More Holiday reading ...

Some interesting reading here, old and new.

• Who killed Benazir?
• French defense-private partnership
• Air Force on synthetic fuel
  
• German Robocop-Style Army Gear Flops

Sources: As cited.

The "What ever happened to ..." Department

What ever happened to Admiral Tim Ziemer? Well, in June 2006 he was selected to head the President’s Malaria Initiative (PMI). The PMI is a $1.2 billion, five-year program to combat malaria in Africa. Steven Phillips has written an interesting account of meeting up with the Admiral in Mali.

"It's no secret to anyone who has spent time with the Admiral that he's a hands-on type of guy. A former Navy pilot, submarine hunter, and commandant of the Newport shipyard (the Navy's largest port facility in the world) Tim is simply locked in on getting the job done." The full story is here.

Sources: As cited.
Photo: The White House

Holiday reading

Here are some links of interest to peruse during this Holiday period. They may not have been priority one but, hey, it's a little quiet right now.

• Army get Apples
• Army gets new NBC vehicles
• Operation Causeway
  

Sources: Various as cited.

Merry Christmas!

The holiday season is upon us. Things are going to slow down for a little while as time is spent with family and friends. May you experience the blessings of the season.

Don't forget to join NATO to follow Santa around the world. Here's a photo of St. Nick taken when he stopped by 3 Wing Bagotville a few weeks ago for a mission brief.

Photo: 17 WING WINNIPEG, Canadian Forces

Good news for the Canadian Forces

Rumours have been flying around since at least the Fall. Is the Chief of Defence Staff going to resign? Is General Rick Hillier just too popular, too honest, too straightforward for the Tory government?

Certainly no CDS is recent memory has been asked to do so much. As The General, Rick Hillier must successfully lead Canadian Forces in their first war effort since Korea. Politicos want someone to put a good face forward to voters. Soldiers want someone who genuinely cares. So far Hillier has succeeded beyond expectation on all counts. If anything this has made the politicians nervous. He will tell people the truth as he sees it.

Sitting in the background are two officers who could replace the "Big Cod". On one hand there is Air Force Commander Lt.-Gen. Angus Watt. On the other the Army's Lt.-General Andrew Leslie. Both are sharp although Leslie was "born" for the job and has had more media experience.

When the time comes you can be sure neither of these men would want to be seen as gaining their position because General Hillier resigned before he was ready. Those boots are already going to be pretty hard to fill.

Based on a recent interview with the National Post, Hillier would appear to be around for a while. For many this was a Christmas wish.

Sources: As cited.
Further reading: David Pugliese
Photo: D.N.D

From lethal to less lethal could be good business

Metal Storm hasn't been in the news in a while. It's not that long ago, however, that everyone was watching videos of their rapid fire technology mounted on UGVs. Yesterday Metal Storm had a demo of it's technology but it's obviously looking for new markets. That's business and good for them if the new markets are there.

"The demonstration was designed to display several technical objectives which included the development of a family of Less Lethal munitions with smart round features; development of an electronic fire control system with targeting and ranging; the acquisition of a man-machine interface; and the integration of the entire system with an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV). Metal Storm met these objectives with an integrated weapon system that provides the operator with several options when responding to a domestic or Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT) scenario."

"The system was developed by Metal Storm working with several key technology partners including iRobot who supplied their Warrior UGV platform and TeleRobotics who specializes in networked remotely operated weapons systems."

Source: Press Release

Australia launches new defence materials tech centre

"Warren Snowdon MP, Minister for Defence Science ... announced the establishment of an $82 million Defence Materials Technology Centre - to drive innovation in Defence technology."

"The Centre will deliver improved armour protection for military personnel carriers - vital for the protection of Australian troops deployed around the world - and new high-tech materials for use in major Defence acquisitions such as the Joint Strike Fighter," Mr Snowdon said.

"The Centre will primarily be located in Victoria and will receive Australian Government funding of $30 million and a further $52 million from the collaborative partners. These partners include major companies such as BAE Systems Australia, GKN Aerospace, BlueScope Steel, Surface Technology Coatings, Thales Australia and the Cooperative Research Centre for Advanced Composite Structures."

Source: DoD, Australia

MRAP vehicle orders top 11,900

"The Department of Defense today announced a contract award for an additional 3,126 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to be manufactured and completed by end of July 2008. Four manufacturers received the delivery orders totaling just under $2.66 billion.

" ... Stewart and Stevenson Tactical Vehicle, a Division of Armor Holdings and more recently BAE Land Systems, received a firm fixed priced delivery order for the purchase of 668 Category II vehicles with Category I seat configuration. The company is now operating under the name, BAE-TVS.

BAE Systems Land and Armaments, increased their participation in the program by 600 bringing their total vehicle count to more than 1,730. The vehicles will be Category II vehicles.

Force Protection Industries, Inc. will add another 358 (178 Category I and 180 Category II) vehicles to their vehicle commitment.

The largest single delivery order to date has been issued to International Military and Government LLC for 1,500 Category I vehicles.

All four delivery orders include vehicles, integrated logistics support (ILS), sustainment items and engineering change proposals designed to increase vehicle capability."

Source DoD Press Release

Photo: Force Protection

Successful strategy snubbed for years

" ... a USA TODAY investigation shows that the strategy now used to defeat the bombmaking networks and stabilize Iraq was ignored or rejected for years by key decision-makers. As early as 2004, when roadside bombs already were killing scores of troops, a top military consultant invited to address two dozen generals offered a "strategic alternative" for beating the insurgency and IEDs.

That plan and others mirroring the counterinsurgency blueprint that the Pentagon now hails as a success were pitched repeatedly in memos and presentations during the following two years, at meetings that included then-Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby."

Source: USA Today

"The Robotic FX contract is no longer in existence,"

Those are the words of Joanne Byrd, the US Army administrator overseeing a $280 million contract.

The Readers Digest version goes something like this ... Unknown bidder (Robotic FX) wins big contract over iRobot. It seems the new company is run by a former iRobot employee. It seems the new robot is a lot like the iRobot product. The courts and private eyes get involved. Stuff is shredded. Finally DoD had enough and the contract has been awarded to iRobot.

The unfolding soap opera has been well covered by Hiawatha Bray in the Boston Globe.

Sources: Boston Globe, Engadget, iRobot Press Release.

Sapper GEMS

"GEMS is the MOD-wide staff suggestion scheme that recognises and rewards ideas which are put into practice" says the MoD web site.

Have a Cobra radar system overheating in the Iraqi sun? Give the sappers a pack of smokes to draw on and off they go. "...the engineers scavenged for scrap wood, discarded plastic tubing and even humble cling film to knock up a unit that drew a breeze from an air conditioning unit and fed it into the Cobra via a set of insulated tubes.

A prototype of the rudimentary design cost just £20 to build, but the innovation proved so effective that a full model was built and the idea awarded a Gems cash prize." You can read more in Soldier Magazine.

Sources(s): As cited

Intro to AFRICOM

The Federation of American Scientists Project on Government Secrecy recently posted a Congressional Research Service report on the new Africa Command.

Little has been written on on DoD's AFRICOM. Someone who should be a regular read, Catherine McRae Hockmuth, asks "Why is DOD struggling to fill civilian interagency jobs at U.S. Africom? A shortage of Africa expertise? A military and diplomatic corps stretched thin by war? Or something else such as outright skepticism about the role of the military in Africa?" Check out her story at Ares.

Sources: CRS Report and Ares

Bosch acquires Extreme

Canadian CCTV and surveillance specialists Extreme are to be purchased by Bosch Security Systems of Stuttgart.

With this acquisition Bosch not only gets some well established technologies but also an increased presence in the U.K., the U.S. and Canada.

The deal is expected to close in February.

Source: The Monitor

Microsoft takes more mapping baby steps.

If your a dinosaur, like me, you will remember how long it took Microsoft to get into the Internet. Then, bang, a free browser and away they went.

Certainly one of the biggest tech developments of the past few years has been online and mobile mapping. Again Microsoft lagged behind but they've slowly been picking up speed first with Streets and Trips and recently with Maps Live. OK, they're not Google Maps and Google Earth but they're moving ahead.

Why is this important? A great many governments and agencies are committed Microsoft technologies and one stop shopping will have its' appeal (see this recent post). With the recent acquisition of Multimap Redmond is slowly building up its' expertise in how to serve up GIS information. This will inevitably go beyond the individual consumer and include government/security clients. Nothing says situational awareness like a good annotated map.

Sources: Various and cited.
Photo: 1 Microsoft Way on Google Maps

MRAP madness dies down

"A new defense secretary fresh out of confirmation hearings and eager to make nice with a Democratic Congress acceded to lawmakers' demands and launched a crash program to get as many MRAPs to the field as industry and logistics could bear.

But if anyone spoke for caution in this plan (and I was one of them), they were quickly shouted down as chicken hawks--dismissed as ignorant of the risks and deadly violence of plying Iraq's bomb-strewn roads." Christian Lowe writes this in an interesting assessment of the current state of MRAP affairs. The complete article is here.

Source: The Daily Standard as cited
Photo: DoD

Czechs cancel Pandurs

The cancellation of the Czech Republic's order for Pandur 8x8s is news. It is not, however, totally unexpected. The agreement had been signed during the last weeks of the previous government and selection of a singular APC platform has been questioned. In August, for example, Croatia chose the Finnish Patria vehicle but is receiving a mixture of 8x8 and 6x6 platforms.

Whatever the reason(s) are for the cancellation reported quality issues effecting acceptance of initial deliveries were reasons enough. What will happen? Certainly manufacturer Steyr-Daimler-Puch Spezialfahrzeuge is not going to let a billion dollar contract die without a fight. Expect to hear them come back with a mixed platform offering, at least. Original contract semifinalists Patria and Rheinmetall are bound to be knocking on doors in Prague as we speak.

Sources: Various
Photo: Czech Army

New iRobot PackBot with Mapping Kit

Today iRobot announced a new release available to R&D labs in government, industry and academic institutions. "PackBot with Mapping Kit is the first field tested and deployed robot to integrate real-time mapping and semi-autonomous remote operational capabilities, delivering soldiers advanced situational awareness while they remain a safe distance from danger."

iRobot has been involved with the Wayfarer Project which looks to develop fully-autonomous urban reconnaissance capabilities for the PackBot. This effort is funded by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center (TARDEC). It looks like the PackBot with Mapping Kit is the first spin-off of these efforts.

Source: Various including Corporate Press Release

Bison upgrade

Originally conceived as an infantry carrier the Bison now supports the LAV III in five converted, or "re-roled", variants. These are: Ambulance, Electronic Warfare, Mobile Repair Team, Maintenance and Recovery, and NBC Reconnaissance.

In response to experience in Afghanistan a re-roled C3I version (Command, Control, Communications and Intelligence) is now coming out of the Dew Engineering shop in Miramichi, New Brunswick. In addition to a bolstered electrical system there is increased operator protection and significant add-on armour. Twenty one of the 3CI platforms are expected to deploy to Afghanistan.

Sources: Dew Engineering, The Trident Photo: Canadian Forces

CREWS news in perspective

Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare or CREW development contract was recently awarded to Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada and ITT. Notably left out was current CREWS manufacturer EDO.

In a great commentary over at the Ares blog, Joe Anselmo points out "EDO shareholders are set to vote on Dec. 18 on a proposed $1.7 billion acquisition of their company by ITT". Check it out here.

Sources: As cited.

New ArcGIS version MS compatible

Microsoft's SQL Server 2008 is catching up with something that Oracle has known for quite a while. Users want GIS integrated with their commercial databases.

The next version of ESRI’s popular ArcGIS (v. 9.3) is designed to take advantage of this spatial technology. It's an appealing offer to users who may have avoided Oracle because of the cost or the fact they are already running MS SQL.

Sources: As cited

New jammer enters market

Homeland Security Strategies, Inc. (HSS) has announced a new IED pre-detonation system called GAUNTLET.

This system has been designed to be "used by Bomb Squad and Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) teams to initiate the detonation of an explosive device, can also be configured for Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) and used to defend against Vehicle-Borne IED’s (VBIED) and Suicide Bombers Victim Operated IED’s (VOIED) by providing an RF pinch-point at a safe standoff distance."

Sources: Press Release, Company site

CREWS contract awarded

The U.S. Department of Defense has awarded the CREWS contract to Northrop Grumman, Sierra Nevada and ITT.

"... $16,059,687 ... for the design, development and delivery of seven development models for Spiral 3.1 dismounted and seven development models for Spiral 3.2 Mounted Counter Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Device (RCIED) Electronic Warfare (CREW) systems" (DoD Press Release No. 1384-07)

Spiral 3.1 CREW systems are dismounted jammers designed to prevent the initiation of Radio-Controlled Improvised Explosive Devices (RC-IED). Spiral 3.2 systems are the mounted version.

The reaction of Allen-Vanguard is here.

Sources: As cited.

US espionage enters the 'un-Rumsfeld' era

"As the George W Bush administration winds up nearly seven years of intelligence fiascoes, a quiet revolution has been going on at the Pentagon, which controls more than 80% of America's US$60 billion intelligence budget. Since taking over from Donald Rumsfeld as secretary of defense in the winter of 2006, Robert Gates has greatly scaled down the Pentagon's footprint on national security policy and intelligence."
Tim Shorrock writes this in a very interesting article in the Asia Times. Check it out.

Source: Asia Times

Upcoming conferences

A popular feature of our newsletter was upcoming conferences so we'll try to keep it up. Please contact us if you know of a conference or seminar that could be of interest.

• Jan. 14-17 NDIA - Dept of Homeland Security - S&T West, Los Angeles, CA Info: www.ndia.org/exhibits/8690
• Jan. 14-16 Soldier Technology USA, Arlington, VA Info: www.soldiertechnologyus.com
• Jan 22-25 IDGA's Network Centric Warfare 2008, Washington, DC Info: www.ncwevent.com
• Jan. 22-23 Networked Public Safety, London, UK Info: www.networkedpublicsafety.com
• Jan. 28-30 Tactical Power Sources Summit 2008, Washington, DC Info: www.idga.org/us/tacticalpower
• Jan 28-30 Total Asset Visibility for Defense Summit, Alexandria, VA Info: www.idga.org/us/tav
• Jan. 28-30 Transforming Network Centric Warfare, London, UK Info: www.transformingncw.com

Sources: Various

General Dynamics makes a big VOIP step.

VOIP is everywhere. A huge concern is security.

General Dynamics' vIPer phone has been certified by the National Security Agency. It complies with: the government's Secure Communications Interoperability Protocol (SCIP); other compliant phones; Cisco Systems' Skinny Client Control Protocol and Sectera terminals.

General Dynamics will now develop it to support Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Both SIP and SCIP are required for government and military secure communications from top-secret level down.

Source: General Dynamics

Firefighting robot - the update

My Father-in-Law came back from the war and joined the Fire Department. Mind you, Andy was in the RCN and definitely not a robot. Even he, however, would enjoy this story.

Robot watchers know QinetiQ's Foster-Miller as the makers of the Talon robot deployed with EOD teams in Iraq. Popular Mechanics, The Register and others are covering F-M's firefighting robot capability which has had a demo in London. The capability has three parts.

1. A fireproofed Talon robot with a thermal imaging camera searches the area looking for, in this case, acetylene tanks,
   
2. Debris and general damage can be moved about by the Brokk 90, and
3. The Black Max unit has the "hose" function.

While this may not be a new idea for robot use, The Engineer covered QinetiQ's activities in 2002, it may be one that is practically just around the corner.

Sources: See links

Marine Corps buying fewer armored vehicles

As we noted last week, the Marine Corps is buying fewer MRAPs. Today MSNBC picked up on an AP story about this and it makes several good points.

• The number of IED attacks in Iraq are down.


• The Corps and the Army have different roles and requirements. The Army will continue to want lots of MRAPS.


• The Marines are very interested in getting some of that MRAP money and purchasing the new Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTVs).

The article goes on to speculate on the effects to industry. It's a good overview and nice to see in a very public domain.

Source: MSNBC

NREC receives $14.4 Million AGV contract

"The US Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) awarded a $14.4 million contract to develop an advanced, autonomous, unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) to Carnegie Mellon University’s National Robotics Engineering Center (NREC).

The TARDEC contract funds NREC to build an updated version of the center’s successful “Crusher” UGV as part of the Autonomous Platform Demonstrator (APD) program. Additionally, TARDEC plans to add to the contract, on a work directive basis, additional effort for NREC Engineers to develop an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) end-to-end control architecture and demonstrate the viability of autonomous UGV operations in a relevant environment as part of the Robotic Vehicle Control Architecture (RVCA) program."

Source: NREC

Military robots in mainstrean media, again

"Killer Robots from Silicon Valley" is the headline in Fortune Magazine. "Robotex, a Silicon Valley start-up, combines engineering skill and groundbreaking weaponry to create a new generation of soldiers."

Of course there's not much talk about this "new generation". We are expected to assume they're robots or, if we know about this, robot operators. The buzz is actually about a company called Robotex . It's built up like a Hollywood story. Young engineers and entrepreneurs have banded together to produce a robot armed with Atchisson Assault shotguns. Not shy, the Robotex guys take direct aim at the Foster Miller (QinetiQ) Talon robot which can be used as a weapons platform. What's the appeal? A $30,000 - $50,000 price tag. "(The Talon)... costs six times that amount. "Our system does all the same things as the Talon, weighs half as much, and costs a fraction""

Pictures in the Fortune article show two Robotex models. Neither is an "engineer" model. Are they as rugged as the Talon? You be the judge. We'll look forward to following this story.

Source: CNN Money / Fortune

Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV)s

We don't see robots as some sort of amazing panacea. We still love them, though, in a geeky kinda way.

The latest buzz are UGVs. There's a model and price tag for almost every military role. The December issue Aviation Week's Defence Technology International features a review of some interesting products. Check it out.

Source: DTI

GIS Role in Homeland Security & Crisis Management

Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) Role in Homeland Security and Crisis Management

December 12, 2007, Omni Shoreham,Washington, D.C.

"The Spatial and Situational Awareness Conference provides a forum to examine the role and potential that geospatial information systems (GIS) can play in homeland security, crisis management and everyday first response. The conference focuses on emerging methods and technologies that give stakeholders the ability to achieve situational awareness for defense and homeland security programs in information rich operating environments. The conference also examines how peer and ad hoc networks can provide new levels of situational awareness, fusion and survivability that rigid command and control hierarchies can't match."
Registration Time: 7:30 am, Program Starts: 8:30 am, Wrap-up: 4:30 pm

***This conference is complimentary to government agency employees***

Registration Link

Netherlands extends Afghan mission

The Dutch government has announced that it will extend its' current Afghan mission to August 2010. Legislative hearings and presentations will be held December 6th and 7th.

As part of the extension there will be a troop reduction of 300 from the current approximately 1,650. The total estimated cost of their mission is expected to be 1 billion euros.

Source: NIS

New AEVs For the Netherlands

The Dutch military have announced the purchase of 10 Kodiak Armoured Engineer Vehicles. This is a RUAG and Rheinmetall collaboration based on the Leopard 2 platform. The Dutch will partner with Sweden (6 units) on the deal to achieve unknown economic benefits

"The armoured engineer vehicle (AEV 3) - KODIAK is a multifunctional, top-modern equipment which enables the combat engineers to fulfil the requirements in the scope of the combat engineering.

The vehicle concept is based on the modification of pre-used chassis of main battle tanks Leopard 2 and it features the following main implements:

• Dozer system with quick die change equipment for the implements (e.g. dozer blade, universal calmshell and concrete cutter)
• Dozer system up to 4.02 m width, with tilt and pitch function.
• Two winch systems with 9 t of traction force each and 200 m cable length. The traction force can be increased by pulleys.
• Mine clearing equipment consisting of a mine clearing plough (can be installed in place of the dozer system) and lane marking.
  

A complex camera and vision system as well as state-of-the-art control and display units allow the user to work efficiently even when the hatches are closed."

Sources: NIS News and RUAG

"Isn't all EOD done by robots?"

I was asked this question recently and the answer is "No". No single robot can answer all the field conditions an EOD team may face. Can it climb stairs? Can it be carried? Is it rugged enough to handle the demands of terrain? Can it pick up something heavy and not fall over? What sensors does it have?

At the same time some of the greatest developments in EOD in the past ten years have been in robotics. The UK, Canada, the U.S., and Germany are leading the way. This quick movie/slide show is an introduction and highlights some of the better known offers out there. In the upcoming weeks we'll supplement this with accessory info.

Source: Various

Darfur mission 'behind schedule'

According to the BBC the AU / UN force will begin its mission with only a third of the 26,000 troops initially pledged. Force commander General Martin Luther Agwai, also said he has not received a required 24 helicopters.

As expected, there have also been problems with the Sudanese government which refuses to allow in troops from non-African countries. It also wants advance notice of AU / UN troop movements and the ability to pull the plug on communications.

Source: BBC

General Agwai would appear to be the perfect person to lead this mission. Aside from being a graduate of the Nigerian Command and Staff College, he attended the British Army Staff College, Camberley, United States Army Armour School and United States Defence University where he obtained an MSc in National Resource Strategy. He was Deputy Military Advisor - UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (Nov 2002 - Jun 2003) and Deputy Force Commander - UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) (Nov 2000 - Nov 2002).

All of this being said, there will be no AU / UN miracle in Sudan. The situation has been relatively ignored by the international community. There are now more than two million people living as refugees. Most are in camps vulnerable to attack. Agwai will need all his resourcefulness to provide security to the camps and their extended supply routes. On one hand he is dealing with an unsympathetic, at the very least, government. On the other, inadequate resources to establish his peace keepers as a true force.