properties such as body temperatures, contrasted against the natural background. “The algorithm is created in almost real time,” he said. Parsons provides the U.S. Army Counter Improvised Explosive Device–Defeat (CIED-D) training and training support to soldiers on 23 installations, specifically supporting the Army’s home station training in IED-D tactics, techniques and procedures (TTPs) employed in Iraq and Afghanistan. Parsons assists Army units as they plan their training scenarios and tailor IED-specific training aids and devices, simulators and simulations to support each Army unit’s overall training objectives. Parsons provides training support by setting up IED simulations that train and test unit IED-D skills using the most current TTPs (both friendly and enemy) while assisting the installation with the layout, operations and maintenance, and reset of home station training lanes that support IED-D live training. “Incorporating UAV and robotics into home station training programs ensures the units are proficient in their use and [cognizant of] their respective capabilities,” Parsons Wald said. “The increased use of route clearance patrols (RCPs) has located and removed many IEDs, which has undoubtedly saved numerous lives and increased our ability to maneuver in the battlespace. RCPs have the ability to detect and neutralize threats they encounter (staying left of the blast), clearing routes designated by the commander in order to facilitate freedom of movement of coalition forces. With the new and emerging technology, all patrols and units have increased IED detection and defeat capabilities.” Parsons’ Zeus Laser Neutralization System, usually positioned on top of a HMMWV, is capable of neutralizing IEDs through focusing a laser on the outer casing of the target munition. The laser heats the explosive filler until ignition, resulting in rapid combustion or deflagration of the explosive material, which disables the target munition, regardless of the type of fusing used. The low-order explosion that results leads to less collateral damage and protects explosive ordnance disposal personnel and equipment, according to Parson. The U.S. military has used the Zeus Laser Neutralization System for area and route clearance missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. The Zeus Laser Neutralization System completed missions on more than 2,000 miles of roadways during these deployments. In addition, Parsons claims a 98 percent success rate with its Zeus II system, with more than 2,200 ordnance items neutralized, according to T. Wilson, director of business development for Parsons Government Services’ National Security and Defense Division. The Zeus II functions well for operators in maintaining a secure parameter from 25 years to 300 yards away. “It’s affordable and uses less power,” he said. The Zeus system has been in development for more than 20 years. “The enemy has observed U.S. operations for many years now and is very adaptive to our operations,” Tactical Electronics’ Ellul said. His company has been in business for more than 13 years, providing wireless camera systems, EOD detection tools, and high level counter-IED training. The typical enemy in “Afghanistan uses simple materials and items we as Americans would not recognize as IED components—for example, the use of a simple AA battery core as a non-metallic IED firing contact. The use of extremely long command wires and nearly no metallic IEDs has proven to be a very difficult problem in locating and detecting IEDs in Afghanistan.” Tactical Electronics is deeply rooted in the counterterrorism field, and the firm is active in special operations and IED/weapons of mass destruction. “As a company, we have grown by maintaining strong relationships with the special operations forces and explosive ordnance disposal communities while continuing to foster 12 | SOTECH 10.5
relationships with first responders at the federal, state and local levels,” Ellul said. Just as insurgents can engage in innovations, so can organizations such as JIEDDO and contractors help U.S. operators test and deploy new technologies and approaches to detect and defeat IEDs. “There will always be innovation coming from the enemy. They are always looking for innovative ways—how to make the IED, how it explodes and how they are triggered,” QinetiQ’s Crouch said. “We rapidly innovate 80 percent solutions to give us better speed to the customer,” said Crouch. “The last 10 percent of engineering is usually 25 percent of the cost,” and can lead to deployment delays, he added. Putting new technologies and approaches in the hands of operators, such as robots that weigh less than 10 pounds, allows those users to test the anti-IED technologies. “If you’re going to deploy smaller forces, it doesn’t make sense to deploy technologies that involve a lot of time and cost.” In one initiative with anti-IED applications, QinetiQ had supplied Bobcat loaders to the U.S. military and converted them into unmanned vehicles. Another potential example of innovation could be the Lockheed Martin-supplied Squad Mission Support System (SMSS), deployed in Afghanistan by the U.S. Army Rapid Equipping Force, but the convoy vehicle took more than a decade to develop. The largest autonomous vehicle deployed with infantry, the SMSS has the promise of reducing soldier loads. The 11-foot long unmanned ground vehicle can haul a half-ton worth of soldiers’ gear, according to Lockheed Martin’s Craig Vanbebber. The SMSS Block I variant has a range of 125 miles and features three control options: supervised autonomy, teleoperation or manually driven. The SMSS sensor suite allows it to lock on and follow any person by recognizing their digital 3-D profile (captured by the onboard sensors), and it can also navigate terrain on its own by following a trail of GPS waypoints. The Army can transport the SMSS with CH-47 and CH-53 helicopters, and the SMSS can also supply portable power. The Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment Spiral G plans to conduct further tests on the SMSS in November. IEDs are clearly not a challenge restricted to Afghanistan and Iraq. Officials have noted that 2011 IED attacks in Kenya, Nigeria and Somalia conducted by al-Qaida-affiliated groups have shown an increased sophistication, including trying to create greater force through an explosion to penetrate armor. According to JIEDDO’s 2012-2016 Strategic Plan, between January 2011 and November 2011, IEDs killed 12,286 people in 6,832 bombing incidents in 111 countries. Of those, 28 people died in 490 incidents inside U.S. borders, according to the plan. IED use has expanded to Norway, Thailand and the United States in incidents such as the Oklahoma City bombing of the Murrah Federal Building in 1995 and the failed Times Square bombing in May 2010. It would be easy, if one focused exclusively on news reports about coalition casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq, to think that U.S. military forces weren’t making progress in detecting and defeating IEDs. “You normally only hear of the IEDs that are effective against coalition forces, and you don’t hear about the ones that are found and safely removed,” Parsons’ Wald said. “Units are becoming more involved in the entire process, in large measure due to the frequency of unit deployments over the past decade, creating a better understanding of how to detect IEDs, where to look, and what to anticipate.” U.S. military forces are adopting different approaches in Afghanistan and Iraq. “In Iraq, IED detection is focused on change-in-yourwww.SOTECH-kmi.com