel's FutureWeapons and the Secret World of Military Weaponry
Discovery Channel gives viewers unprecedented access to the latest military weapons in the second season of FUTUREWEAPONS, including several that are exclusive to Discovery Channel cameras. Host and ex-Navy SEAL, Richard “Mack” Machowicz, goes to manufacturing sites around the world to test weapons, detail the science behind the hardware and explain how it gives soldiers strategic advantages during combat. FUTUREWEAPONS premieres Monday, January 15, 2007, at 9 PM (ET/PT).
Some of the exclusive weapons featured in the series include two that are currently being used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Boot Banger neutralizes car bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and the Gatecrasher breaches walls so that troops can shoot or climb through. Throughout the second season, more than 15 featured weapons will be exclusive to Discovery Channel, in addition to a look at more than 15 different weapons that are currently being used by soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“FUTUREWEAPONS gives viewers a unique perspective on wartime strategy that no one else is offering,” said Jane Root, EVP and GM of Discovery Channel, The Science Channel, Military Channel and Discovery Times Channel. “We are pulling back the curtain on 21st century weapons to bring viewers to the cutting edge of technology.”
Viewers looking for more information about Mack and the hardware featured in the series can go to readyaimfuture.com for an exclusive interactive weapons gallery, games, behind the scenes footage and a video diary where Mack discusses his favorite weapons, his experience as a Navy SEAL and his history.
In addition to a robust website with exclusive content and in-depth information, Discovery Channel’s sister network, The Military Channel, will air WEAPONOLOGY at 10 PM (ET/PT) on Mondays immediately following FUTUREWEAPONS. In this new series viewers learn about the history to develop better, faster and stronger weapons. The line of fire from basic weapon to modern super weapon is far from straight, and WEAPONOLOGY brings together the great leaps that designers have made in military technology over the last century. During the FUTUREWEAPONS broadcast, viewers will be prompted to The Military Channel for WEAPONOLOGY with in-program promos.
Behind the Army's Cash Crunch
Our Army gets $168 billion a year to train and fight. So why do its chiefs keep complaining about a cash crunch? The Wall Street Journal's Greg Jaffe explains, in maybe the best article on the subject to date.
From 1990 to 2005, the military lavished money on billion-dollar destroyers, fighter jets and missile-defense systems. Defenders of such programs say the U.S. faces a broad array of threats and must be prepared for all of them. High-tech weaponry contributed to the swift toppling of the regimes in Iraq and Afghanistan, but has been of little help in the more difficult task of stabilizing the two countries.
Of the $1.9 trillion the U.S. spent on weaponry in that period, adjusted for inflation, the Air Force received 36% and the Navy got 33%. The Army took in 16%, it says. Despite the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, both dominated by ground forces, the ratio hasn't changed significantly...
It may seem hard to believe that a country which allocated $168 billion to the Army this year -- more than twice the 2000 budget -- can't cover the costs of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the two pillars of the Army, personnel and equipment -- both built to wage high-tech, firepower-intensive wars -- are under enormous stress:
The cost of basic equipment that soldiers carry into battle -- helmets, rifles, body armor -- has more than tripled to $25,000 from $7,000 in 1999.
The cost of a Humvee, with all the added armor, guns, electronic jammers and satellite-navigational systems, has grown seven-fold to about $225,000 a vehicle from $32,000 in 2001.
The cost of paying and training troops has grown 60% to about $120,000 per soldier, up from $75,000 in 2001. On the reserve side, such costs have doubled since 2001, to about $34,000 per soldier.
At Fort Knox, Ky., the cash crunch got so bad this summer that the Army ran out of money to pay janitors who clean the classrooms where captains are taught to be commanders. So the officers, who will soon be leading 100-soldier units, clean the office toilets themselves.
"The cost of the Army is being driven up by [Iraq and Afghanistan]. That's the fundamental story here," says Brig. Gen. Andrew Twomey, a senior official on the Army staff in the Pentagon. The increased costs are "not from some wild weapons system that is off in the future. These are costs associated with current demands."
Senior Army officials concede they mistakenly assumed prior to the Iraq war that if they built a force capable of winning big conventional battles, everything else -- from counterinsurgency to peacekeeping -- would be relatively easy. "We argued in those days that if we could do the top-end skills, we could do all of the other ones," says Lt. Gen. Thomas Metz, the deputy commander of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command. Iraq has proven that guerrilla fights demand different equipment and skills. "I have had to eat a little crow," says Gen. Metz...
The Humvee stands as a metaphor for the problems the Army faces. First fielded in the early 1980s, it was designed to ferry soldiers around behind the front lines of a conventional war. In recent years, the vehicle, which troops drive on the streets of Iraq, has been modified countless times. The Army has bolted layers of armor onto it to protect troops from roadside bombs. It has added sophisticated electronic jammers, rotating turrets, bigger machine guns, satellite navigational systems and better radios.
The result is a Humvee that is much better than the version the Army took to Iraq in 2003. But the add-ons have driven up its cost. The modified vehicle is top heavy and tends to tip over at high speeds. Army officials say they can't add more weight without overwhelming the engine or breaking the axle.
"The Army recognizes that the Humvee has reached a limit of our ability to improve it for the current fight," Gen. Speakes says.
What the Army says it really needs is an all-new vehicle, designed to better withstand roadside bombs that have become part of life in Iraq. But such a vehicle likely won't be ready until 2010 or 2012, Army officials say. In the interim, the Army wants to buy something on the commercial market -- South Africa, Turkey and Australia all make alternatives. Yet it's not clear whether the Army, which is struggling to equip the current force, has the money.
Army Axing High-Tech Uniforms, "Future"
The Army made a big decision, back in October. After 15 years and a half-billion dollars in development, the service would finally take Land Warrior, its ensemble of high-tech soldier gear, to war for the first time. The collection of radios, GPS-locators, and next-generation rifle scopes wasn't perfect -- far from it. But, for infantrymen who typically don't even have a walkie-talkie, it was an important first step towards plugging the average soldier into battlefield network.
But, just six weeks later, the Army appears to have reversed itself. According to Inside Defense, service financiers have decided to kill off Land Warrior in its 2008 budget. It's one of a number of high-tech programs slated for big cuts by the Army.
The service got $17 billion less than what it wanted for its 2008 budget from the Pentagon and the White House. "Earlier in October... Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Schoomaker said if the service got less than what it needed in FY-08 it would be forced to slow the modernization of the force," Inside Defense's Dan Dupont notes. "In submitting its budget plan to Pentagon leaders last week, the Army contended that budget constraints have forced the service to take what it believes are imprudent risks in the readiness of today’s forces, as well as in its future plans."
Future Combat Systems -- the Army's plan to connect all its next-generation tanks, robots, and fighting vehicles to that battlefield network -- is also slated to take a good-sized hit.
By delaying key milestones, shifting some pieces of the program out of FCS plans and killing others, the Army believes it can save more than $3.3 billion over the next six budget years (fiscal years 2008 to 2013).
The moves would reduce the cost to field each FCS brigade combat team, but it would also push back procurement plans for BCT equipment, delaying by five years the schedule for fielding the teams, according to sources familiar with the plan.
The FCS cuts also entail the removal of some unmanned aerial vehicles from the program and the deferral of some vehicles, as well as some ammunition. The upshot of the moves would be an FCS program consisting of 14 platforms plus the network, down from the 18 envisioned today, with FCS systems to be fielded at a rate of one brigade combat team per year for fifteen years, beginning in 2015. Prior plans called for those 15 BCTs to be fielded at a rate of 1.5 per year over 10 years.
Now, just because the Army has proposed these cuts doesn't necessarily mean they are going to happen. As you may have heard, there's a new party taking over Congress. And, at least in the run-up to the elections, these guys made a lot of noise about giving the Army a boost. Then there's the new Secretary of Defense. He may be more favorably inclined to funding the Army than his predecessor was. Certainly, he seems to look kindly on the larger goal of retooling the military. Check of this exchange with Sen. Elizabeth Dole:
SEN. DOLE: Dr. Gates, the transformation efforts undertaken by Secretary Rumsfeld are critical to meeting the challenges of the 21st century. While Secretary Rumsfeld made transformation of the military a priority, obviously much remains to be done. In your view, which transformation programs are the most important and effective in fighting this war on terror?...
MR. GATES: Senator Dole, one of the things that has impressed me the most in the briefings -- the very short briefings that I've received preparatory to this hearing, is the extent of the transformation that actually has taken place in recent years, compared to when I was in government.
I can't tell you how many crisis meetings I sat through in the Situation Room over a 20-year period, and we would look at military contingencies, and we would be looking at 60 to 90 days to generate a brigade, to get a military force on the move and in place.
So the expeditionary nature of the Army, the mobility, the change in mind-set -- sometimes perhaps those of you who have been really close to it may not fully appreciate just how dramatically the situation already has changed, compared to when I was in government last.
I think that the transformation needs to continue... The two things that I think make a lot of sense has been this shift of the Army from being basically a static force to a more mobile expeditionary force. I think that's very important.
I think that the -- based on very superficial information at this point, this -- the shift from divisions to the brigade structure does make a lot of sense, and I think it provides a lot more flexibility.
I would say that one of the things that I think is very important in the transformation is continuing to strengthen our capacity to fight irregular wars. I think that's where the action is going -- is most likely to be for the foreseeable future. And so I think it's very important that it go forward.
High-Tech Uniforms Finally Heading to War
A high-tech collection of soldier gear, 15 years and half a billion dollars in the making, will finally make it into battle. The 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry has adopted the Land Warrior suite of wearable electronics, and will take it with them to Iraq when they deploy next year. It's the first time a large group of infantrymen will be tied to the combat network that's connecting so much of the military.
These days, the vasy majority of dismounted soldiers don't even have radios -- let alone the electronic mapping and messaging tools that have become commonplace in most Humvees. That'll change, once the "Manchus" of the 4/9 Infantry don the Land Warrior ensemble.
Radios and GPS locators come standard. A helmet-mounted monocle lets the soldier know he and his buddies are on a satellite-powered map. That same monocle is connected to the weapon sight, so the infantryman can, in effect, shoot around corners. The sight also serves as a long-range zoom, with twelve times amplification. "It makes every rifleman a marksman," Colonel Richard Hansen, Land Warrior's project manager, crows. Night vision, and laser targeting – which once required clunky binoculars, or attachments to the gun -- are now built in, too.
Getting this kind of gear out to troops has taken just about forever. First proposed in 1991, Land Warior went through one clunky, next-to-useless iteration after the next. One cost $85,000, and weighed over 40 pounds. Another was way too fragile for combat. Even this version 3.0 (now down to 12 pounds and $30,000 each) has had a bunch of weight, security, and usability issues.
The concerns were so great that the original vision -- giving every soldier a full set of high-tech gear -- has been scrapped. For now, only Manchu team leaders will get the entire Land Warrior ensemble, Col. Hansen tells Defense Tech. Regular riflemen will be equipped with GPS beacons, to let their sergeants and lieutennants know where they are.
It's a small step. But a significant one.
UPDATE 12:10 pm: I was out with the Manchus at Ft. Lewis, WA, when they were testing out the Land Warrior gear. I'll have a complete run-down of what I found in an upcoming issue of Popular Mechanics.
"Own the Night... and Share It"
An eagle-eyed reader points us to an interesting-looking Darpa program that could tip the night vision equation back in America's favor. If it gets beyond the goofy video stage, that is.
The goal of the Multispectral Adaptive Networked Tactical Imaging System (MANTIS) project is to combine images from three slices of the spectrum -- short wave infrared (SWIR), long wave infrared (LWIR), and visible light -- into a single view.
“The SWIR sensor operates in the 1- to 2-micron range, providing low light performance, a primary image and scene context with the ability to see through fog,” MANTIS manager Jeffrey Paul tells Signal magazine. “The LWIR camera operates in the 8- to 12-micron range, and as a thermal imager needs no light; it penetrates smoke and dust and can find partially hidden targets. All of these bandwidths can be digitally imaged. Once that occurs, we can do whatever we want with the imagery in real time, including fusing it to use that one best image to present to the soldier.”
In that way, MANTIS would be similar to other image fusing projects that the military is currently investigating. MANTIS' twist is that the combined image is then supposed to be beamed wirelessly to the helmet visor of every soldier in a squad, "so that each person sees what every other person sees."
"We also have a TiVo-like record and playback capability so that the last 10 seconds can be called up and played again. Digital information and high-speed processors handle these functions and connect them over the network to enable image sharing,” Paul maintains. “MANTIS also uses inertial navigation and global positioning system receivers so that each soldier will precisely know his location and the processor will know where he is looking at all times, his fields of vision and of fire."
OK, OK. So it all sounds a little far-fetched. And I'm sure MANTIS suffers from all the same limitations discussed here. But there do seem to be some prototypes floating around, at least. And the system is scheduled to make the transition from Darpa to the Army at the end of this year.
Nex-Gen Night Vision Still Fuzzy
Night vision gear gave U.S. forces a huge leg up in the first Gulf War. But these days, anyone can buy see-in-the-dark goggles for a few hundred bucks, online.
So military research labs [are] push[ing] to give U.S. war fighters nighttime optics that are several steps ahead of what can be bought at any hunting and fishing store, or duplicated by foreign militaries," National Defense magazine notes.
At the top of the want list is a system that fuses both 'image enhancement,' which relies on ambient light, and infrared capabilities.
Infrared does not rely on ambient light, as does image enhancement, which emits the technology’s characteristic green glow. Laying infrared over the image will help operators see camouflaged targets and give them better contrast, experts said. “If you turn on that fused system, the red will pop out at you, and you can react very quickly,” said Elizabeth Redden, chief of the human research and engineering directorate field element at the U.S. Army Infantry Center at Fort Benning, Ga.
However, military researchers are grappling with several challenges to create this fusion. Helicopter pilots, for example, cannot use infrared sensors through windshields, noted Chief Warrant Officer Wade Fox, an adviser to the night vision devices branch at the Army 110th aviation brigade, Fort Rucker, Ala. “A fused system is really where we want to go.”
Such a system could still be used by crewmembers like door gunners who can stick their heads outside windows. For pilots, an infrared sensor could be mounted outside the cockpit, and the imaged fused on a helmet-mounted device. However, external cameras can create distortion caused by viewing the same object from two different angles, also known as a parallax effect, which makes it difficult to maneuver.
No Blood for... Solar Power?
Last Thursday, the Christian Science Monitorreported on an unusual memo from the staff of Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Richard Zilmer, the highest-ranking Marine officer in Iraq’s troubled Anbar Province. According to the Monitor, and to more comprehensive treatments in Inside Defense and Defense Industry Daily, Zilmer asked the Pentagon to find a way to get "solar panels and wind turbines" into the hands of his troops. Without access to renewable energy solutions, Zilmer expects to see "continued casualty accumulation [which] exhibits potential to jeopardize mission success."
Say what?
The article in the Monitor suggests two different ways in which solar- and wind-powered generators for isolated outposts would reduce U.S. casualties. The first is that "despite desert temperatures, the hot 'thermal signature' of a diesel generator can call enemy attention to U.S. outposts." How, exactly, an array of solar panels and wind turbines would make U.S. troops less conspicuous in a country bristling with diesel generators is left unclear.
The second argument holds more water. As hard as it is to believe, diesel and other refined petroleum products are actually imported into Iraq by truck, largely from Turkey. And fuel convoys – not to mention the U.S. troops riding in them – are some of the most tempting targets to insurgents: in August 2005, for example, the Army 1st Corps Support Command alone was reporting 30 IED attacks a week.
All that fuel convoyin' costs not only lives, but money, too. Military estimates for the cost of one gallon of generator fuel delivered to a unit at a forward position range from $100 to $400. This is a problem.
(If you’re curious to know how they get those types of numbers for a single gallon of fuel, take a gander at this LMI presentation, from 2004, which cranks out an estimate of $3 per kilowatt-frickin'-hour – or about $120 per gallon of fuel consumed – on the battlefield, compared to $0.40/kWh ($16/gallon) to run those same generators stateside. If this stateside number seems high, too, remember that the number represents all costs associated with turning that gallon of fuel into useful energy, including personnel costs, equipment depreciation, and so on.)
Still, that price tag looks a lot less scary when you keep in mind the absurd cost of running a diesel generator on the battlefield. According to the Monitor, Zilmer’s memo estimated that a system like SkyBuilt’s would pay for itself in three to five years.
That, of course, is probably why In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s own venture-cap firm, is one of SkyBuilt’s big backers.
Part of the logistics crunch which is feeding those convoy casualty rates has more to do with inept planning than with a lack of available technology. In February 2006, the engineering journal IEEE Spectrum published a must-read article describing how diesel fuel is trucked in from Turkey to power Baghdad’s main power station, even while the natural gas which could power the same turbines, if the appropriate equipment were installed, is flared off as waste at an oilfield across the street.
Obviously, renewable energy isn't going to solve problems on the scale of Iraq's FUBARed power grid, nor will it solve problems that are really about planning, and not technology. And just as obviously, there's no mature technology out there ready to take the place of every diesel generator and internal combustion engine in the U.S. armory.
Since I wrote those words, I'm glad to say that there's been allsorts of movement on this front. And the publicity garnered by Zilmer’s memo can only help matters along.
So next time you hear about a company that’s developing better solar cells, or more efficient wind turbines, pay attention. They’re not just Mother Nature’s best friends – they may well be a jarhead's best friend.
It's called the Chimera and it's designed for infiltration and exfiltration of Special Forces. The two-seater buggy has unique capabilities: it can be dropped from high altitude, fly stealthily a few dozen miles under its own power and land on a postage stamp. Pack away the parafoil and it's a ground vehicle capable of 60 mph.
After the job is done comes the clever part. With fifty yards of rough track it can get airborne again and head back.
Looked at one way, it's an extension of existing tactics. Special Forces have long jumped with motorbikes or other vehicles to give them added mobility. Atair, who make the Chimera, once rigged up gear for Swedish Special Forces to jump with their 1400lb snowmobiles - in fact they have a whole range of powered and unpowered parafoils for tactical use.
Looked at another way, it's a genuine, practical flying car you can park in your garage. Not just an off-roader, it's an off-off-roader, capable of crossing rivers, jungles, swamps, ravines...or traffic snarl-ups. Even if it only flies at 40 mph, that's about 39.5 mph faster than you can travel at street level.
I can't see them ever being allowed for urban commuting, but this would be something like the ultimate fun vehicle for cross-country trips.
(John Cleese voice:) "Do try and bring it back in one piece, 007..."
Active radar signals, due to those pesky laws of physics, are generally easy to detect. Because a radar system emits a powerful beam of electromagnetic radiation, traditionally in a very narrow frequency band, an adversary equipped with only a passive radiation detector can easily zero in on the platform carrying the radar.
For decades the military has been searching for a less visible (and vulnerable) "low probability of intercept" (LPI) radar. This June, Ohio State University’s ElectroScience Laboratory claimed that its engineers—led by Dr. Eric K. Walton—had succeeded and "invented a radar system that is virtually undetectable."
A flurry of fawningpresscoverage followed. Even Dr. Walton, though, acknowledges that he did not invent noise radar, as the technology is called—it was first proposed in the 1950s. He did, however, receive the first patent for the technology earlier this year. Heavy signal-processing requirements kept noise radars in the lab for decades, but they have finally proved feasible (and, according to Walton, cheap—he claims around $100 per unit).
And they probably are undetectable—by typical radar detectors.
Typical radar signals are high-power, narrowly focused pulses;* each signal is extremely short. Most radars can’t send and receive at the same time, so immediately after a pulse is sent out the radar switches to listening mode and strains to hear the pulses’s echo. Incidentally, this makes them farsighted—-they can’t see objects up close.
To detect these radar signals, an adversary can simply sweep his field of view searching for high-powered pulses that are narrowly focused at a single frequency. Since radar signals cannot be perfectly focused and are not constrained like lasers—the beams become larger as they travel, to form a cone—this is easier than it might sound.
Engineers have developed new techniques to make detection more difficult. For example, frequency-hopping radars move each chirp to a different frequency (the F-22 radar system reportedly does this), while spread-spectrum (radars and radios) use a (small) band of frequencies simultaneously. The signals are still extremely powerful compared to background noise, though, and are relatively easy to find with the simple detectors mentioned above.
Noise radar is different in two main ways. Like spread-spectrum radar, it spreads its signal over a band of frequencies, but the band is about 1,000 times wider than most spread-spectrum technologies. Furthermore, the signal is also shaped to look like noise—the radio equivalent of ants racing on a TV screen.
The wide band of frequencies has several advantages. Different frequencies interact with different materials in different ways—basically, using an ultra-wideband (UWB) signal allows you to see through walls, trees, rock, and many other obstacles if the signal is well constructed.
More relevant to this discussion, UWB noise radar signals also spread their power out over the different frequencies; the result is that traditional detectors, searching for very powerful signals near a particular frequency won’t see noise radar. They will just "hear" more static.
And since the noise radar signal is shaped like, well, noise, it would also be hard—if not impossible—to find it by looking for a pattern in the chaos. The noise radar can only detect its own returned signal by first recording it, then comparing a time-delayed version of the recording to what it hears reflected back. (This characteristic also means noise radars detect in "rings" -- the simplest version would detect movement only at a fixed radius from the radar, but it is possible to scan many "rings" very quickly for a more complete picture. The computing requirements for this type of scanning make placing noise radars on fast-moving platforms impractical for now, but they would make exceptionally good proximity detectors, for example.)
Because of their UWB signals, noise radars work best by looking for specific targets -- they must incorporate some knowledge of what a specific target’s reflection will look like. They would have great difficulty detecting an unforeseen obstacle—without prior knowledge of what its reflection would look like, the noise radar would probably just see right through it.
The best way for an adversary to detect a noise radar would be to search, directionally, for sources of UWB noise. The key question here is how "loud" the radar’s noise would be, compared to background sources like the sun, the galactic center, local power lines, battlefield electronics, etc. Noise radars could be constructed in any number of different ways, and the signal could also be endlessly changed for different applications; lacking specific data, it is hard to speculate on how difficult they will be to detect with this technique.
From what we know now, the "undetectable" claim is something of a stretch, but these radars will almost certainly find uses. They do not interfere with each other or nearby electronics (which are designed to filter out noise), and they can see through walls. If ever used in a military capacity, they would likely force a change in radar detection and seeking technologies. It might cost the Pentagon a pretty penny to detect these new toys, but undetectable radars are probably still a long way off.
*UPDATE: Thanks to Rutty for the clarification. I originally wrote "chirps" here rather than pulses, which was incorrect. "Chirping" in this context refers to a popular type of signal modulation often used in radars--it ultimately allows for greater resolution.
Set Cammos to Vibrate
I think we can all agree a vibrating cell phone in your pocket means good times. Now imagine the same buzzing sensation across your entire body, communicating tactical data. A tap here could mean a bad guy approaching; a pulse there, someone more friendly. That's what the Navy is aiming for, in its next line of 'combat attire'.
There's an old English saying that "too many technologies interfere with operations and reduce the overall effectiveness of the soldier already overloaded by audio-visual cues" - and I think it applies here. Marines and soldiers are receiving more information than ever and could soon be in danger of overload -- even before they get the next-gen, fully-wired cammos.
So how to get around the processing jam? Some folks in Florida think the tongue could be the key. The Navy, on the other hand, is placing its bets on haptics -- the skin's sense of touch. So the service is on the look-out for:
"(an) unobtrusive, real time, bi-directional communication system that can be embedded in the combat attire of the counter-terrorism dismount warfighter for the capture of individual location and action information with subsequent presentation to the unit commander and other team members via the tactile modality".
"If the unit commander has the information about which team members are walking, running, standing, prone, kneeling, and/or firing weapons, he will be able to make well informed critical decisions based on a significantly better understanding of the situation at any given time. Even with the lack of physiological monitoring, these data could indicate potential causalities (e.g., prone, no movement, not firing). Additionally, direction of enemy, ammunition depletion, and severity of enemy engagements could be ascertained."
In other words, it may soon be possible for budding Bene Gesserits, with appropriate training, to receive volumes of material via the sensitive parts of the body. Depending on location, thermal and/or pressure switches could transmit every command a unit leader could wish for. Exporting the data into existing virtual environments would allow exact replications of operations to take place - an obvious bonus for training.
Robert Lindeman has been working in the field for the past several years and has succesfully tested both a basic "vibrotactile" armband "sending simple signals to dismounted infantry during live-fire exercises on an obstacle course" and "upper-body vibrotactile feedback system for training Marines in building clearing exercises in VR". The 'Tactavest' relays cues via bluetooth to a central controlling 'TactaBox' which activates the necessary stimuli to orient the user - Tacterrific, you'll agree.
Personally, I think my underpants would provide their own haptic/olfactory warning to my 'battle buddies' in a combat situation. So, for now, I'll pass on haptics, thanks all the same.
-- Steven Snell
Marines Ban Under Armour
I couldn't even begin to count the number of soldiers and marines I've met who wear those wicking, Under Armour t-shirts. Especially in hot weather, the form-fitting, synethic shirts do a nice job of keeping sweat from collecting, so you don't get too clammy under those cammos.
Marines conducting operations outside forward operating bases and camps in Iraq can no longer wear synthetic athletic clothing containing polyester and nylon, Marine Corps commanders have ordered.
The ban on popular clothing from companies like Under Armour, CoolMax and Nike comes in the wake of concerns that a substantial burn risk is associated with wearing clothing made with these synthetic materials, officials said.
When exposed to extreme heat and flames, clothing containing some synthetic materials like polyester will melt and can fuse to the skin. This essentially creates a second skin and can lead to horrific, disfiguring burns, said Navy Capt. Lynn E. Welling, the 1st Marine Logistics Group head surgeon.
Whether on foot patrol or conducting a supply convoy while riding in an armored truck, everyone is at risk to such injuries while outside the wire.
Under Armour has been aware of the risk for a while, it seems. As Stars & Stripesnotes, there's a message on the company's web site which reads:
Do not wear Under Armour products when exposed to extreme radiant heat or open flames. Under Armour products may melt in extreme heat that exceeds 350°F. Never use Under Armour products as a substitute for flame-retardant or ballistic protective equipment.
Back in October, the Marines announced a new set of official skivvie shirts that were just "like the Under Armour shirts."
Through the Company Grade Officer Initiative, the directorate funded the integration of the heaters into a vest.
The lightweight, easy-to-use prototype combines a standard work vest with two of Vacca Inc.'s biofuel-powered heaters in the two front panels of the vest.
Using fuel cell concepts developed at Los Alamos National Laboratories, Vacca Inc. developed heaters that work by passing methanol or ethanol across a catalyst membrane. The reaction byproducts are heat, carbon dioxide, and small traces of water.
The prototype weighs dramatically less, at only 12 ounces, than the 1.7-pound commercial products on the market today and has the potential to weigh eight ounces in future designs.
And
Commercially-introduced lithium ion heated jackets provide heat for two and a half to three hours before recharging the battery.
In contrast, Vacca Inc.'s prototype, can last 22 hours with 100 cubic centimeters of fuel in low heat mode (22 Watt) and 12 hours in high heat mode (42 Watt) according to the company's final report.
The vest's internal fuel supply has high/low/off settings for increased control.
Both the vest and fuel are much more affordable to the Department of the Defense compared to the available commercial products.
The vests are projected to cost less than half of what current commercial solutions cost and could be ready to launch by 2007.
He spent way, waytoo much time watching an awful, sports-themed porno called Blowin' the Whistle. But my college housemate Chris will be forever rad in my book. Because he would jump out of planes at 35,000 feet or higher -- braving sub-zero temperatures, sucking on oxygen tanks, free falling for minutes at a time. And then, when he'd finally splash down, he'd go rescue sailors and astronauts lost at sea.
All that was brutal, of course. But there was an equally large danger looming – that he'd miss his target entirely. You see, guys like Chris, doing HALO (High Altitude Low Opening) and HAHO (High Altitude High Opening) jumps, have to leap out of their planes during fog and rain and woolly-thick cloud cover. All of which makes it awfully tough to stick a target.
A new set of gadgets being developed at the Army's Natick Soldier Systems Center should help the Chrises of the world. The Military Free Fall Navigation System connects GPS guidance controls to a helmet heads-up display – "a tiny TV-like display mounted to one side of [a] goggle," Natick says. All of that is then plugged in to a PDA-based mission planner, which can recalculate drop zones and redirect parachutes in the sky, based on wind speed and direction. Natick hopes to field a prototype by 2006.
THERE'S MORE: The navigation system for jumpers runs off of many of the same technologies being used to make precision cargo airdrops. Defense Tech previewed that system – called, no joke, the "Sherpa" – here.
The key word here is "uniform." Sailors have long had a variety of working outfits. The Navy Working Uniform is an attempt to put everyone in the same clothes, the Navy News Service says.
The Navy Working Uniform is being designed to take the place of utilities, wash khaki, coveralls, woodland green, aviation green, winter working blue and tropical working uniforms. The normal wear life is designed to last up to 18 months, compared to the current wear life of six months for the working uniform.
The working uniform design is not intended to camouflage Sailors against the background of a ship. Instead, the multiple colors on the uniform - navy blue, deck gray, haze gray and black - are common in the maritime working environment, making them a more practical choice.
“What we have heard from Sailors aboard ship is if they get a small spot of paint or grease on a pair of solid-color utilities or coveralls, it’s easily visible and detracts from the uniform’s appearance,” Scott said. “With the Navy Working Uniform’s multicolor pattern, a small spot or stain may be almost entirely unnoticeable.”
Another positive aspect of a multicolor pattern is that wrinkles caused by daily wear would be less visible, and the new uniforms will be wash and wear with no ironing required.
There's good news for the Navy's gadget freaks, too. Sailors in working uniforms will will now be able to wear cell phones and PDAs, Gizmodo notes. Lady gadget freaks are especially psyched. Skirts are now optional "for the first time since women officially entered the service in 1908," the AP reports.
GAMERS GET ARMY'S NEW DUDS
Soldiers in the field won't see the next generation of combat uniforms until 2007, at the earliest. But videogamers can check out the "Future Force Warrior" gear right now, in the latest Tom Clancy digital adventure. Players can strap on the FFW helmet, with night-vision sights, radio antennae, and bone-conducting microphones built in. They can drink out a new-fangled, "on-the-move" hydration system. And, of course, they can blast away, with the ultra-slick M29 rifle -- the one with the mounted camera, laser target designator, and grenade launcher built in. There's no word, yet, on whether gamers will be able to use FFW's extended, unisex zipper and expanded butt-flap, which allow G.I. Janes to tinkle without "literally being caught with their pants down," explains an FFW program manager.
THE POETRY OF AL JAZEERA
A DARPA-backed project is now giving real-time translations of Al Jazeera and other Arabic-language TV channels.
But like just about every voice-recognition program, this one is buggy.
"In a demonstration the company recently conducted over the Web, the system produced somewhat cryptic English sentences that gave the viewer an extremely rough idea of what the Al Jazeera newscasters were describing," reports the New York Times' John Markoff.
It's the kind of proposal that makes sci-fi dorks (including this one) quiver with anticipation: a 1999 design, found by DefenseReview, for a real-life laser rifle.
So when I read about the far-out sounding "Gasdynamic Laser Weapon" on Slashdot, I fell for it.
Without reading too carefully, I bought the gobbledygook about the Stavatti Corporation using streams of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and helium gases to help generate pulses of laser light. And I swallowed when I called the company, and was told the president was out of town, looking for government funding.
But Defense Tech's readers are smarter than its editor, and they immediately called bullshit.
"Looks like an April Fool's gag," is how several readers described the rifle design.
"A very elaborate gag," added another. "Obviously written by an insider."
A third noted newsgroup posts from 2002 calling Stavatti's designs for an "F-26" airplane into question.
But the kicker came from Stavatti's own website:
The company is the first in history to double as a drum maker and a defense contractor, you see.
Stavatti Percussion conducts the retail sale of percussion products Stavattiís founder and current CEO, Christopher R. Beskar, plays the bagpipes. Early in his piping career, Mr. Beskar joined a bagpipe band. This band was in need of drummers to play the snare in accompaniment of the pipes. Mr. Beskarís brother Shawn joined the band and became an accomplished pipe band snare drummer capable of Grade 2 competition while yet in High School. Later on, Shawn became CFO of Stavatti. While serving as CFO, Shawn began marketing Premier Pipe Band Products under a business entity designated DSDC.
DSDC focused exclusively on the sale of high performance pipe band drums and accessory products. Reselling Snares, Bass and Tenor drums to pipe bands throughout the Midwest, in 1996 DSDC became a division of Stavatti Corporation known as Stavatti Percussion.
Concentrating upon the value added resale of pipe band percussion products, Stavatti can address all your pipe band drumming needs!
And Stavatti doesn't just design any weapons. "Stavatti builds space fighters," the company website says.
"We know what threats are out there. A 9mm just wonít cut it when you are facing 30 ft tall insectoids, or the reptile alien overlords from Rigel."
To battle these baddies, of course, you need a laser rifle.
THERE'S MORE: Stavatti CEO Chris Baskar insists his company is legit. But he can't produce a single customer for his high-tech arms buisiness.
In a phone interview from a Virgina hotel room, Baskar claims that he has "60 people in the company." But when pressed, he admits that all but three "are essentially assisting on a pro bono basis."
He also says he sees nothing wrong with a company trying market laser rifles and drums at the same time. Yamaha, he notes, makes drums, pianos -- and motorocycles, too.
What about the statements on his site about using his Stavatti guns to stop "alien overlords"?
"It indicates a little bit of classified work," he replies. "Other than that, it's humor."
AIR FORCE PROGRAM MAY LET PILOTS SEE IN SANDSTORMS
Nature accomplished earlier this week what Iraq's Republican Guard could not: Blinding sandstorms paralyzed the American air campaign, grounding helicopters and cutting bombing runs by as much as 85 percent in some areas.
But there's an Air Force program in the works that may enable pilots to plow through just about any foe -- even an Iraqi sandstorm.
The solution is an onboard computer that digitally renders the pilots' surroundings when they can't rely on the real one to guide them. It's called "synthetic vision," and its backers are promising that the system will let pilots see in nasty weather, just like night-vision goggles let troopers roam around in the dark.
THERE'S MORE: An Air Force source believes that synthetic vision will be used more for drones than for manned aircraft. Seeing through a UAV's eyes is already tough; using them in a sandstorm is pretty much impossible. But operating a UAV while looking at a rendered world? That could work.
Defense Tech news usually consists of whiz-bang gear bordering on science fiction. But sometimes new equipment doesn't have to sound like something out of Star Trek to make a transformational-ish change on the battlefield.
It's all about the Army's new-ish combat uniform -- and how soldiers don't like the velcro on the ensemble. Which is kind of interesting, I suppose. But you'd think the fact that 
The first 
Robot Economist is 
In this month's 
Then there's the conspiracy theory. Different uniform designs were tried out, including a "
The article's main thrust is that the Pentagon is readying itself for a "low-intensity world war of unlimited duration against criminalized segments of the urban poor." There's an "assumed need to be in the urban Iraqs of the future, [so] the question for the U.S. military becomes a practical one: How to deal with these uppity children of the third world."
But, just six weeks later, the Army appears to have reversed itself. According to 
The goal of the Multispectral Adaptive Networked Tactical Imaging System (
So military research labs [are] push[ing] to give U.S. war fighters 
The article in the 
For decades the military has been searching for a less visible (and vulnerable) "low probability of intercept" (LPI) radar. This June, Ohio State University’s 
There's an old English saying that "too many technologies interfere with operations and reduce the overall effectiveness of the soldier already overloaded by audio-visual cues" - and I think it applies here. Marines and soldiers are receiving 
I couldn't even begin to count the number of soldiers and marines I've met who wear those wicking, 
The lightweight, easy-to-use prototype combines a standard work vest with two of Vacca Inc.'s biofuel-powered heaters in the two front panels of the vest.
All that was brutal, of course. But there was an equally large danger looming – that he'd miss his target entirely. You see, guys like Chris, doing 
After months after the Army 
Soldiers in the field won't see the 
