Archive | Technology | Armed with Science

‘Kevlar Underpants’ Protect Pelvic Region

Filed under STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on March 1, 2012 at 7:52 am {no comments}

The BCB Protective Under Garment shown here on a mannequin is one of the pelvic protection systems developed by Program Executive Office Soldier.

WASHINGTON (Feb. 22, 2012) — For dismounted soldiers patrolling Afghanistan roads, improvised explosive devices can be even more devastating than for those in armored vehicles, but a new line of protection may help.

“A few years ago, in certain areas of Afghanistan, we started to notice the dismounted improvised explosive device (known as IED) threat becoming more prevalent,” said Lt. Col. Frank J. Lozano, PEO Soldier protective equipment. “There were a lot of significant injuries, and very traumatic injuries occurring to soldiers in the lower extremity area. A lot of soldiers losing their lower leg below the knee. A lot of above-the-knee amputations, and a lot of high hip amputations.”

Soldiers who stepped on an IED might suffer injuries that required amputations which didn’t leave enough of a limb for a prosthetic leg, for instance. But those Soldiers were also suffering extensive damage to the perineum region, the part of the body that includes the anus and reproductive organs.

“It’s very traumatic, very heartbreaking, when soldiers go through those types of events, and they are very young, and then they come home and they are not able to have children,” said Lozano. “It’s one of the harsh realities of this type of warfare when you have dismounted IEDs.”

The Army wanted to do something to offer protection to soldiers. Taking a cue from British forces that had already found a material solution to the problem, the Army developed the Pelvic Protection System. The system includes two layers of protection for Soldiers, including the Tier I protective under-garment, called the “PUG,” and the Tier II protective outer-garment, called the “POG.”

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The Naval Research Laboratory: A Glimpse of the Future

Filed under Featured, STEM, Technology, Videos by glenn.selby on February 29, 2012 at 10:00 am {no comments}

In 1915, Thomas Edison was asked by a New York Times correspondent to comment on the great European war. Edison argued that the Nation should look to science.

“The Government,” he proposed in a published interview, “should maintain a great research laboratory…In this could be developed…all the technique of military and naval progression without any vast expense.” This lives on as the seminal moment for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL).

Since its establishment on July 2, 1923, NRL has excelled in conducting a broadly based multidisciplinary program of scientific research and technological development focused on Navy and Marine Corps applications. NRL’s dedicated scientists, engineers, and support personnel – working in world-class facilities – have developed a number of innovations that have revolutionized the capabilities of our Navy and Marine Corps.

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The Evolving Climate for Science and Engineering

Filed under Featured, STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on February 28, 2012 at 10:39 am {no comments}

Alan I. Leshner, PhD, Chief Executive Officer American Association for the Advancement of Science

On Monday, March 12, the Office of Naval Research is pleased to host the American Association for the Advancement of Science CEO, Dr. Alan Leshner as the next speaker in the Director of Innovation’s ONR Distinguished Lecture Series.

Dr. Leshner’s talk is entitled “The Evolving Climate for Science and Engineering.” In his positions as CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, publisher of SCIENCE magazine, and member of the U.S. National Science Board, Dr. Leshner has a uniquely broad perspective on the U.S. Science, Technology and Innovation enterprise. Dr. Leshner will draw from his current roles as well as his long experience as a university researcher and then scientific administrator in various Federal agencies, to explore the challenges and opportunities government agencies and their academic and public sector partners currently face in Science and Engineering. What are the impacts of strengthening international competition, budget pressures, a domestic crisis in STEM education, and other issues? What is the role of national policy and how might we better coordinate our efforts at the Federal level while preserving a core strength derived from individually guided, discovery based research? Please join us for an important conversation about the future of Federal ST&I with this significant public policy thought leader.

We’ll be streaming the talk live here on the Armed with Science blog via UStream. If you’re in the Arlington, VA, area, you can attend the talk in person by registering at the ONR website.

Army Rangers Test New Software-Defined Radio

Filed under STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on February 28, 2012 at 8:00 am {no comments}

A member of the 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan wears the JTRS Rifleman Radio. The Rangers recently completed an operational assessment of the software-programmable Joint Tactical Radio Systems.

WASHINGTON (Army News Service, Feb. 10, 2012) — The U.S. Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment in Afghanistan recently completed an operational assessment of the software-programmable Joint Tactical Radio Systems, or JTRS, Rifleman Radio. The assessment highlighted the radio’s ability to share combat-relevant information, voice and data across small units in real time.

“We have just entered the era of the networked Soldier,” said Col. John Zavarelli, program manager, Joint Program Executive Office, or JPEO JTRS, Handheld Manpack Small. “The individual rifleman now has a game-changing capability.”

The Operational Assessment marked the first formal combat use of the single-channel, software-defined Rifleman Radio, which uses Soldier Radio Waveform, or SRW, a high bandwidth waveform which draws upon a larger part of the available spectrum compared to legacy radios to share information and “network” forces.

Rifleman Radio is part of a family of software-programmable JTRS radios, which make use of NSA-certified encryption to safeguard and transmit information. The radios are built to send packets of data, voice, video and images via multiple waveforms between static command centers, vehicles on-the-move and even dismounted individual Soldiers on patrol.

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Navy to Build Two New Oceanographic Research Vessels

Filed under STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on February 24, 2012 at 8:00 am {no comments}

By Grace Jean, Office of Naval Research

ARLINGTON, Va.—The Navy has awarded $70 million to a West Coast-based shipyard to begin building the second of two modern oceanographic research vessels, the Office of Naval Research (ONR) announced Feb. 9.

Dakota Creek Industries Inc. of Anacortes, Wash., will begin detail design and construction on the Ocean-class Auxiliary General Oceanographic Research (AGOR) vessel 28. Naval Sea Systems Command previously awarded a contract for AGOR 27, the first of the two new research ships. The recent award brings the Navy’s combined shipbuilding investments in the program to $145 million.

“The ships are indispensible research tools,” said Dr. Frank Herr, director of ONR’s Ocean Battlespace Sensing Department. “They are the primary means by which we go to sea and engage the oceanographic research community to learn about the ocean—and to develop oceanographic and atmospheric prediction systems to help the fleet understand the ocean, and plan for its operations around the world.”

The Navy, through ONR, has been a leader in building and providing large research ships for the nation’s academic research fleet since World War II. The latest ships will replace two vessels previously Navy-built and owned.

Designed as single-hull ships, AGOR 27 and AGOR 28 are approximately 238-feet long and incorporate the latest technologies, including high-efficiency diesel engines, emissions controls for stack gasses, new information technology tools both for monitoring shipboard systems and for communicating with the world, and hull coatings to reduce maintenance requirements. Each vessel will operate with a crew of 20 with accommodations for 24 scientists.

The construction phase will last 30 to 36 months per ship with delivery expected in late 2014 and early 2015. Once delivered to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and to Scripps Institution of Oceanography, respectively, the ships will allow scientists to continue with ongoing research efforts in the Atlantic, western Pacific and Indian Ocean regions.

The U.S. academic research fleet is organized by the University-National Oceanographic Laboratory System (UNOLS), a partnership among research institutions consisting of 16 vessel operators. Federal agencies provide research grants for ocean sciences which in turn support ship operations via day rates charged to research users. The six Navy-owned vessels are among the largest in this fleet enabling global ranging research programs.

For more information:

Learn about ONR-sponsored naval research facilities
See the award announcement on Defense.gov

New First Aid Kit Being Developed at Natick

Filed under STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on February 23, 2012 at 8:00 am {no comments}

Rich Landry, individual equipment designer with the Load Carriage Prototype Lab, Product Manager Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment, Natick Soldier Systems Center, displays the new Individual First Aid Kit being developed there.

NATICK, Mass. (Feb. 2, 2012) — Maybe it looks like a camouflage money belt on steroids, but it could save Soldiers’ lives.

The new Individual First Aid Kit, or IFAK, being developed at the Natick Soldier Systems Center eventually will be carried by every Soldier in a combat environment.

“We designed it literally about three or four months ago,” said Rich Landry, individual equipment designer with the Load Carriage Prototype Lab, Product Manager Soldier Clothing and Individual Equipment, at NSSC. “The medical community said, ‘Awesome idea. Let’s move out with it.’ Overwhelmingly, they thought this was a huge improvement over the current IFAK.”

As Landry pointed out, the current IFAK, developed rapidly in the early days of Operation Iraqi Freedom to fulfill a critical need, has proved rather unwieldy.

“This thing is just kind of a brick on your side that gets in the way of everything,” said Landry of the current bulky IFAK, which was built into an existing Squad Automatic Weapon ammo pouch. “It was very, very quick, because they needed them right away.”

More thought has gone into the new IFAK, a streamlined, two-piece system that features a pouch with an insert that slides out to allow easy access to medical equipment from either side.

“It supports all the critical items to the individual Soldier’s medical needs,” Landry said. “The beauty of this system, compared to the old one, is that it allows the Soldier to place it on (his or her) body in a spot where it can be easily accessible, which is the critical piece, but also not get in the way of other important tactical pieces of equipment.”

Landry said 30 new IFAKs recently underwent evaluation at Fort Polk, La., where a platoon of Soldiers carried them through a training rotation. The early feedback has been positive, he added.

“We’re very sure this is the direction the Individual First Aid Kit is going to go, hopefully, for all services, but you never know,” Landry said. “That would be icing on the cake.”

The new IFAK carries even more medical gear than the first version, including two Combat Application Tourniquets. Still, its lower profile allows a Soldier to wear it comfortably in the small of his or her back under the Modular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment, or MOLLE, Large or Medium backpack.

“And that’s critical for us, because the big picture in load carriage is the backpack piece,” Landry said. “That’s where a large percentage of the load and bulk comes from. And it’s critical that we still have to be able to carry that.

“All you do is reach back and pull (the IFAK) out, and it doesn’t matter what side you pull it out from,” Landry said. “So if this hand is injured, you can reach behind with this (hand) and pull it out, or your buddy can get to it.”

Such innovation is Landry’s calling card at Natick. A former Pathfinder with the 82nd Airborne Division, he began tinkering with outdoor equipment at a young age.

“My sister taught me how to sew,” Landry recalled. “Every backpack I got, every piece of equipment I got, was modified in some way, shape or form. That’s just how my brain works. Nothing can be left alone. Nothing’s perfect in my mind, as far as outdoor equipment, and that’s a curse.”

It’s also been a blessing for Soldiers, who have worn equipment all around the world that Landry developed in his lab.

“The ability to know what they need, as opposed to what they want, is a little bit different,” Landry said. “That’s just what I do. It’s what I love. I’m in a perfect place to do that.”

Pashto Maps Provide Provincial Reference Points

Filed under Logistics, Technology by glenn.selby on February 22, 2012 at 11:00 am {no comments}

Din Mohammad, Afghan National Police district chief, references security and development projects on a hand-drawn map at the Waze Zadran district center, Paktya Province, Afghanistan Aug. 28, 2011. Following the visit, Provincial Reconstruction Team Paktya, with support from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, created and distributed the first-ever Pashto provincial maps for Afghan leadership. (U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Cammie Quinn)

By 1st Lt. Cammie Quinn
Paktya PRT Public Affairs

2/17/2012 - PAKTYA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Ask any American for directions and they’re likely to look to the Internet; ask an Afghan in Paktya Province, and they’re now likely to point to a map in their district center.

The Paktya Provincial Reconstruction Team, with support from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, recently created and distributed Pashto provincial maps for Afghan leadership.

During a regularly scheduled meeting with provincial and district-level leaders, Paktya PRT members noticed that some Afghan leaders lacked geographical references.

Through the help of a PRT linguist and the NGA, more than 500 Paktya villages were identified and translated into Pashto, the predominant language in Paktya. Provincial and district maps were then distributed to Paktya line directors, district sub-governors and Afghan National Security Forces leaders.

The maps provide provincial government leaders a frame of reference for Paktya, with relation to all of Afghanistan. They also help local villagers comprehend their location in relation to their district, province and country.

Abdul Rahman Mangal, Paktya Province deputy governor, presented a district map to Said Mohammad, Chamkani sub-governor during a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly remodeled Chamkani district center, Feb. 1.

While pointing to Chamkani on the map, the deputy governor identified surrounding districts and villages to an audience of more than 100 local residents.

“It has become a source of pride for the province,” U.S. Air Force 1st Lt. Ryan Mills, Paktya PRT intelligence officer from Chicago, said. “Every recognized country has its own map in its own language, and these maps have demonstrated to the people of Paktya GIRoA’s legitimacy and place in history.”

With the new maps, we can plan future missions, identify areas of instability, and determine where we are according to other provinces and countries, Mangal said.

During a meeting between the Paktya PRT, Ahmad Abad district sub-governor and the national security directorate, the Afghan leaders pointed to and identified several insecure villages in the area.

“I am so proud to see my village in Pashto on a map,” Afghan Brig. Gen. Wali, Operational Coordination Center, Provincial commander said after orienting himself to the map.

The Paktya PRT is dedicated to partnering with government leaders in the province, as they create and build a sustainable future for Afghanistan.

Self-Sufficient Robots

Filed under Cyber Security, STEM, Technology by glenn.selby on February 21, 2012 at 2:28 pm {no comments}

1st Lt. Crystal Murray demonstrates unmanned aerial vehicle control on a simulator at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Mikhail Berlin)

By Randy Roughton

Military planners and scientists envision a day when robots may replace human beings on the battlefield. That day may not be as far away as you think, as the armed forces continue a recent drive toward more autonomous robotic systems.

“By the end of the century, there will be virtually no humans on the battlefield,” Globalsecurity.org director John Pike told The Washington Post in 2009. “Robots do what you tell them, and they don’t have to be trained.”

Pike’s prediction recently appeared again in an Armed Forces Journal article co-written by Dr. Morley Stone, chief scientist with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s 711^th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. “The Autonomy Paradox,” also co-written by Jack L. Blackhurst and Dr. Jennifer S. Gresham, addressed one of the main challenges of robotic autonomy facing the military and robotic industry. Autonomous robotic systems probably won’t eliminate the problems they were designed to solve, only change the nature of those problems. The autonomy paradox, according to the article, is the systems that are designed to reduce manpower will actually require more people to support them, Stone said.

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