Advancement in technologies

SOCOM is always looking for innovative solutions to increasing warfighter survivability, mobility, lethality and connectivity.

Compiled by KMI Media Group Staff

SOCOM has a long-term goal to develop technologies to meet special operations forces mission requirements. The intent is to accelerate the delivery of these innovative capabilities to the SOF warfighter.

Prior SOCOM studies and analysis have determined that a number of technical challenges exist for SOF equipment that require improvements for future missions.

Those challenges are 1) trade space between weight, protection, power and mobility; 2) cost; and 3) system component integration.

To that end, SOCOM’s Special Operations Research, Development, and Acquisition Center (SORDAC) has issued its 2014 broad agency announcement seeking solutions providing for the design, construction and testing of SOF related technologies.

Outlined here are the technologies that SORDAC is interested in.

Command, Control, Communications and Computers • Antenna low visibility and low profile.

Antenna designs combining broad banded and performance, such as 1.5 or lower Standing Wave Ratio from 30 MHz-5.8 GHz that have dismounted (lightweight and ruggedized), mounted and fixed site applicability, but are visually difficult or impossible to distinguish from their mounted platform.

• Conduct secure, low probability of intercept communications. Capability to conduct secure, low probability of intercept communications in line-ofsight (LOS), beyond LOS, and over-thehorizon scenarios.

• Device on a chip. Modular, configurable electronic devices that maximize common interfaces. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

»» Match grade 7.62 mm and .338

Enabling technologies such as advances in semiconductors, field programmable gate arrays, and microcomputers with multiple devices collapsed into a single platform/enclosure that would allow SOF operators to plug and play their modules for varying missions without having to jump between multiple interfaces.

Comprehensive Signature Management Multispectral signature reduction for the individual soldier and his equipment including materials or technologies that reduce the likelihood of detection/identification/ targeting of SOF operators and vehicles.

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Fires • Airburst/Counter Defilade Capability.

Proximity and/or bounding warheads in addition to time/turn counting air burst options and enhanced fire control. Maximize the adaptation of current individual and crew served weapons to incorporate an airburst/ counter defilade capability.

• Advanced Sniper Rifle Barrel Technologies. »» Applicability of hot hard alloys (e.g., H-11, H14, H19) to cold hammer forged barrel making technology and cryocooling to create longer life sniper grade barrels in 7.62 mm NATO, 300 Winchester Magnum, and/or .338 Lapua Magnum. The rifling of interest is 5R and/or 6 land and groove with 1 in 9.5 inch twist in .338 and 1 in 10 inch twist in 300WM.

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caliber rhenium and/or rhenium alloy lined rifle barrels. The rifling of interest is 5R and/or 6 land and groove with 1 in 9.5 inch twist for .338 and 1 in 10 inch twist in 300WM. Six of each type of barrels are to be lapped and mated to M24/ M2010 actions in 300WM and .338 Lapua Magnum. »» Other advanced sniper barrel concepts, designs, materials and/or processes that significantly enhance barrel life and maintain accuracy.

Advanced Small Arms Propellant.

Advanced propellants for assessment in standard military calibers that have a higher energy density (12-20 percent), temperature stable pressure/velocities from -40F to 160F, and standard deviation velocities of less than 10 feet/second.

Lightweight RPG-7 Launcher or Trainer. Modernized lightweight (less than 9 pounds) 40 mm rocket propelled grenade launcher or trainer with enhanced fire control that can safely, reliably and accurately fire U.S. and allied produced RPG-7 family of ammunition.

M4A1 Belt Feed Kit. The M4A1 belt feed kit enables the operator to convert the M4A1 from magazine fed to a belt fed lightweight machine gun. M4A1 belt feed kit desired characteristics include quick change barrels (12 inch, 14.5 inch, 20 inch), lightweight (less than 10 pounds), and accuracy within burst dispersion 50 percent improvement over M249 SAW. Concealable/Take Down Urban Sniper Rifle (CUSR). The CUSR is a small and SOTECH 12.5 | 21

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light sniper rifle that can be rapidly disassembled for concealed carry and rapidly reassembled by the operator to engage target. CUSR desired characteristics include accurate (one minute of angle at 300 meters), lightweight (12pound Threshold, 8-pound Objective), fit in small case (12-by-20-inch Threshold, 12-by-16-inch Objective), and compatible with current suppressor or include suppressed barrel.

Personnel Defense Weapon (PDW). The PDW is significantly smaller and lighter than the M4A1 with capabilities beyond those of any pistol. There are two types of interest, those based on an operator/ unit armor modification to a M4A1 carbine and those based on a unique weapon design, both of which must fire standard 5.56-by-45-mm NATO ammunition. PDW desired characteristics include lightweight (6-pound Threshold, 5-pound Objective), concealable (18-inch Threshold, 16-inch Objective), effectively fired in its collapsed configuration, semi/ full automatic and rapidly employed from concealed carry.

338 Lapua Magnum Anti-Materiel Ammunition. .338 Lapua magnum anti-materiel ammunition that would be fired from the Precision Sniper Rifle at ranges from 500-1,500 meters. Antimateriel .338 Lapua desired characteristics include armor piercing capability to penetrate Level IV body armor (500meter Threshold, 800-meter Objective), cinder block greater than 12 inches, 10 percent Gel, and stop vehicle/small boat engines.

Stopping/Disabling Individuals.

Technologies that can stop/disable individuals for an extended duration, remain less lethal, and be useable on combatant and noncombatant individuals. The effect must immediately prohibit the individual's ability to perform a useful function at ranges greater than 6 feet.

Deny Area/Isolate Objective.

Technologies that use less lethal payloads to prevent combatant and noncombatant individuals from entering a specific area for a specified period of time.

Precision Guided Small Arms Munitions. Small unit organic munitions capable of delivering highly accurate kinetic effects on stationary, moving, soft targets, or the interior of

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hardened targets at ranges beyond crew served weapons effective range.

Potential material approaches may include guided 40 mm tube launched grenades; self-propelled, precisionguided, handheld grenades; guided 84 mm Carl Gustav munitions; and handheld guided kinetically armed unmanned aerial systems.

Human Performance • Human performance tracking, sensors, monitoring and analyzing in a tactical environment. Physiological status monitors/novel applications for remote medical monitoring devices. These sensors/ monitors must be low power, platform agnostic, provide real time monitoring, and include analysis devices for biosignals applicable to medical triage and treatment.

• Databasing tools with algorithmic calculation and prediction potential to track and analyze collected information from on-body, proximal and/or nonimpeding sensors.

• Capability to provide or determine realtime hydration monitoring for tactical operation.

• Enhanced operator physiological performance/enhanced resiliency for the tactical operator (physical, cognitive, psychological).

• Novel approaches and aspects to training tactics, techniques and procedures; systems/mechanisms to measure and record baseline performance characteristics (e.g., high speed camera systems/ body sensors/accelerometers/software for recording and analyzing collected data).

• Human augmentation devices to optimize support and enhance operator performance.

• Holistic analysis of mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI)/TBI exposure and counter-mechanisms TBI and mTBI exposure measurement tools, cochlear implants/optic nerve measurement devices and systems, specific timereleased drug delivery systems to prevent auditory injury.

• Enhanced neurocognition and ability to be effective under varying and/or extreme neurocognitive loading.

• Electroencephalography monitors for real-time measurement of brain activity and quantification of loading, applicable

technologies to measure/quantify neurocognitive loading, technologies (i.e., nanotechnology/biotechnology), and neutraceutical and/or pharmacological enhancements to increase neuroperformance.

• Modeling and simulation tools to determine physical strain/mental stress of operator under varying conditions.

• Real-time and logging monitors to assess training and events.

• Baselining studies and analysis to determine design parameters of future human performance enhancing devices and mechanisms.

Human Protection • Lightweight body armor (less than 5.5 pounds per square feet) able to defeat the following rounds with less than 44 millimeters of backface deformation: »» One round of 7.62-by-54R API. »» Three rounds of 7.62-by-39 API at 2.5-inch spacing.

• Lightweight helmet (less than 2 pounds per square feet) able to defeat 7.62-by-39 mm rifle rounds with the following backface deformations: »» Less than 25.4 millimeters on the front and back of the helmet. »» Less than 16.0 millimeters on the crown, left and right sides of the helmet.

• Thin, lightweight concealable body armor (less than 0.2 inches thick) that protects against 7.62-by-39 mm mild steel core rounds.

• Non-destructive inspection techniques for body armor and helmets with complete inspection times faster than computed tomography scans and the ability to evaluate all typical armor materials (and bonding between those materials) better than X-rays.

Mobility • Noise Reduction of Vehicles During Operations. Acoustic reduction kits consisting of muffler, intakes, baffling, etc., tailored to each specific vehicle to reduce its acoustic signature by at least 30 percent.

• Vehicle Armor »» Innovative armor solutions that reduce weight by 20 percent with same protection capabilities against 7.62-by-63 mm M2AP. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

»» Reduction in cost for Spinel, ALON

and Sapphire ceramic armor. »» Novel manufacturing improvements to produce large format curved transparent armor that protects against 7.62-by-63 mm M2AP.

Mobility Small Unmanned Aerial System (SUAS) Groups 1-3

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UAS System Improvements • Reduced acoustics and visual signature technologies.

• Access sensitive or denied areas.

• External/internal bay payload solutions.

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• Endurance/Power Plant • Increased endurance.

• Improved motor.

• Advanced fuel cell/battery propulsion.

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Weaponization • • Kinetic engagement.

• Advanced integrated day/night fire control.

• Increased electronic attack capabilities.

Reduced Operator Workload

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• Common ground control station.

• Common digital data link.

Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance and Exploitation • Tagging, tracking and locating devices/ technologies.

• Advanced micro/nanoscale sensors.

• Advanced visual augmentation systems.

• Survey, detect, geolocate and collect radio frequency emitters.

• Automated threat detection and cueing.

• Advanced antennas.

• High bandwidth technologies.

• Cyberspace operations-exploitation and counter-threat technologies.

• Military information support operations.

• Highly localized weather forecasting systems/technologies.

Optics • Find, Fix, Finish, Exploit, Analyze, and Disseminate (F3EAD). Baseline improvement in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) www.SOTECH-kmi.com

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for F3EAD. Improvements in performance without increasing size, weight, power and cost. The objective is to improve performance in one or more areas without reducing performance in other areas.

Increase in image resolution in terms of modulated transfer function, optical transfer function, or phase transfer function. Alternatively increase in image resolution in terms of the National Imagery Interpretability Rating Scale (NIIRS).

Increase in field of view and situational awareness while maintaining same NIIRS rating and MTF. Precise target geolocation to CAT 1/CAT 2 coordinates that is robust to any battlefield situation that degrades geolocation.

Increase of adaptive multispectral fusion for tactical advantage in all battlefield situations. Digital, analog, hardware or software techniques are viable.

Decrease in latency of ground systems to less than one millisecond from external activity to viewing by operator.

Decrease in latency of ground systems to less than one millisecond from operator activity to external action.

Full motion video (FMV) technology that is high resolution, high bit depth (16 bit plus), high frame rate (60 to 1,000 Hz), and not truncated through passage of electronic processing or transfer from one point to another.

Heads up display technology for day or night operations that is low profile (e.g., form factor of eyeglasses/sunglasses), securely and wirelessly imports and exports FMV or data feeds, supports augmented reality, integrated sensors, is configurable with software applications (apps), offers or collects actionable battlefield information, and provides map displays with situational awareness data.

Low SWaP soldier central processing unit to analyze and exploit ISR, FMV and data feeds, then sends to soldier, small team, or external asset.

Miniaturization of visual augmentation systems.

Through-wall imaging/sensing.

Power and Energy/Lighten the Load (Dismounted Operator) • Lighten the load for the dismounted SOF operator to the extent that he is

safe and unencumbered while executing the mission, without adversely impacting his survivability and ability to communicate, move and shoot. Reduce the mass and volume of carried equipment.

• Decrease the overall carried equipment mass and/or volume for the dismounted SOF operator (i.e., objective is fighting load plus mission load total less than 45 percent of operator body weight) with no decrease in current capability (i.e., reduce size and/or weight for all nonpowered and powered equipment to the extent possible, which includes intelligent, efficient power and distribution management).

• Design solutions that incorporate the dismounted operator as a system, with his powered and non-powered equipment (e.g., navigation system, radios, antennas, computers, visual augmentation systems, displays, NVGs, combat ID systems, armor, etc.) as subsystems.

• Design solutions that incorporate advanced power technologies and provide: »» Centrally wearable power on dismount. »» Intelligent and highly efficient power and distribution management. »» Automatic power charging/ recharging capability. »» Seamless integration for all powered subsystems. »» Novel power systems.

Power and Energy (Undersea Vehicles/Unattended Sensors) • Undersea Vehicles: Provide safe and increased power and longer endurance for PEO-Maritime undersea operations.

Primarily interested in air independent systems, advanced fuel cells in confined/inhabited areas, and non-flammable battery technologies.

• Unattended Sensors: Provide safe and reliable power for unattended sensors in both submerged and land environments capable of operating for at least 10 years. Provide significant energy storage capacity and power to transmit data. O

For more information, contact SOTECH Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

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