Military Tech

(Credit: GAO)

Soaring cost estimates for protecting US borders against nuclear smuggling arrived at by the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) are unreliable and could result in "significant" overruns, according to a Government Accounting Agency (GAO) report.

How significant? The projected cost to implement the Radiation Portal Monitor Program has gone from $399 million in 2003, when the Customs and Border Protection was in charge of the project, to $1.3 billion when DNDO took over in 2005. In 2007 the cost of equipping US ports with portal monitors was $1.7 billion. It's now $2.1 billion. But this latest estimate fails to take into account several major "cost elements". The true cost will be about $3.1 billion, but could go as high as $3.8 billion, according to the GAO.

DNDO did not follow Department of Homeland Security cost-estimating methodology or bother to document the estimating approach it did use, according to GAO. Further, when the GAO requested detailed documentation of DNDO's billion dollar portal monitor strategy, all it received was a one page spreadsheet of summary information, the report notes.(pdf)

Some of the price increase kicked in when DNDO sponsored the development of the next-generation, advanced spectroscopic portal (ASP.) These new portals not only detect radioactive material but also identify the source, thereby minimizing missed threats and greatly reducing false alarms, according to DNDO. The cost of these units has nearly doubled from around $576,400 to $800,000.

This is not first time GAO, (the nonpartisan audit and investigative arm of Congress,) has come down on DNDO, a relatively new agency establishment under the aegis of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2005.

In 2007, the government watchdog accused the office of using biased methods to enhance performance results in testing the new detection portals. When preliminary tests were conducted, the defense contractors who were bidding on the job were allowed access to the results, allowing them to adjust their systems accordingly, GAO charged.

Preventing nuclear and radioactive material from being smuggled into the United States became a major security concern after 9-11. A common fear is that the stuff could be used by terrorists in a nuclear weapon or a "dirty bomb", even though that possibility remains highly theoretical.

Team Azrobowar with handmade battle bot.

(Credit: DSTA)

It's back. TechX Challenge, the Singapore death-bot battle, has spit out six finalists who are competing for the S$1 million prize and a chance to further this city state's vision of an army on autopilot.

The competition is sponsored by Singapore's Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). The stated objective is to develop an indigenous defense capability for Singapore, but a breakthrough in autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle technology wouldn't hurt weapons sales either.

Experience and resources for the teams that weathered the May semi-finals run the gamut from bootstrap amateurs to international collaborations backed by big name universities and six figure budgets.

The five man Team Azrobowar pooled $8,000 to field a wheelchair motor powered, game controller steered, 118kg robot incorporating scavenged parts and off-the-shelve webcams. While at the other end of the spectrum, Team SP-Freiburg - a 20 person Singapore Polytechnic and Germany's University of Freiburg based its entry on a prefab TELEMAX robot designed for EOD work.

Finalists will be required to autonomously navigate through both indoor and outdoor environments, overcome obstacles-not the least of which will be to find and push the right elevator botton-then engage their targets before finding their way home. The team with the fastest robot that completes all assigned tasks wins the prize-about $700,000 at the current exchange rate.

The other teams are TP Robotics Team from Temasek Polytechnic, the FantasticFour - from Nanyang Technological University's School of Electrical Engineering, Evolution - from NTU Robotics Research Centre and X-1 from the National University of Singapore and the Institute for Infocomm Research.

Our friends at Popular Mechanics have a man on the spot, you can check for updates here.

(Credit: VRAC)

A team from Iowa State University is using virtual reality technology to develop "immersive" ground control stations that will give operators of military unmanned aircraft (UAV) an overall view of their planes and the battle space they are flying over.

The university's Virtual Reality Applications Center (VRAC) team is working under a $4.2 million contract as part of the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory's effort to develop the "next generation control interface" for military UAVs. If successful, the real-time virtual view of the battle space will allow a single operator to control several UAVs simultaneously, all the while monitoring onboard instruments, cameras and weapons systems.

"We're also developing and measuring the effectiveness of new human interface techniques, which will enable operators to effectively control multiple, semi-autonomous aircraft. Already, up to 230 persons can be interfaced to participate in the system simultaneously," research leader Dr. James Oliver said in an interview with Space War.

The idea is to use novel eye-tracking and voice control technology to provide a shared, situational awareness interface, which robo plane crews can then monitor and interact with on large screen displays.

This approach inverts the typical paradigm for conveying information to UAV jockeys, according to VRAC. Because rather than augmenting the real-time camera picture with sensor generated information, the new interface works more like a virtual operating theater--one that's constantly fed by a myriad array of spatial and temporal information sources.

(Credit: Northrop Grumman)

Construction of the X-47B unmanned, tailless, stealth jet is ahead of schedule, with the first flight scheduled for November 2009, reports defense contractor Northrop Grumman.(pdf)

The X-47B is expected to be the first tailless UAV jet to operate off an aircraft carrier, which includes catapult launches and arrested landings; to do that it will also need to be capable of maneuvering precisely and autonomous around the flight deck. But none of that is expected to happen until sea trials in 2011.

The plane, developed under the Unmanned Combat Air System Carrier Demonstration (UCAS-D) program, has the "potential to transform naval aviation", according advocates.

The Navy envisions it as a force multiplier to be deployed for everything from long range precision bombing runs to close air support.

Classed roughly as "strike fighter-sized" jet capable of high, "subsonic" speed, it boasts a 4,500 pound pay load, and a 40,000 foot operational ceiling. The project has had to overcome a number of marine environment specific challenges including dealing with the corrosive salt-water environment and the problem of directing what is essentially a remote-control plane within a carrier's high electromagnetic interference bubble.

It happens every time. The mainsail cover is off, and it's freshening nicely. Then the boss calls begging you to get online and placate one of her key accounts. Luckily, she's seen fit to spring for the fully salt/fog-certified B300 ruggedized notebook.

What distinguishes this rugged, watertight, vibration- and drop-shock resistant PC--besides the sealed ports and connector cover--is the finish. According to manufacturer Getac, it protects everything from hinges to the keyboard to the electrical innards from salty corrosion, thus allowing you to telecommute from deck to dune.

(Credit: Getac)

The B300 was recently certified under standards set by the Department of Defense MIL-STD-810F - 509.4, according to Getac. Certification consists of 24 hours exposure to a 5 percent salt/fog mix, and 24 hours to dry off. Then it's back into the chamber for another 24 hours, 5 percent exposure, and so on for 4 days total. (Watch a video of a water sprinkler hosing down the keyboard.)

"Salt is one of the most aggressive chemical compounds in the world," said Getac President Jim Rimay. "Salt will quickly corrode a computer's exterior (and) impair vital electrical system functions. The B300 addresses these issues with its salt/fog certification and elevates it to an elite status among ruggedized computers for safe and uninterrupted operation in any location, especially in coastal regions of the world."

The B300 includes Giga LAN and 802.11a/g/n; Bluetooth 2.0, EV-DO and optional GPRS/EDGE networks, and integrated GPS, plus a number of security features like a fingerprint scanner and optional smart-card reader.

Also helpful for catching up--the B300's super-bright 1200 NITS screen with optional night vision and the 12 hour battery life.

At just over $3,000 retail you can pick up an extra one to stash in the trunk with your wetsuit.

A new test to screen blood donors for hepatitis C (HCV) is showing promise, having scored the highest against five other systems during an evaluation by Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, according to developer OraSure Technologies.

When there's a shortage of blood for transfusions on the battlefield, medics turn to the Walking Blood Bank, i.e. any available soldier. However, short of prescreening every potential donor or using other time-consuming methods, there has been no way to be sure that a donor is disease free (PDF).

The company already offers a test for HIV, and now it looks ready to wrap up the HCV market. The test, known as OraQuick, reportedly delivered results "approximately three days sooner than available laboratory-based enzyme immunoassays and approximately 16 days earlier than the next most sensitive rapid HCV test."

The evaluations used both plasma and blood specimens and even proved effective with new infections. "Early detection of seroconversion is an important measure of the sensitivity of a test and means that hepatitis C infection can be identified even with relatively recent exposure," boasts OraSure Technologies.

Hepatitis C can cause cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer and affects approximately 4 million people in the U.S. alone, most of whom do not even know they're infected, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Internationally, there are approximately 3 million to 4 million new HCV infections each year, making it one of the world's fastest-growing diseases, according to some estimates.

The product is undergoing clinical trials to obtain Food and Drug Administration approval for the test utilizing oral fluid, finger-stick and venous whole blood, plasma and serum specimen types, according to a company press release.

(Credit: Sandia)

A Malibu, CA company is developing a new system to protect military communication gear from high-power microwave weapons, nuclear blast generated electromagnetic pulse (EMP) and the mythic, directed-energy "e-bomb".

One nuclear airburst can unleash the EMP equivalent to 100,000 volts per square centimeter, frying computer, radar and communication equipment within hundreds of miles. It's possible to protect electronic circuitry from EMP with something called a Faraday cage, or covering it up with 1 inch mesh, grounded, copper chicken wire as they've done with FEMA headquarters; problem is-nothing gets out either, which defeats the purpose when it comes to radio transmitters.

HRL Laboratories, LLC landed the government contract to design, test, and develop a "novel" receiver based on an innovative front end meant to protect electronic components from "over as large a fractional bandwidth as feasible".

Known as the Electromagnetic Pulse-tolerant Microwave Receiver Front-end, or EMPiRe, the program aims to produce a microwave receiver capable of surviving and operating in high energy electromagnetic environments, while maintaining high sensitivity, bandwidth and range, according to DARPA, which is funding the three-part, four year effort.

It does this by sensing incoming electrical fields through a high-performance, microwave photonic link and then providing a microwave-modulated optical signal to the shielded receiver, according to HRL.

"This front end will be designed to have wider bandwidth than existing technology and will achieve a much higher concentration of electromagnetic fields," said Dr. James Schaffner, HRL program manager. "The thermal effects of a high-energy attack will be insignificant because our sensor head absorbs negligible radio-frequency power."

This is good news for military commo jocks, but leaves your widescreen and factory installed GPS vulnerable to Goldeneye/Ocean's Eleven style electromagnetic pulse bomb attacks and even sun flares. Waddayawant? Call your congressman.

(Credit: Draganfly Innovations Inc)

Here's a three armed, six-rotor, unmanned helicopter nimble enough to fly indoors but tough enough to withstand winds of up to 18mph outdoors and, best of all, it doesn't sound like a log-chipper on crack.

The Draganflyer collapses into a 5.5 inch diameter tube that can be carried slung over the user's back. Eleven seperate sensors and thousands of lines of code stabilize it during flight, making it easier to fly than any other helicopter in its class, according to the company. It also features some cool running lights.

As far as the nomenclature, what at first glance appears to be a clumsy play on Boeing X-150 Dragonfly demo program is actually a takeoff of the developer's name.

Zenon and Christine Dragan started out as small mail-order business specializing in radio controlled flying machines in 1998 and then moved up to fill that class of UAVs that lie somewhere the models piloted by hobbyists and those approaching full size aircraft.The X6 machines are designed for aerial photography, including everything from search and rescue to music videos.

Being Canadian hasn't kept the company from cashing in on stateside, government largesse. Draganfly provides "grant writing support, consultation, and assistance" to customers looking for Department of Homeland Security grants.

(Credit: DARPA)

A new type of binoculars developed by DARPA not only penetrates heat haze, it uses the shimmering distortion to magnify distant objects behind it, significantly extending target recognition and identification.

The Super-Resolution Vision System (SRVS) exploits an "atmospheric turbulence-generated micro-lensing phenomena", which acts as a lens, sporadically generating a better view of what is going on behind the haze.

The one disadvantage is that since the technique relies on a combination of images, you can't see what's going on in real time. Best case viewing from the approximately 4 lbs., 14 inch prototype will be one image per second.

These fleeting images are digitally strung together into a continuous strip; the result is three times more detail than many current telescopes manage to produce even without the heat haze. The military's goal is "90% accurate facial recognition of a moving individual from 1 km away, using a 6-centimetre lens", according to New Scientist. One hope is that this greater "target identification confidence" will reduce fratricide and collateral damage on the battlefield.

Testing is scheduled for 2009, with delivery to special ops in the field by 2011. The same turbulence-induced, super resolution principle could be applied to other optical systems like telescopes used in astronomy.

(Credit: DARPA)

(Credit: Innosuisse)

Hydrogen peroxide is not just for blonds anymore. It's also used to power an experimental helicopter that the developer says is more economical and environmentally friendly than any other rotary-wing technology in existence today.

SwissCopter AG of Murten, Switzerland is working to certify a "ultra-covert propulsion technology" based on a secret sauce called Perosin, a mix of 50 percent H2O2 and some unspecified additives. Hydrogen peroxide was used as rocket fuel as early as the 1930s, but mixtures of over 70 percent H2O2 are highly explosive, making them unfit for civilian use.

"Air is mixed with the fuel inside the rotor blade that leads to the combustion chamber at the tip of the blade where it passes an ignition system," the company explained. Gases ejected through the nozzles are what provide the power.(PDF)

The company claims to have received a large number of pre-orders and plans to begin deliveries in 2010.