The Robotic Grenade Sees All

The Robotic Grenade Sees All

August 29, 2011: After years of use by police (especially SWAT teams) and some special operations units, the U.S. Army is buying 2,000 small robots designed to be thrown into a dark room or cave, and then move around while transmitting video and sound.

For a long time, the concept of tossing small combat robots into a room, and letting them broadcast back video of what's there, never seemed to work. Partly because the small robots never got small enough to toss, or robust enough to work once they landed. That problem was solved in the last five years with the development of the Recon Scout IR, a small (18.6cm /7.4 inches wide, weighing 540 gr/1.2 pounds) robot. It's basically two wheels with a thick axel containing a battery and electronics. The infrared camera can see about 8 meters (25 feet), while the day cam can see much farther. The night camera turns on automatically when it becomes too dark for the day camera.

The Recon Scout IR can transmit its images 30 (93 feet) meters from inside a building, and three times that outside. It moves at a speed of about 30 cm (one foot) per second, and can survive being dropped about nine meters onto a hard surface. The controller weighs less than 900 gr (two pounds) and has a 88mm (3.5 inch), 640x480 pixel screen. The Recon Scout IR is maneuvered using video game like controls.

To use the Recon Scout IR, you attach two antennae to the device, pull a pin to activate it, and then throw. The controller starts receiving transmissions as soon as the pin is pulled. Battery life depends on how much you move the device around, but it's good for 10-15 minutes of movement, more than enough to check out a large area before sending the troops in.

The Recon Scout IR sold mainly to law enforcement (SWAT teams in particular), but some military Special Operations organizations bought it as well. Recon Scout IR systems cost about $8,000. A more rugged model, the Recon Scout XT is a little larger (20.3 cm/8 inches wide and weighing 590 gr/1.3 pounds) and has claws attached to its two wheels, enabling it to maneuver better in broken terrain. The XT model is designed to be thrown (much like a grenade) up to 40 meters (120 feet) and is more rugged. It is meant to operate in a more violent environment and outdoors. These XT models cost about $15,000 each.

Bomb Jammer As Improvised Explosive Devices Evolve, Soldiers Work to Find New Methods to Detect Them

Bomb Jammers

Bomb Jammer As Improvised Explosive Devices Evolve, Soldiers Work to Find New Methods to Detect Them

GPS Jammers

2011-7-11 14:27:00

Wifi Jammers

FORWARD OPERATING BASE DWYER, AfghanistanU.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, visiting troops in southern Afghanistan, saw how the art of detecting burIED Bomb explosive devices has changed little, in some ways, since his Army days despite the billions of dollars spent by the Pentagon to improve bomb detection.

During a visit to Forward Operating Base Dwyer in Helmand province, Mr. Panetta, 73 years old, witnessed a group of Afghan soldiers training with long, crudely constructed bamboo poles with hooks at one end, scraping through a dirt field to find and destroy improvised explosive devices, or IED Bombs.

The sight reminded Mr. Panetta of when he served as an Army intelligence officer from 1964 to 1966. "When I was in the Army, you used to do that by bayonet," he said.

The IED Bombs planted today by Taliban insurgents in southern Afghanistan are far more powerful and sophisticated than the mines that troops faced in the 1960s, officials say. Commanders at the base told Mr. Panetta that insurgents use pressure-sensitive plates, wall-mounted explosives and remote-controlled devices to try to kill U.S. and Afghan forces on patrol.

IED Bombs planted by the Taliban are responsible for most U.S. casualties in Afghanistan. Mr. Panetta's predecessor at the Pentagon, Robert Gates, invested heavily in new technologies to try to minimize the threat. The military now uses specially designed armored vehicles to protect troops, sophisticated CTS Jammerss to block radio signals, as well as drone aircraft to spot insurgents planting explosives.

In Iraq, much of the investment fighting IED Bombs went into CTS Jammerss, which blocked radio signals that set off bombs. As a result, most bombs are now set off by pressure plates or command wires. CTS Jammerss are ineffective against those trigger methods, forcing the military to place more emphasis on spotting bombs before they are triggered.

At Dwyer, the Afghan trainees used the bamboo poles to feel at a distance for the telltale signs of an IED Bomb, such as protruding wires.

The bamboo-pole contraption was the brainchild of a U.S. Marine, whom commanders at Dwyer identifIED Bomb as Gunnery Sgt. Holly, who served in Helmand and was subsequently killed in an incident unrelated to his work with IED Bombs.

The 10-to-15-foot bamboo poles, referred to as the "Holly Stick," caught on fast among troops. Since they were put into widespread use in the area, IED Bomb "find rates" have increased by 35%, said Col. David Furness. He attributed the improvement to the methodical pace at which the hooks or sickles are used to scrape the earth.

Handlers feel for possible IED Bombs using the hook. A soft patch in the dirt is a sign the earth had recently been moved, an indicator that an explosive device may be burIED Bomb below.

A Pentagon body tasked with developing IED Bomb defenses is now making a U.S.-manufactured version of the Holly Stick that will be retractable so it can be carrIED Bomb more easily by foot soldiers, the defense secretary was told.

Mr. Panetta sounded impressed. "It's a good idea," he said.

During his two-day visit to Afghanistan, Mr. Panetta met with President Hamid Karzai and other top Afghan officials, as well as top U.S. commanders.

Mr. Panetta said he emerged convinced "we are on the right path" towards the goal of transferring full security responsibility to the Afghans by the end of 2014.

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The Secret Weapon In Libya

The Secret Weapon In Libya

August 6, 2011: A key element in providing effective ground support for rebel fighters in Libya has been AWACS air control aircraft. Normally used to track friendly and enemy aircraft over a combat zone, AWACS has also proved useful as a radio relay, to quickly connect fighter-bombers over Libya with NATO headquarters in Italy and rebel headquarters in eastern Libya, to insure that the target being bombed is not a rebel unit.

Back in March, NATO decided to have an AWACS radar aircraft monitoring Libyan airspace 24/7. The AWACS can fly over international waters and still monitor air activity several hundred kilometers into Libya. This was crucial to maintain the no-fly zone established over the Libyan coastal area (where most of the population lives). AWACS can spot Libyan aircraft taking off, and call in fighters to deal with that problem before the Libyan warplanes can get very far. In addition, AWACS monitors friendly aircraft, to prevent collisions, and to help fighters reach tankers faster.

This is not the first time AWACS has proved itself useful in a multitude of ways. For example, two years ago, Turkey allowed NATO to station four AWACS aircraft at an airbase in Turkey. This made it possible to keep an AWACs in the air over Afghanistan 24/7 (or as close to that as possible). Afghanistan has never had a nationwide air-traffic control system. That was largely because there was never enough aircraft flying around to justify it. As the economy keeps growing, and more U.S. and NATO transports and warplanes are out and about, air traffic control has become a growing problem. All those radar blocking hills and high mountains don't help either. So NATO decided to bring in some of their AWACS (which don't get much work since the end of the Cold War) and play aerial traffic cop over Afghanistan. The AWACs can also keep track of any unscheduled air service being used for the drug gangs or the Taliban, or whoever. NATO sent 300 aircrew and ground support to Turkey as well. The AWACS radar can track over a hundred aircraft, within a 400 kilometer radius.
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German Sniper Detectors

German Sniper Detectors

August 3, 2011: German firm Rheinmetall has developed a new vehicle-mounted acoustic sniper detection system. Called ASLS (Acoustic Shooter Locating System), this is continuation of over a decade of effort by Rheinmetall, and other firms, to perfect this kind of technology. American firms, for obvious reasons, have been taking the lead in this effort.

One of the first, and most useful, of these systems was Boomerang. Back in 2004, it was developed in a few months, in response to a U.S. Department of Defense request for an affordable acoustic sniper detector. Testing delayed it from entering immediately. Boomerang was mounted on vehicles, has been around for five years now, and costs about $5,000 each. Boomerang was effective enough to get orders for over 10,000 units, and lots of use from the troops who had it. There were two major upgrades, prolonging the service life of the system.

Acoustic gunfire (sniper) detectors have been in the field for over a decade, and have gotten better each year. Over 60,000 sniper detectors have been shipped to Iraq and Afghanistan, where they have been increasingly useful. Sniper detection systems provide directional information about where the snipers are. Several generations of these systems have showed up over the last decade. The usefulness of these anti-sniper systems has increased as the manufacturers have decreased the number of false alarms, and improved the user interface. There are other reasons for all this progress, including major advances in computing power, sensor quality and software development. One of the latest, and most useful, improvements is providing nearly instant, and easy to comprehend, location info on the sniper.

British, American, French and Israeli manufacturers have produced most of these systems, which are also sold to police organizations. The systems have varied greatly in capabilities, and price. Some of the first ones cost over $200,000, but prices have been dropping rapidly over the last five years, as the technology matured.

An example of the constant new tech is SWATS (Soldier Worn Acoustic Targeting Systems). Earlier this year U.S. Army infantry in Afghanistan have begun receiving SWATS sniper detectors. About 1,500 a month will be delivered through the end of the year. These 183 g (6.4 ounce) devices come in two pieces. One is the sensor, which is worn on the shoulder, while the cell phone size controller, with small LCD display, is worn in front, where it can be quickly glanced at. SWATS calculates (from the sound weapon fired) direction of fire in a tenth of a second. SWATS has been very popular with troops, and cost about $2,000 each. SWATS can also be mounted on vehicles, and still work when the vehicle is moving at speeds of 80 kilometers an hour or more.

As the capability and reliability of these devices has improved, the troops have come to depend on sniper detectors. Last year, 4,500 American troops were shot (most were wounded) by gunfire in Afghanistan. Without sniper detectors, there would be more such casualties. That's because, with a sniper detector, troops can quickly turn on the enemy shooter and deliver accurate fire of their own. American infantry are much more accurate shooters than your average Taliban gunman. That first shot from the Taliban usually misses, which is even more likely when American infantry return fire. SWATS is more accurate and reliable than earlier gunfire detectors, as are most of the new models being introduced.
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