Sotech 13 6 final

celebrat ing A FS O C ' s 25th a nniver s a ry World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

Airpower Specializer Major General Eugene Haase Vice Commander Air Force Special Operations Command

Special Support for Special Missions O Safer Networks UAV Firepower O Non-Lethal Weapons O JFE Exercise

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

August 2015

Volume 13, Issue 6

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Special Operations Technology

August 2015 Volume 13, Issue 6

Features

Cover / Q&A

4

10

The Joint Forcible Entry Exercise was designed to test the ability of both special and conventional forces to work together to seize an objective in a location that is controlled entirely by an enemy.

By C. Todd Lopez

Hacking is the craft of both professionals and hobbyists. The military faces the toughest challenges because its networks support life-or-death decisions; it is shifting to mobile wireless networks that are especially vulnerable.

By Henry Canaday

JFE Exercise

Safer Networks

17 6

Special Support for Special Missions

Special Operations Command has lean forces but a fat portfolio of possible missions.

Preparing for every mission requires a robust support system.

By Henry Canaday

Departments

21

25

Not every mission calls for direct, lethal action. Today’s environment can put SOF into situations where non-lethal options are most appropriate.

By Peter Buxbaum

Last February, the U.S. Air Force announced it will be acquiring 24 MQ-9 Block 5 Reaper UAVs under the terms of a $279.1 million contract with General Atomics. The contract includes the delivery of the unmanned aerial vehicles together with spare parts and support. The MQ-9 was the first hunter-killer UAV and there are plans to weaponize other platforms.

By Peter Buxbaum

Non-Lethal Weapons

Major General Eugene Haase Vice Commander Air Force Special Operations Command

UAV Firepower

P OW ERF UL ERFU P ORTABL E P RECI SE

Industry Interview

2 Editor’s Perspective 3 Whispers/people 14 BLack WAtch 27 Resource Center

Travis Slocumb Vice President Electronic Warfare Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems

28

FLIR RECON 5

The Authoritative Word on Special Operations Defining Current and Future SOF Technologies

Recon5_Ad_update_072315.indd 1

7/23/15 3:12 PM

Special Operations Technology Volume 13, Issue 6 • August 2015

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine Editorial Editor-In-Chief

Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com Managing Editor

Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Copy Editors

Kevin Harris kevinh@kmimediagroup.com Jonathan Magin jonathanm@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents

Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • John Doyle Scott Nance • William Murray

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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE The King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Center (KASOTC), located in Amman, Jordan, provides reality-based training for special operations forces, counter-terrorism units and law enforcement agencies from Jordan and around the world. The Jordanian government, which owns and operates the facility, designed the center with the U.S. government in response to an unpredictable international security environment.

Every year, the site hosts the Warrior Competition, which brings together special operations teams from around the world to test their Jeff McKaughan skills in a range of events.

Editor There were 37 teams competing in 2015, with the Russian Counter-Terrorism team 1 taking top honors, followed by China’s Assault Hawk Commando Unit of the People’s Armed Police Force, with the Jordanian Royal Guards bringing home third place. A U.S. Marine force recon unit took first place back in 2010.

In an early plug for the 2016 event, scheduled for May 4-9, 2016, the organizers usually have to cap the number of teams at about 27, so any special operator—military or law enforcement—who wants to take part should reach out sooner rather than later. Special Operations Technology will be there, as well as at the Middle East Special Operations Commander’s Conference and the Special Operations Forces Exhibition (SOFEX), all in Amman, Jordan, in early to mid-May. Also making news recently was a DoD inspector general report on KASOTC and the U.S.-issued and managed contract for support of the facility.

U.S. Central Command (Forward)-Jordan (CFJ), is a forward-deployed command element subordinate to U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM) that operates from KASOTC. CF-J coordinates between the United States and Jordanian forces, as well as among other U.S. organizations, including the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. State Department and the military services.

U.S. Army Central Command (ARCENT) is the Army component of USCENTCOM and is USCENTCOM’s coalition forces land component command that plans, coordinates and employs land forces.

The U.S. Army Contracting Command–Rock Island (ACC-RI) awarded a firm-fixed-price contract to the KASOTC Company to provide basic life support services (such as food, water, lodging, laundry, Internet service and sanitation) at KASOTC. ACCRI awarded the sole-source contract in support of CF-J, effective March 28, 2014, with a period of performance of one base year plus four one-year-evaluated option periods. The base year of the contract had an initial award value of $6.1 million and increased to $6.7 million by the end of the base year. Option Year 1 was exercised and incrementally funded in the amount of $9.6 million and increased to $9.7 million after a May 7, 2015, modification to the contract.

In general, the report found the oversight to date had been adequate, but further improvements were necessary. Sometimes, adequate is pretty good from the inspector general!

WHISPERS

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

High-Definition Video Through Helicopter Blades Hughes Network Systems’ Defense and Intelligence Systems Division (DISD) recently demonstrated the transmission of real-time, highdefinition video through helicopter blades with no signal disruption using its unique beyondline-of-sight (BLoS) technology. The testing of the Hughes end-to-end SATCOM solution for airborne platforms was performed on a NorthStar Aviation Bell 407 multi-role helicopter, and was supported

by Boeing, General Dynamics, DataPath and Northrop Grumman. The test was the first of its kind in the Ka-band over the Inmarsat-5 (I-5) F2 satellite, part of the Global Xpress constellation.

“High-definition video with zero packet loss through rotary blades is a significant new capability for satellite communications,” said Rick Lober, vice president and GM, Hughes DISD. “The military and law enforcement personnel employing helicopters for BLoS communication have been limited in the past, but not anymore. This technology opens the door for

Ammo Order Includes Rounds for AC-130s Orbital ATK recently received domestic and international contracts for tactical and target practice medium-caliber ammunition valued at nearly $30 million.

The orders included a range of 25- and 30-millimeter tactical and target practice ammunition for multiple U.S. services and allies. The contracts are awarded through the U.S. Army Maneuver Ammunition Systems in its role as the Single Manager for Conventional Ammunition.

“Producing highly reliable ammunition for those defending their nation’s security is at the heart of our business,” said Dan Olson, vice president and general manager of the Armament Systems division of the Defense Systems Group. “Whether we are working directly with the customer or as part of an industry team, our goal is to be the partner you can count on to provide a safe, reliable product on time and within budget.”

Domestic contracts included orders for the 25-millimeter PGU-25 High-Explosive Incendiary round used with AC130 gunships, Harrier attack aircraft, and naval and ground combat weapons systems that use the Orbital ATK M242 Bushmaster automatic cannon.

Additional 25-millimeter orders included the M793 Target Practice with Tracer cartridge and the 30-millimenter PGU-15 cartridge. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

pervasive use of SATCOM-enabled helicopters over mountainous terrain, open water, natural disasters or anywhere that line-of-sight communication means are blocked or out of range.”

A new, ruggedized modem was employed during a series of flight tests to assess the capabilities of relaying real-time video from helicopters to ground operatives who could potentially be hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the aircraft. Rotary wing aircraft applications using the novel Hughes waveform technology include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance for military use, border security, search and rescue, wildfire response, news gathering and police patrol. Though testing was conducted on the Ka-band over the Inmarsat Global Xpress system via its I-5 F2 satellite, the Hughes solution can transmit across all satellite frequency bands, and may be applied to fixed and rotary wing platforms.

ISR R&D Leidos, a national security, health and engineering solutions company, was awarded a prime contract by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) to provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) concepts research and development (R&D). The multiple-award costplus fixed-fee indefinite-delivery indefinite-quantity contract has a five-year period of performance and a total contract value of approximately $49 million for all awardees. Work will be performed primarily at the ARL in Adelphi, Md. Leidos is one

of seven awardees eligible to compete for task orders under the contract.

“We look forward to providing the Army Research Laboratory advanced technology support and innovative ISR concepts to increase technical performance, improve reliability and reduce costs of existing products and systems,” said Leidos Group President, John Fratamico.

“Leidos is proud to continue supporting the Army Research Laboratory and further our commitment to strengthening national defense.”

PEOPLE

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Unit Experimental, Mountain View, Calif. Hendrickson was serving as vice commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, Joint Staff, Washington, D.C.

Daniel B. Hendrickson

Rear Admiral (lower half) Daniel B. Hendrickson has been assigned as military deputy, Defense Innovation

Christopher Maier has been appointed as the deputy assistant secretary of defense for special operations and combating terrorism, Washington, D.C. Maier previously served as senior

advisor to the director, National Counterterrorism Center, McLean, Va. Brigadier General Stephen K. Curda, U.S. Army Reserve, commander, Troop Program Unit, 351st Civil Affairs Command, Mountain View, Calif., has been assigned as commander, Troop Program Unit, 9th Mission Support Command, Honolulu, Hawaii.

SOTECH 13.6 | 3

JFE Exercise Special Ops, Conventional Forces Team for Joint Forcible Entry Exercise Rounds from an M1A1 followed by rockets from a high-mobility artillery rocket system (HIMARS) illuminated the desert, kicking off a joint forcible entry, or JFE, exercise.

The JFE was designed to test the ability of both special and conventional forces to work together to seize an objective in a location that is controlled entirely by an enemy.

As part of the JFE exercise at the National Training Center, Fort Irwin, Calif., about 1,500 servicemembers took part.

The primary goal of the JFE was to use a joint capability to seize an airfield and then, once secured, seize additional objectives and also expand the lodgment there to bring on a larger force, if needed. The concept of a joint force working together to come into an area held by an enemy, seize that area and create an opening for follow-on American forces to enter into a battle space is a joint forcible entry.

“This is about deterrence. We are making sure everybody knows that we have a capability, if we have to, to force our way into an area, if it is in our nation’s best interest,” said Chief of Staff of the Army General Ray Odierno. “I think it’s important for everyone to understand we have this capability. That’s why it is so important we work on this and practice it.”

Soldiers with the 11th Armored Calvary Regiment at Fort Irwin, along with partners from XVIII Airborne Corps; 82nd Airborne Division; 75th Ranger Regiment; 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group (Airborne); and units from the U.S. Air Force were called upon, as part of the JFE, to demonstrate their ability to work together to project American military power anywhere across the globe.

Showing the interoperability of forces and testing the ability of joint forces to work together was a critical part of the JFE, said General Joseph L. Votel, commander of U.S. Special Operations Command.

“One of the key lessons we’ve learned over the last 14-15 years of constant war from a special operations standpoint is that we are hugely dependent on the conventional forces. We don’t do anything by ourselves.

4 | SOTECH 13.6

By C. Todd Lopez

We are completely enabled by them. So this interoperability, this integration, this interdependence ... is really demonstrative of how we want to work together in the future.

It really provides our nation a much greater capability.”

Simulation Lieutenant Colonel Jon Poole, the operations officer for the National Training Center, explained the training scenario in detail, which involved the fictional countries of Atropia and Denovia.

Within the scenario, the four northern provinces of Atropia held elections nine months ago that put in charge a Balosivar ethnic group, abbreviated as “BFB,” that subsequently began ethnic cleansing of ethnic Atropians.

Three months later, “we saw some Denovian cross-border action that was condemned by the U.S. and Europe. The U.N. security council drafted some resolutions against the Denovian cross-border aggression,” Poole said.

He continued, saying that a month ago, “based on the BFB ramping up their cleansing, as well as some Denovian training actions along the border, the U.S. sent some special operations soldiers to assist in training some local personnel within those provinces in Atropia—at the request of the Atropian government—in conducting unconventional warfare operations.”

Finally, just nine days before the start of the JFE, Denovian military forces, a nearpeer army, crossed into Atropia.

Engagement The HIMARS had launched rockets over a distant mountain, not at the enemy vehicles that were visible at the base of those mountains. Where those rockets hit was not visible to spectators. But they were in fact aimed at enemy air defenses on the other side of the mountains that were protecting the landing strip American forces aimed to seize as part of Objective Desoto.

After watching Abrams tanks and three Apache helicopters eliminate Denovian forces, and the HIMARS launch its rockets over the mountains, spectators were bussed to a nearby landing strip and loaded aboard CH-47 Chinook helicopters for a 12-minute ride to Objective Desoto, where they would watch the second phase of the operation.

Desoto actually included three subobjectives—each with their own name. The first objective was the landing strip, called Objective Coolidge. Rangers with the 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, flying in CV-22 Osprey aircraft from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., about 900 miles north, would be responsible for securing the strip.

To the west of the landing strip, about 1,500 meters away, is a small town called Nur on the Fort Irwin map. For visitors, it’s one of a dozen or more fabricated prop-towns that are used for training purposes. The Army built these small towns, like Hollywood sets, all over Fort Irwin. For the Army Rangers participating in the JFE exercise, it was Objective Carter.

Less than 300 meters south of the landing strip was Objective Cleveland, another training town on Fort Irwin, called Dezashah. Paratroopers from 2nd Brigade, 82nd Airborne, would drop from the sky onto the landing strip—after it had been secured by the Rangers—and then proceed south to take control of the town.

Up in the mountains overlooking Objective Desoto were soldiers of 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group.

“They have been there for days, watching this objective. Watching and reporting everything that’s been going on out here,” said Lieutenant General Stephen J. Townsend, commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps.

Townsend explained to spectators how the Green Berets had used “covert infiltration platforms to sneak their guys into the battlefield.”

Outside a large hospitality tent set up near the landing strip were two trucks. One was a flatbed loaded with hay bales. The center www.SOTECH-kmi.com

was hollowed out so Green Berets could hide in the center. Another, a panel truck with the rear door open, looked as if it was loaded with household goods to be taken off to the city junkyard. At the very back pointing outward was a washer and dryer unit. The door to the dryer was open and it was possible to crawl into the dryer, right through its back, into the empty space at the rear of the truck where more Green Berets could hide.

Seizing Objective Desoto took the coordinated efforts of conventional forces and special operations forces. First, there were pre-assault fires around the airstrip. F-15 Eagles provided by the Air Force overflew the landing strip and dropped munitions on various enemy air-defense targets that had been highlighted by Green Berets.

Clearing out those enemy forces enabled the Rangers to seize the landing strip. They had flown in from Joint Base Lewis-McChord in CV-22s. The tilt-rotor aircraft were able to land vertically, like helicopters, drop off the Rangers, and then quickly return to the sky.

With the Rangers on the ground, the landing strip was secured. This allowed follow-on forces, the 82nd Airborne, to fly in from nearby March Air Force Base in C-130 aircraft and drop both equipment and soldiers onto the landing strip via parachute.

Spectators, who had each been given night-vision scopes with which to watch the operation at the landing strip, wouldn’t be able to see the Rangers and the 82nd take the two nearby towns that were held not by Denovian conventional forces, but terrorist forces. Nor would spectators be able to see additional U.S. forces or equipment come in, or the noncombatant evacuation operation that would happen later in the day.

What they had seen was the Rangers and the 82nd safely on the ground, with the landing strip secured—thanks to a joint effort that involved both special and conventional forces, as well as the U.S. Air Force.

The JFE involved special forces and conventional forces working together against a “hybrid threat� that included insurgents, terrorists, criminal elements and conventional near-peer forces.

Votel said the lessons learned from the JFE will ensure the Army is ready for any fight it may face in what the Army’s chief of staff has called an increasingly complex world. “This creates more muscle memory with these organizations. While we may never

exactly replicate exactly what we are doing tonight, there will be lessons learned; there will be experiences out of this, we will see things that go well, things that don’t go as well as we want them to, and we will learn from that,� Votel said. “This is about building readiness and about creating experiences together that allow us to provide options and do things in a more effective way in the future.�

Odierno said the real-world missions similar to the scenario that drove the JFE could happen anywhere in the world. “It’s up to us to have the capability to go anywhere anytime, no matter what continent it is, and be able to put a joint capability

C. Todd Lopez is with the Army News Service.

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

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on the ground that can secure terrain that then allows us to bring on follow-on forces,�

Odierno said. “We have the capability to do this.�

The general said the JFE exercise is something he wants to see happen yearly. O

W W W. D AV I D C L A R K . C O M

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SOTECH  13.6 | 5

Special Support for Special Missions Preparing for every mission requires a robust support system.

By Henry Canaday, SOTECH Correspondent Hine said experience in integrating intelligence has made LeiSpecial Operations Command has lean forces but a fat portfolio of dos wary of technologies that pretend to supply the entire answer. possible missions. Moreover, these missions stretch the physical and “Our technologies augment the intelligence professional supporting technical limits of conventional tactics and technologies.

SOCOM operators, allowing analysts to analyze.” So the Leidos tools Above all, these are special challenges for SOCOM leaders and emphasize efficiency, reducing the time and effort required to collect, operators. But they also require the support of highly capable and discover, cleanse and evaluate the data. agile private firms for many missions.

One example might be a group faking a report of Americans Some of these firms provide solutions that cross many mission burning Qurans and publishing the misinformation on Twitter and sets. Other firms offer products that suit a variety of missions. Still Facebook. The fake videos go viral on other media outlets, stirring others cater to only one or a very few specific missions. The firms up locals. In this example, Leidos dashboards would allow analysts to themselves can be as varied as SOCOM assignments and often work select the sources, analytics and visualizers needed quickly and easily. for other services in similar areas.

A single customized window would show which users promote the For example, the best intelligence is essential to almost any fake report, a map would display geo-tagged content and a window SOCOM mission. And the definition of best practices here is conwould show top authors, a histogram of published content and a bar tinually expanding as new tools become available to assess new chart of viral spread. All this could be deployed on tablets to coordiintelligence sources. nate decisions. “The ability to quickly tailor data feeds and aggregate Leidos offers several products that can provide actionable intellidata to help analysts make it meaningful is the real gence in support of SOCOM missions. “We understand power behind our tools,” explained Hine. that the proliferation of online open-source intelIn 2015, Leidos is moving its OSINT analytics platligence, or OSINT, presents an opportunity to deliver form to a scalable, cost-effective cloud environment. a different breed of actionable intelligence to support It is also maximizing use of open-source software to SOF operations,” said Parker Hine, business developreduce costs and using advanced-text analytics and ment manager for Leidos Logistics Solutions. natural-language processing to better assist intelliOnline content includes individual thoughts, gence in support of SOCOM missions. community sentiment, many media sources, sensor Air support is another function that crosses many data, official documents, audio and visual files and SOCOM missions. Special operators are almost always much other data. In any case, social media operates deployed far in advance of other U.S. forces and bases, extremely rapidly, and Hine said the ability to capture Parker Hine and require air assets to deploy, be supplied and obtain and report on social media trends quickly significantly crucial fire support when needed. assists SOCOM missions.

SOCOM is thus supported by very modest but highly varied fleets So Leidos hosts an integrated Big Data ecosystem that facilitates of combat, transport and other aircraft, fixed wing, rotary wing and collection, analysis and reporting of OSINT. “We have the ability to unmanned models. These fleets are small and SOCOM has very small augment a Special Operator’s situational awareness by closely monisustainment forces, so private firms play an important role in keeping toring social media and local news sources and layering historical these aircraft flying. data to anticipate future trends,” Hine said.

For example, Parker Aerospace Customer Support provides In urban environments, Leidos tools allow intelligence professustainment of Parker products on military aircraft and vehicles for sionals working on SOCOM missions to monitor specific neighborSOCOM. Bonnie Peat, vice president of Parker Customer Support, hoods by tracking several social networking sites simultaneously, all said these products include flight controls, hydraulics, fuel, inerting, the while also following traditional media and broadcast news. “In filtration, fluid conveyance, thermal management, pneumatics and the past, this work was done manually, for instance through Google other systems. searches or by trolling content on social media sites,” Hine explained.

“Parker provides more than 80 services in support of SOCOM To improve upon this manual process, Leidos focused on cenfleets over the entire military program life cycle,” Peat noted. Some of tralizing online content to save time and adding analytical tools to these services are engineering, evaluation, troubleshooting, training, unearth richness. Tracking this content over time reveals the promiproduct improvement, support equipment, logistics management, nence of political actors, key voices and influencers and the strongest depot public-private partnerships, on-site representation, program media channels. All this is in addition to the traditional intelligence, management, spares, repairs and long-term support contracts. such as documents, secrets and strategic information that makes its Peat stressed that Parker has a fully trained global team and its way online. organizational structure is dedicated to assisting SOCOM and other Leidos has created an open platform that allows intelligencemilitary branches. The firm is continually expanding its military support staff to rapidly customize the data needed for specific mispartnerships. These can be formal public-private partnerships with sions and gives them the flexibility to modify sources of data as a military support units or simply programs to integrate improvements mission evolves. “No two missions are the same,” Hine stressed. “You of Parker components in aircraft or other vehicles and thus extend the cannot alter a mission to fit the application supporting the mission.” life or improve the capabilities of these assets.

So Leidos’s application is easily adaptable to each individual mission.

6 | SOTECH 13.6

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Other firms provide very specific products and services that support a variety of SOCOM missions. Technology is crucial here, and firms usually concentrate on specific mission sets.

SRC technology and services support many SOCOM missions, explained Tom Wilson, vice president of product accounts. For example, for missions to deny adversaries refuge, SRC developed its lightweight counter-mortar radars (LCMRs) to detect incoming fire, provide early warning and trace fire to its origins. SRC’s AN/TPQ48, AN/TPQ-49 and AN/TPQ-50 LCMRs locate mortar fire over 360 degrees, can be air-dropped and operate on batteries, vehicle power or a small generator.

Wilson said LCMRs can now be reprogrammed and thus support many other missions. For example, they conduct short-range air surveillance along borders and for protection of critical assets. And SRC is now demonstrating how LCMRs can simultaneously do both counterbattery and air-surveillance missions.

For counter-unmanned aircraft system (UAS) missions, SRC has combined air surveillance radar with an electronic warfare system and an electro-optical/infrared camera. Together, these systems provide wide-area surveillance, detection, tracking, classification and identification of UASs. An optional direction-finding capability aids in locating both UAS and UAS controllers.

For missions that must detect adversaries or dangers through barriers, SRC has developed foliage- and wall-penetrating radar. The airborne Forester foliage-penetration radar was developed by SRC with sponsorship by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the Army and SOCOM. Forester provides standoff and persistent wide-area surveillance of dismounted troops and vehicles moving through foliage.

SRC is also developing a small synthetic aperture radar/ground moving target indicator, deployable on small tactical UASs, to provide detailed SAR images of moving objects on the ground. Also for the ground, SRC provides its O-Pen wall-penetration radar to locate people behind concrete walls, doors and other barriers, especially in urban areas.

For force protection and covert surveillance, SRC developed its CovertWARE unattended ground sensors to monitor vulnerable points in challenging environments. And the company’s SR Hawk radar tracks personnel, vehicles, aircraft and vessels in a lightweight package.

SRC has developed several technologies to support SOCOM missions that involve chemical or biological threats or sensitive site exploitation. Its bio-threat identification assays have the sensitivity and specificity of polymerase chain reactions without conventional PCR sensitivity to environmental contaminants. “This means no timeconsuming or expensive sample cleanup is required,” Wilson stressed.

SRC’s toxin assays also work on PCR platforms, so there is no need for SOCOM personnel to carry multiple technologies to the field.

Uniquely, Wilson says SRC toxin assays can determine whether a toxin is still a threat or has degraded to a harmless state.

And SRC has developed the first real-time chemical aerosol detection and identification system (CADIS). Wilson says other current real-time sensors rely on vapor signatures of volatile compounds, and systems to detect chemical aerosols require samples to be taken to labs for analysis by mass spectrometers or other devices. SRC’s CADIS uses hand-held instruments like FirstDefender RMX already in SOCOM inventory. Then, SRC’s collector-concentrator mates to the RMX for detection of threats below levels causing permanent health damage.

8 | SOTECH 13.6

SRC’s Acu-Swab-R remains an extremely effective and easy-to-use sampler for trace detection of toxic materials, explosives and drugs on complex surfaces. Like CADIS, this tool integrates with fielded devices like RMX and increases RMX’s sensitivity to surface contaminants by four to five orders of magnitude, even on very complex surfaces like asphalt.

For decision support in anti-chemical missions, SRC provides its Acu-Cision tool with consequence-management information on almost 50,000 chemicals, including chemical warfare agents, explosives, drugs and toxic industrial chemicals. And the company is now developing a tool to select the best instrument for detecting chemicals based on local temperature and humidity. “We’re also developing a tool that lists the most probable activities at a site based on chemicals present,” Wilson said. “That is, is the site manufacturing explosives, illegal drugs, chemical warfare agents or something benign?”

Another company that supports several highly specific requirements is MacAulay Brown, which offers a variety of products, solutions and services for SOCOM users. “Our traditional services for SOCOM include intelligence analysis, engineering, logistics and training,” summarized James Soos, senior vice president for corporate strategy and communications. These efforts have been focused on areas in which MacAulay maintains significant expertise, such as intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, tasking, processing, exploiting and disseminating intelligence and unmanned aircraft systems.

“We have invested in additional technical capabilities over the last two years that are directly applicable to SOCOM missions,” Soos said. These technologies include customized enclosures, tagging, tracking and locating technologies, integrated sensors and specialized communications.

The company has mature special logistics capabilities to serve SOCOM operators working in high-threat environments across the globe. “This capability, coupled with almost five decades developing reduced signature technologies, enables delivery of the right solution at the right time, mitigating threats faced by deployed operators,” Soos continued.

MacAulay has a proven quick-reaction capability for delivering technical and engineering solutions to all defense forces. It can proceed from requirements to prototypes and then to fielded systems, including training, in weeks. Soos noted that this speed of delivery is especially important to SOCOM. The company maintains a full suite of engineering, design, prototyping, testing and evaluation, fabrication and manufacturing capabilities. These end-to-end engineering capabilities enable quick reaction and guarantee tight security and high quality.

Soos said MacAulay is continuing to refine its special-communication solutions and biometric-collection tools. It is also developing e-manufacturing, a custom-engineering capability for SOCOM forward operators. “Through portable 3-D scanning and secure communications links, the operator in the field will be able to solve mission-related problems and bring solutions to life in a matter of weeks.” E-manufacturing will enable operators to manufacture unique, innovative hardware solutions and rapidly employ them. It will speed new technologies to the front of the fight.

Dealing with improvised and other explosive devices or the possibility of hazardous materials is one of the most challenging tasks for SOCOM and other soldiers or responders. Technical expertise is essential, but experience in the field is also highly useful.

Zero Point is a service-disabled, veteran-owned small business whose leadership and staff include retired Navy and Army Special www.SOTECH-kmi.com

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Operations personnel. Director of Operations Roy Fultz says the company works with SOCOM and with explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) and electronic countermeasures units. “Zero Point plays a critical role in development and delivery of technical solutions and services in the SOF arena,” Fultz said.

Zero Point understands system engineering and integration. It translates user requirements into operationally relevant, technically feasible and timely solutions for SOCOM warfighters. The firm continually assesses the probability of success for implementing different technological approaches for warfighter needs. Its experience with cutting-edge technology, manufacturing processes, operational testing and evaluation and risks associated integrating components and systems is used daily to assess SOCOM modernization technologies.

Zero Point has developed highly capable access, disablement, exploitation and survival systems for SOCOM EOD missions before, during or after assault. These systems are also suitable for conventional EOD missions, Fultz said.

Zero Point tool sets provide first-, second- and third-line capabilities and are packaged for rapid tool identification and use. “Our tactical pull-line series is engineered to meet dismounted EOD operational requirements for quickly and effectively conducting remotepull procedures on suspicious items or ordnance,” Fultz said. “It is widely employed throughout the multi-force EOD community.”

Zero Point’s combat exploitation kits are compact yet robust, providing capabilities to sample, verify, desensitize and package suspect hazardous liquids and dry materials for transport and disposition. The company’s survival kits contain tools and information for gathering or catching food, collecting and purifying water, finding shelter, building fires, signaling, navigating and doing first aid.

Fultz said Zero Point has developed the lightest, most versatile EOD disruptor used by any of the services. Specifically developed to meet varying demands of both general and precision IED disruption, Titan can use all existing 12-guage disruption rounds. Robotdeployed or man-carried, on land or at sea, Titan is highly capable and thoroughly tested, approved for field use by the Weapon System Explosives Safety Review Board and the Joint Service Military Technical Acceptance Board.

Zero Point also provides technical services for SOCOM missions.

It supports counter-proliferation EOD master training and SOCOM advanced training programs. Zero Point subject-matter experts provide current tactics, techniques and procedures for SOCOM forces and commanders in training and evaluating chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear response, EOD procedures, electronic countermeasures and communication.

Company staff members perform classroom instruction, then combine practical training and full mission drills so EOD operators can practice tactics, techniques and procedures. Zero Point experts train Navy EOD operators with advance team training in improvised explosive devices, CBRN hazards and their detection by conducting training sessions both inside and outside the United States.

Zero Point also assists with ongoing training and evaluation of Navy EOD operators to ensure their proper integration with Army contingency response forces. It develops the training curriculum, performs operation training and conducts practical exercises. O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

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SOTECH 13.6 | 9

Preventing the hacking of military networks is a growing concern.

By Henry Canaday, SOTECH Correspondent

Hacking is much in the news today in a variety of fields. The military faces the toughest challenges because its networks support life-or-death decisions; it is shifting to mobile wireless networks that are especially vulnerable; and it is the target, not just of amateur hackers, but also of sophisticated government hacking organizations.

Fortunately, tools exist both to block hacking and to test the strength of anti-hacking defenses.

10 | SOTECH 13.6

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

Military field communication was traditionally based on radio communication, but has evolved toward more reliance on Internet Protocol (IP) networks, notes Ultra Electronics 3eTI President Benga Erinle. IP nets allow affordable addition of plug-and-play devices and software, but they have opened communication and operations to serious cyber-threats.

Typical defenses against these threats have been based on standard system architectures tying together office PCs, usually managed by IT specialists. Erinle’s focus is networks that enable chiefly machine-tomachine communications. “There are now far more sensors embedded into industrial control networks for purposes that include thermal imaging, radar tracking and climate control,” he notes.

These sensors, also known as programmable logical controllers (PLCs), are typically equipped to perform a single function. They lack design and space for software upgrades that protect against malware.

Cyberattacks on their networks specifically target PLC vulnerabilities and pose life-threatening risks to critical infrastructure that supports energy, power, transportation, dams, hospitals, airports and more.

For this reason, U.S. defense organizations have sought to implement deeply layered security that extends protections beyond the standard firewall. The objective is to mitigate intrusions once they have breached the network’s first line of defense.

For this purpose, 3eTI offers a solution to secure the endpoints of vital machine-to-machine networks. The company’s CyberFence devices include DarkNode, EtherGuard and EtherWatch. These are small pieces of hardware that plug directly into a drone or sensor, sitting between the machine and its connection to the rest of the network.

The CyberFence suite uses commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) encryption. Erinle points out that 3eTI’s systems and products are certified by the National Security Agency (NSA), ensuring effectiveness at reasonable cost.

These devices also provide a firewall for each machine. If malware traverses the network, CyberFence will control who the machine can talk to and what information it can provide. “We use deep-packet checks. If the wrong person tries to talk to the sensor, we block it,” Erinle explained.

And if somehow a protected device is compromised by theft or capture, CyberFence should continue to recognize illicit attempts to use it, block the use and alert the rest of the network.

CyberFence is used primarily by the Navy and other U.S. agencies. 3eTI is now expanding its deep-packet inspection tools to handle protocols that control the automatic loading and firing of weapons. It also is honing geo-tracking capabilities for hacks that target a machine

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

SOTECH 13.6 | 11

protected by CyberFence. “Special Operations Command operates everywhere,” Erinle observes. “If there is a cyber-incident, 3eTI plans to geo-locate those incidents and actors in real time centrally, not only providing the physical protection, but also the analytics behind endpoint cyber vulnerabilities.”

Owl Computing Technologies offers a one-way-only data diode for cybersecurity, explained president and CEO Ron Mraz. The diodes can be as small as a quarter, protecting tablets, PCs, radios, soldiers and vehicles, or much larger and more powerful devices on servers that protect very large networks and massive data flows.

Owl diodes are used by all branches of U.S. Defense forces and the U.S. intelligence community on manned and unmanned aircraft, ground vehicles and ships.

The Owl data diode actually consists of a pair of physically separated communications cards or diodes. “The pair of diodes creates a physical air gap between themselves and around the network,” explained Mraz. This air gap is mandated by the government in many instances and is best practice in others. This design means data can pass out from this diode, but data or intruders cannot come back in. And the physical hardware design means it can’t be hacked.

The diodes support a variety of data types, including files, user datagram protocol packets, streaming video, transmission control protocol/Internet protocol traffic and high-resolution images. They can transfer multiple data flows simultaneously, reliably and with extremely low latency.

Owl’s diodes are used for defense and intelligence missions, critical infrastructure and by financial institutions anywhere critical devices, processes or data need protection while transferring data out of or into protected networks.

As another layer of protection, Owl’s diode technology includes a protocol break which hides IP and media access control (MAC) addresses from exposure outside the network. “It works by terminating traffic at the send diode, converting it to unidirectional ATM [Asynchronous Transfer Mode] transport, sending it across to the receive diode, converting it back to IP and sending it on its way,” Mraz explained. “This prevents network probing against known IP addresses or devices and mapping networks, which typically precede network intrusions.”

In addition to the hardware diodes and the protocol break, Owl’s devices run on off-the-shelf servers with secure operating systems, and offer white lists, virus scanning, ASCII checking, file hashing, filtering, deep-packet inspection, checksums, file-name and type checking, role-based access and physical separation of administrative functions. All this protects not only networks and data, but also the device itself from intrusion.

Owl’s latest technology allows analysts at a high-security level to reach down and access documents at a lower-classification level without moving the documents from one classification domain to another. This alleviates a lot of paperwork and other headaches.

Another innovation enables secure transfer of files across a DualDiode one-way path into a secured facility, avoiding use of portable media such as USB sticks with attendant risks. “In the near future, we are looking to use two one-way DualDiode paths to independently support transmit and receive sides of two-way communication for something like VoIP calls,” Mraz added.

SafeNet Assured Technologies provide data-security solutions to nearly every U.S. defense, intelligence and civilian agency. Vice President of Product Management Shawn Campbell said these 12 | SOTECH 13.6

solutions secure data and protect transactions, applications and user identities across the network from the cloud to data center and endpoints.

Breaches are a matter of when, not if, Campbell stressed.

Perimeter defenses no longer suffice. “It is important to attach protection to the data itself.” SafeNet defends networks by both controlling access and encryption.

The best way to control access is by strong, multi-factor authentication, as provided by SafeNet High Assurance Authenticators, the SC650 smart card and sKey6500 USB, on user devices.

These tools, with two-factor authentication and proof-positive user identification, also protect user identities.

SafeNet’s Cross Domain Solution, the Multi-Domain eXchange (MDeX), controls networks, applications and data that must work with classified, unclassified and coalition information. MDeX protects the ingestion and release of content, data and information among different security domains.

MDeX is used in both defense and intelligence-community information sharing environments. It has been deployed on U.S. Army Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles to secure data flows between unclassified and classified environments. And MDeX is on the Unified Cross Domain Services Management Office’s Control List, allowing reuse in government environments.

Campbell said the best data encryption stays with the data, wherever it is sent. “Encrypted data is useless to hackers.” Network metadata, data about the mission or associated with network traffic, should also be encrypted. “Network traffic is increasingly under surveillance and may provide just as much value to attackers as data itself.” SafeNet can encrypt files, applications and data stored on both hardware and virtually. And it offers high-speed network encryption.

This high-speed encryption is especially useful in disaster recovery, where it avoids slowing down networks and business functions, and in communication among bases, field networks and remote offices, where data are constantly moving from location to location. Campbell says it is also important in working with the cloud. “Just about every organization has a mix of services, on-premise, private cloud and public cloud. Network encryption ensures trusted communications across cloud-based applications.”

Speedy encryption is enabled by SafeNet’s approach. Networks are comprised of seven different layers, starting with Layer 1’s basic hardware, Layer 2’s data link that transfers data and Layer 3, the network layer responsible for forwarding packets such as IP. “Most encryption is done at Layer 2 or 3,” Campbell explained.

Layer 3 encryption tunnels original IP packets to encrypt IP headers. This can increase overhead, complexity and processing time. So SafeNet uses Layer 2 standalone hardware encryption, optimized for Ethernet networks and avoiding tunneling of IP packets. This can boost network speed by up to 50 percent.

To manage encryption, SafeNet offers a Hardware Security Module (HSM), built on dedicated crypto-processors designed to protect the crypto-key lifecycle. “HSMs are trust anchors that protect cryptographic infrastructure by managing, processing and storing crypto keys in a hardened, tamper-resistant device.” These are the only U.S.-made HSMs used in defense and intelligencecommunity key infrastructures.

Campbell stressed that SafeNet, although a subsidiary of Gemalto, is a U.S. company that manufactures and supports most of its products in the United States. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

Fortinet provides end-to-end network security at every possible entry point from data center to the cloud, summarizes Derek Manky, senior global security strategist for FortiGuard Labs, which researches threats for the firm. Its solutions include Unified Threat Management, a current Next Generation Firewall and tomorrow’s Internal Network Firewall. Services include antivirus, intrusion prevention, antispam, Web filtering, botnet protection, IP reputation, application control, virtual private networks and a Sandbox to spot sophisticated attacks.

“Many services only detect threats,” Manky noted. “We can prevent and mitigate them before they enter the network.” Other Fortinet advantages are a wide array of services, easily managed and backed by more than 200 threat analysts.

Fortinet can protection against client-side attacks, server hacks and modern threats like distributed denials of service (DDOS). Its huge global security operation center means customers need not hire tactical teams since Fortinet likely has new threats covered.

Manky said too many security firms simply chase bad guys, letting hackers move first, then reacting with security updates too late. Fortinet has invested in proactive security with a team of white-hat hackers spotting security holes before bad guys do.

“We close them with Intrusion Prevention Systems unique in the industry.” The company has also developed algorithms, predictive techniques and early warnings to catch zero-day threats with actionable intelligence.

Fortinet’s latest services protect against DDOS and threats to mobile devices, and its Sandbox now scans for zero-day attacks by advanced persistent threats.

Other firms specialize not on protecting networks but on making sure protection works. For example, Spirent does not make, but validates the performance of, security and anti-hacking solutions and monitors trends in threats against military networks.

The military is now deploying mobile devices, and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has certified Android and iOS for unclassified use in the field and is in the process of certifying these systems for classified purposes, noted Victor Fernandez, director of Spirent’s Federal Business Segment. Defense is also developing its own app store for downloading of military apps, which Fernandez expects will propagate quickly.

One major security challenge is that data from military devices are being transmitted over the air, even if it is encrypted. Defense is very concerned about wireless security, and there is plenty of malware that targets Android devices, although much more than malware that targets iOS, Fernandez said.

Spirent can generate attacks on networks, including mobile wireless nets, so the government can verify that its firewalls detect attacks. The company’s test-cloud subscription keeps up to date on both malware and exploits, the messages that attack vulnerabilities in an app or operating system to gain access to the system.

Spirent can move to mimic new threats like last year’s Shellshock and Heartbleed within 24 hours. “We can validate that the firewall and intrusion protection systems (IPSs) work,” Fernandez stressed. He said that staff in operating centers is generally unaware that IPSs and firewalls only detect about 30 percent of known attacks. Spirent can do much better because it now has one of the world’s largest libraries of exploits and is building one of the largest libraries of malware. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

If a military unit has a policy against using its devices to access services such as Facebook or Twitter, Spirent can also mimic traffic from these sites to ensure the policy is being obeyed.

One special vulnerability of military networks is that they may be attacked by governments with thousands of very sophisticated hackers. And the military relies on many systems with GPS and time signals, another vulnerability.

So U.S. intelligence agencies try to stay on top of foreign cyberthreats and military units share information on detected problems, much like banks share information on cyber-threats specific to their activities.

Still, “there is a lot of concern about communication networks,” said Lloyd Wihl, director of technical sales at Scalable Network Technologies. “Red-teaming of communication equipment shows it’s very easy to get in. Cyber-security needs to be built-in.”

For 15 years, Scalable has been building accurate emulation models of communication networks. These models can be tested for vulnerabilities safely in a lab before their real-world counterparts are cracked. And the Scalable models can be connected to live tactical equipment like radios or battlefield simulation systems to see how cyber-attacks might affect not just communication but actual combat.

Scalable network emulation is used throughout the big Army and by the Air Force. Wihl would like to support Special Operations Command as well.

Some network vulnerabilities stem from simple human error, staff mistakenly clicking on the wrong email or the wrong person grabbing the right credentials. So Scalable has recently developed training systems “to harden the weakest element,” Wihl explained.

The aim is to teach operators to realize when they are under attack by recognizing subtle signs and then to take the right actions to contain the attack.

Wihl said many security solutions focus on platforms, but data are moving around networks, including wireless tactical networks.

“Mobile ad-hoc networks assume all nodes cooperate, and that introduces vulnerabilities. Wireless is easy to disrupt or jam. And you can pick up transmissions even if they are encrypted, getting locations and commanders.” It’s important to protect these ad-hoc wireless nets from wormholes, rushing attacks and disruptions that force traffic through malicious routes.

“We can model those attacks, assess the effects on the network, on command and control and on degraded assets,” Wihl said. Using emulation, Scalable can economically Monte Carlo many threat scenarios to estimate realistic probabilities of the effects on command and control and missions.

Wihl thinks military networks have two main vulnerabilities.

First, spoofing could trick operators into downloading software that could stay on machines for years. Second, wireless tactical networks are set up quickly by soldiers who cannot be cyber experts on the battlefield and with equipment whose battery power cannot support the sophisticated defense used in fixed systems. Radios can be captured, and wireless can be jammed. Controls on mobile ad-hoc networks make assumptions that simply may not be true.

Emulation, testing and training are Scalable’s responses to these vulnerabilities. O For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

SOTECH 13.6 | 13

BLACK WATCH Joint Special Operations Command & SOCOM PEO-SW to Conduct Industry Collaboration Days The Program Executive Office Special Operations Forces Warrior (PEO-SW) and Joint Special Operations Command ( JSOC) will be holding industry collaboration days on October 20-22, 2015. PEO-SW provides rapid and focused acquisition of special operations forces-peculiar capabilities to SOCOM operators conducting decisive ground SOF activities and global operations against terrorist networks. The purpose of this event is to provide the industry with an opportunity for a focused engagement with members of PEO-SW and JSOC to share ideas that facilitate the delivery of innovative capabilities to the SOF warfighter. To alleviate any confusion regarding this event, please read the whole announcement thoroughly and refer to the agendas provided.

The JCTE Solutions Event will be held at the Davis Conference Center, MacDill AFB, Fla. JSOC’s Technology Needs listing includes multiple needs in each of the following functional areas: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Breaching Communications Electronic Warfare Fire Support Information Technology Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Knowledge Management Lighten the Load Mobility Scalable Effects Engagement/Non-Lethal Power and Energy Soldier Survival Target Engagement Visual Augmentation Other Needs Areas

Warfighting commodity areas of interest for White Papers include: • • • • • • •

Ground Mobility Visual Augmentation Systems Weapon Systems Ammunition/Demolition Soldier Protection, Survival and Equipment Systems Tactical Combat Casualty Care Medical Systems Find, Fix, Finish, Exploitation and Analyze Capabilities

14 | SOTECH 13.6

AN/PRC-117G Manpack Radio Harris Corporation has received a $36 million order from the Marine Corps to supply Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-117G Multiband Networking manpack radios that will enhance and extend voice and data connectivity down to the squad level.

The radios provide high-bandwidth communications for streaming video, simultaneous voice and data feeds and other situational awareness capabilities in a small, lightweight design.

“With the AN/PRC-117G, Marines on the move and their field commanders will have access to critical, real-time information to support the types of contingency operations they anticipate in the future,” said Brendan O’Connell, president, tactical communications, Harris Communication Systems. “This award is another step in helping the Marine Corps expand the application of wideband tactical networking.”

Marines Order SUGVs

iRobot Corp. has received a $9.8 million order from the U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command for 75 SUGV robot systems, manportable robots with a dexterous manipulator for dismounted mobile operations.

A smaller and lighter version of the combat-proven iRobot PackBot, SUGV enters areas that are inaccessible or too dangerous for people, providing situational awareness and state-of-the-art technology for infantry troops, combat engineers, EOD technicians and other personnel.

“As threats persist globally, iRobot is proud to continue partnering with our defense forces to provide this life-saving technology,” said Tom Frost, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot’s Defense & Security business unit. “Rugged, lightweight robots like SUGV enable a safer and more effective way to conduct a variety of dangerous missions.”

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Augmented Reality Software Rapid Imaging Software (RIS) has announced that SmartCam3D View, an augmented reality (AR) software, is currently in flight testing. The software brings the power and utility of augmented reality to small drone platforms and allows small UAS/drone operators to view augmented reality overlays such as way points and geographic points of interest during a flight. This technology offers visual obstacle avoidance displays for airspace safety and enhanced mission effectiveness.

Mike Abernathy, the company’s founder and director of development, noted, “We have made our augmented reality engine compatible with mobile computing. This technology

ensures that the operator knows where they are looking and flying at all times.”

Rapid Imaging Software has a long history of innovation.

SmartCam3D has been deployed in every U.S. Army Shadow and Gray Eagle UAS system since 2003 and every U.S. Marine Shadow UAS system since 2007. In 2014, the Army tasked RIS to create an integrated library version of SmartCam3D. The integrated video library model was successfully demonstrated in 2015.

SmartCam3D View delivers new technology for the drone market and is one of several new AR products that will be available from Rapid Imaging Software the last quarter of 2015.

Hydra Rocket Production General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, was recently awarded two contract modifications by the U.S. Army Contracting Command in Redstone Arsenal, Ala., for production of the 2.75inch (70 mm) Hydra-70 air-to-ground rocket system for U.S. military services and Foreign Military Sales customers.

Both options exercised are part of a supplies contract originally awarded to General Dynamics in 2014.

Hydra-70 is a family of unguided rockets offering several warhead configurations that enable an aircrew to match the rocket to the specific mission. Rockets can be fired from a variety of rotary- and

fixed-wing platforms, including the U.S. Army Apache and U.S. Marine Corps Cobra attack helicopters, the U.S. Air Force F-16 and combat aircraft of many nations worldwide.

“General Dynamics has been in continuous production of Hydra-70 rockets since 1996,” said Dan Paul, vice president and general manager for Precision Systems Inc., General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems. “Our Hydra-70 rockets provide the warfighter with firepower that is versatile, affordable and reliable in multiple combat roles. We look forward to the continuation of our strong partnership with the U.S. military and its allies.”

High-Power Traveling Wave Tube Amplifiers Comtech Telecommunications, a Santa Clara, Calif.-based subsidiary of Comtech Xicom Technology Inc., has received an award of $1.6 million from a U.S. military integrator to supply high-power traveling wave tube amplifiers (TWTAs).

The rugged outdoor antenna-mount TWTAs are to be used in transportable satellite uplinks for tactical military satellite communications (MILSATCOM).

“Comtech is supporting our customer on a major multi-band MILSATCOM system upgrade with our reliable, high-performance, high-power TWTAs,” said Dr. Stanton Sloane, president and chief executive officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp.

“We are proud to be selected to sustain our troops’ critical satellite communications needs.”

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

First of 37 An AC-130J Ghostrider gunship landed at Hurlburt Field, Fla., July 29, making it the first in Air Force Special Operations Command’s programmed fleet of 37.

After completing the initial developmental test and evaluation by the 413th Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., the aircraft will be flown by the 1st Special Operations Group Detachment 2 and maintained by the 1st Special Operations Aircraft Maintenance Squadron during its initial operational tests and evaluations at Hurlburt.

“Putting it through these tests will allow us to wring out the AC-130J in a simulated combat environment, instead of the more rigid flight profiles in formal developmental testing,” said Lieutenant Colonel Brett DeAngelis, 1st SOG Det. 2 commander. “Now that we know the equipment works when we turn it on, it’s our task to determine the best way to employ our newest asset.”

For most, this new gunship is the future.

“The AC-130J brings new technology to the table for AFSOC with more efficient engines, improved fuel efficiency and the ability to fly higher, further and quieter,” said Master Sergeant Michael Ezell, 1st SOAMXS production superintendent. “Additionally, the modified weapons system it possesses is a precision strike package that was collected from the older models, such as the laser-guided bombs and AGM-176 Griffin bombs, and combined to give us all the capabilities of the AC-130W Stinger II and AC-130U Spooky all in one package.”

The gunship is a modified MC-130J Commando II, containing advanced features that will enable it to provide ground forces with an expeditionary, direct-fire platform that is persistent, suited for urban operations and capable of delivering precision munitions against ground targets.

SOTECH 13.6 | 15

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Airpower Specializer

Q& A

Depending on Advantages in Training and Equipment Major General Eugene Haase Vice Commander Air Force Special Operations Command Major General Eugene Haase, is the vice commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla. The command is the Air Force component of U.S. Special Operations Command. AFSOC provides Air Force special operations forces for worldwide deployment and assignment to unified combatant commanders with approximately 19,000 active-duty, Reserve, Air National Guard and civilian professionals.

Haase was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps and earned his wings in 1984. During his 31 years of service, he has been a pilot, an instructor and an evaluator pilot. He held staff assignments at a major command and a unified command, Headquarters Air Force, and commanded at the squadron, group and wing levels. He is a command pilot with more than 3,500 flying hours in the UH-1N, MH-60G, HH-60G, MH-53, HC/MC-130P, MC-130H, C-130E and CV-22. He has flown 114 combat hours supporting operations Just Cause, Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Provide Comfort and Allied Force.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in aerospace engineering and mechanics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minn., in 1983, and a Master of Science degree in management, Troy State University, Troy, Ala., in 1992. In 2002, he earned a Master of Arts degree in national security and strategic studies from Naval War College, Newport, R.I. In 2008, he attended the National Security Studies Program, George Washington University, Washington, D.C. and the School of Government, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.

His awards and decorations include: Defense Superior Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Legion of Merit with oak leaf cluster; Bronze Star Medal; Defense Meritorious Service Medal with oak leaf cluster; Meritorious Service Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Air Medal with two oak leaf clusters; Aerial Achievement Medal with three oak leaf clusters; and the Air Force Commendation Medal.

Q: First, congratulations to AFSOC on its 25th birthday! From where AFSOC is today and looking out over the past 25 years, what have been some of the major milestones in capability leaps or technological advancements?

A: In 1990, AFSOC looked a lot different than it does now. Twentyfive years of near-continual armed conflict and changes in the conduct of warfare have resulted in a force we couldn’t have predicted then. Many of the technological upgrades like faster www.SOTECH-kmi.com

airplanes, better radars and more accurate weapons have come as the result of refining existing systems—a very expected progress.

As an example, the Vietnam-era MC-130E Combat Talon I is now fully retired, and the newer MC-130H will also retire as we field the MC-130J. The MC-130P Combat Shadows are likewise retired, as they also will be replaced by MC-130Js in a move toward commonality across our C-130 fleet. The AC-130 gunships have progressed through a series of technological advancements, including the addition of small diameter bombs and missiles. As we convert new MC-130Js to the AC-130J gunship configuration, we will field an all J-model fleet for AFSOC. This has long been a goal of AFSOC, the results of which will produce tremendous combat improvements, training and maintenance efficiencies and ultimately large cost savings.

In addition to a steady series of technological advances, AFSOC has also incorporated several game-changing capabilities and applied them successfully to the battlefield. In 1990, we did not have an ISR platform. We did not operate remotely piloted aircraft (RPAs), nor did we have the ability to exploit that intelligence and rapidly disseminate it to ground and air assets. Real-time, full-motion video was not developed. The MH-53J Pave Low and MH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters provided dependable infill platform in the 1990s environment, but lacked the speed and range required to conduct future SOF missions. We had no small-mobility platform to move special operations forces when an MC-130 or SOTECH 13.6 | 17

helicopter was not either appropriate for the mission or available.

Q: And the RPA help fill that ISR need?

A: Development of RPA capability opened a completely new dimension in AFSOC. Because of the long-standing requirement to successfully track a mobile enemy and provide real-time video to a ground commander, incorporation of the Predator was revolutionary. The concept of putting a remotely controlled aircraft overhead nearly every SOF operation, either in a reconnaissance role or providing active over watch, became so much a part of the AFSOC mission we built and operate a squadron of Predators.

We later added a second ISR squadron as the MQ-9 Reaper became available.

To complement these unmanned ISR With the integration of the C-130J model, AFSOC has experienced a 20-percent increase in aircraft availability when compared with assets, AFSOC fielded the U-28, a small their legacy C-130 fleet. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force/by Senior Airman Stephen G. Eigel] manned ISR aircraft. As the capabilities of difficult to compare their costs with our legacy aircraft MRO that the U-28 began to mature, the demand grew, resulting in a second is supported by an organic workforce. squadron of these as well.

Each of our ISR assets has its own niche, and AFSOC continQ: How much space (from an architecture and SWaP perspective) ues to evaluate how best to provide ISR to satisfy SOF requiredoes the MC-130J/AC-130J aircraft have for future needs you ments on the battlefield. As we look back at the past 25 years, envision for the aircraft? this application of ISR and the results it produced on the battlefield in support of special operations may be our most dramatic A: AFSOC’s AC/MC-130J has both AC and DC electrical power technological advancement. advantages over the basic C-130J. We believe these upgrades will handle our electrical loads into the foreseeable future. AFSOC is Q: Was it a long road to bring the CV-22 to AFSOC? strategically balancing the need to expand capabilities on both platforms, as we are part of the Air Force’s C-130J upgrades A: The arrival of the CV-22 Osprey culminates a long research designed to meet FAA and ICAO Communications Navigation Surand development effort, and it fills a capability gap we expeveillance/Air Traffic Management mandates. rienced during the failed hostage rescue attempt in Iran in With the development of a special mission processor, indepen1980—the ability to prosecute a SOF mission during one period dent of the aircraft’s primary computers, we are creating a separate of darkness. AFSOC helicopters had reached the end of their architecture for our mission specific needs. Obviously, the aircraft effective life cycle and development of another helicopter would does not have unlimited space, so each new capability must focus not solve the need for increased speed and range in a vertical on reducing the size, weight and power footprints. lift platform.

Working with our program offices, we strive to maintain curThe new tilt-rotor technology promised to solve both probrent performance of the aircraft as we add new capability. lems, giving us a huge advantage in future operations. Designed for Air Force Special Operations, AFSOC received its first CV-22 Q: There are efforts to weaponize the CV-22. Do you envision Osprey in November of 2006 and conducted the first operational the weapons as being simply additional self-protection, or is deployment of four CV-22s in Mali during October and November the aircraft a candidate for a more direct action, gunship-like of 2008. Today, these unique aircraft are deployed across the globe platform? supporting SOF with a rapid vertical-lift capability.

Q: As the C-130Js come online, have you seen improvements in your overall sustainment and MRO [maintenance, repair and overhaul] costs as the average of the fleet has improved?

A: As expected, we have seen improvements with our MC-130J fleet. We have experienced a 20-percent increase in aircraft availability when compared with our legacy C-130 fleet.

Most of our MRO work is supported through the original equipment manufacturer or contract logistic support, so it is 18 | SOTECH 13.6

A: AFSOC has had a long-standing requirement to provide the CV-22 with self-protection for operations into and out of contested landing zones.

Today, the CV-22 has a single ramp-mounted machine gun for protection behind the aircraft. We would like to be able to provide defense in all quadrants, and we’re looking at a variety of solutions to make that happen.

However, we do not envision modifying the CV-22 into a direct action, gun-ship like aircraft. The CV-22 is flying and performing www.SOTECH-kmi.com

very well. It’s fast, can land anywhere and is all that we ask it to be.

Q: The Air Force Special Operations Air Warfare Center is responsible for AFSOCspecific training and education. A couple of questions about the center. First, how does the center go about its work, which ranges from aircraft including large multi-engine, rotary wing, UAS and non-standard, as well as other non-aviation and personnel training? Second, how are partner nations selected for training with the center and what training do they receive? Finally, how much does the center use simulators and computer-based simulations for training?

A: Our Air Warfare Center relies on the 19th Special Operations Squadron (SOS) at Designed for Air Force Special Operations, AFSOC received its first CV-22 Osprey in November of 2006 and conducted the first deployment of four CV-22s in Mali during October and November of 2008. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force/by Technical Hurlburt Field, Fla., and the 551st SOS at operational Sergeant Stacia Zachary] Cannon AFB, N.M. to train our fixed-wing directed energy as both a potential weapon and a defensive system aircrew on six different types of aircraft: AC-130U, AC-130W, C-145, for AC-130 aircraft, so we are definitely following the technology C-146, MQ-9 and U-28. Our aircrew training includes initial qualifidevelopment closely. Imagine that something in the middle of cations as well as upgrade training for our aircraft commanders and the night just stops working, but you did not hear or see anyinstructors. We do this with a highly skilled cadre of active duty and thing. A generator stops; communication nodes quit working; a reserve instructors, augmented by experienced contract instructors. vehicle will not start. This is what directed energy can bring to Another large contributor to AFSOC training is the 371st the fight.

Special Operations Combat Training Squadron here at Hurlburt, which is responsible for Air Commando tactical ground training Q: To what extent has AFSOC provided support to AFRICOM and as well as advanced skills training for security forces and small to any friendly nations in support of operation—for example, in unmanned aerial system operators.

Nigeria against Boko Haram and in the search for the Chibok For partner training, multiple avenues exist to select partner Girls? nations (PN) for training and education. Theater special operations commands select and submit geographic combatant comA: AFSOC continues to provide support to AFRICOM by working mand-validated PN engagement priorities to USSOCOM for global side-by-side with partner nations to foster relationships, build prioritization and resourcing. Once selected, AFSOAWC combat capacity and empower these nations to engage in a full spectrum aviation advisors may provide PNs with mobility, ISR and light of military operations. strike training utilizing the PNs own assets.

We also deploy mobile training teams to conduct the aviation PNs may also be selected to attend USAF Special Operations foreign internal defense mission and medical personnel who supSchool (USAFSOS) courses at Hurlburt Field, including the Buildport Medical Civil Action Program activities. ing Partnership Aviation Capacity Seminar and the Contemporary Specific examples of these efforts are seen in various exercises Insurgent Warfare Course. In FY15, USAFSOS plans to educate where AFSOC airmen work diligently building partnership capacmore than 50 international officers from 12 different countries. ity by providing airlift, and intelligence, surveillance and reconLastly, AFSOAWC heavily employs simulators for initial qualinaissance training. fication training and advanced tactical training. In 2014, we flew over 19,000 hours in simulators, which represented a significant Q: As we close out—and with the memories of the previous 25 cost savings compared to costs associated with flying our aircraft. years—what is the vision for AFSOC’s path from year 26 and Simulators were also used during exercise Emerald Warrior. We beyond? connected our simulators with Air Combat Command fighter simulators and other SOF ground components, such as Army A: It should be no surprise that AFSOC is always looking to the Special Forces and Navy SEALS, and executed joint training using future to see what we can do better, and what equipment and trainreal-world scenarios. ing we need to succeed. If history has taught us anything, it is that special operations forces need to maintain the advantage that techQ: What role does AFSOC have in developing directed energy nology and training can provide. We succeed only by our ability to technology and its incorporation into tactical aircraft? What can better perform and utilize the equipment we possess. Our enemies you tell me about that program? are not stagnant, but continually revise their tactics. We prevail by being agile, capable, and having people trained to adapt to A: We work closely with the Air Force Research Lab, the lead for changing requirements. AFSOC invests heavily in each operator, developing directed energy technology. We have an interest in www.SOTECH-kmi.com

SOTECH 13.6 | 19

The MC-130P Combat Shadow breaks away from the heritage formation of three MC-130 variants over Okinawa, Japan, Jan 26, 2015 symbolizing the retirement of the MC-130P and the continuing mission of the MC-130J Commando II and the MC-130H Combat Talon II. The 353rd Special Operations Group performed the unique formation to commemorate the enduring legacy of MC-130 operations in the Pacific. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Air Force/by Senior Airman Maeson Elleman]

providing education and training to prepare them to make decisions and execute missions amid fluid environments.

Our Special Tactics (ST) Airmen are a great example of the focus and future of AFSOC. Our ST airmen face increasing global demands and are vital to integrate air power, both with special operations forces and to precisely fix ground targets. AFSOC seeks to more rapidly transition off-the-shelf technology to better train and equip ST airmen, integrating new and changing technologies at a more rapid pace. These efforts will increase the relevance and survivability of our ST airmen. At the same time, we recognize the effects of 14 years of continuous war. We are seriously addressing physical, mental, spiritual readiness and resilience of ST personnel. Much like the efforts that go into preparing top athletes, we prepare our operators to successfully perform on the battlefield, and have extensive programs to care for their needs as they transition back to their units.

The next AFSOC focus area for the future is the mixture of our aircraft against the mission sets we deploy, and the proportions of each. In a fiscally-constrained world, we must continually evaluate the amount of airlift, ISR and strike we provide to meet SOCOM requirements in support of the global combatant commanders.

Obviously, we will never have enough assets to fully satisfy every requirement, so constant evaluation is required, creating an optimal mix as we go forward. The mix of the force must also be flexible enough to shift focus when needed. No one can forecast the perfect solution, so it requires continual reassessment against changing environments.

Like I said in the opening, we are replacing our 57 aging legacy MC-130E/H/P aircraft with a common fleet of 57 MC-130Js that, like the AC-130J gunship, represent a major leap in capability, as it can fly higher, faster and farther, and carry more cargo, than 20 | SOTECH 13.6

any of our older aircraft. With the addition of terrain-following radar and advanced survivability modifications over the next several years, the MC-130J will provide SOCOM a highly capable all-weather infil/exfil/resupply platform well into the foreseeable future. Lockheed Martin is scheduled to deliver AFSOC’s final MC-130J in 2024, with AFSOC scheduled to retire the last legacy MC-130 in 2026.

We also have a plan in place to replace our 37 AC-130H/U/W aircraft with 37 new AC-130Js in a single configuration with an advanced suite of sensors and precision weapons, which will provide a menu of scalable effects on the battlefield.

Finally, the Air Force and USSOCOM are in the process of replacing all their MQ-1B Predators with the more capable MQ-9 Reaper. The MQ-9 can fly faster and farther, has a longer loiter time, and can carry larger payloads, whether they are advanced sensors or weapons. AFSOC’s transition to an all MQ-9 fleet will take place over the next several years in line with the Air Force’s acquisition strategy.

We continue to enhance the special operators we develop and provide them with the best equipment available, all within our special operations niche. We were created as a small force to do missions that were not designed for the larger, conventional force. We depend on advantages in training and equipment to offset what we lack in pure numbers. We know from experience that everyone wants more AFSOC. The more effective AFSOC is in providing specialized airpower, the more combatant commanders will incorporate AFSOC capabilities into their campaign plans. So as we look to the next 25 years, we will use our creativity, diligence and foresight to continue to build the greatest, most capable Air Commando force possible. People will always be the pillar we build on. And serving this nation’s needs will always be our focus. O www.SOTECH-kmi.com

Non-lethal weapons are essential in order to incapacitate targets without killing them.

By Peter Buxbaum, SOTECH Correspondent Organizations tasked with keeping the peace have long made use of non-lethal weapons and devices to subdue public disorder. Police officers around the world carry billy clubs and truncheons to create pained compliance with public law and order. The British military was known to fire broomsticks out of rifles to quell rioters in colonial venues. The point is to restore order without causing undue harm to civilians.

More recently, the U.S. military has been involved in humanitarian, peacekeeping and nation-building efforts in which they have played a military and quasi-law enforcement role. Humanitarian assistance and peacekeeping operations in Somalia, Haiti and Bosnia in the mid-1990s saw U.S. warfighters encountering adversaries whose tactics deliberately made use of civilian populations and infrastructures, increasing the need for precision engagement capabilities that engage an enemy and generate desired outcomes without collateral damage. www.SOTECH-kmi.com

A 2005 study conducted by an American physician in Israel found the need for more effective impact rounds following the death of 600 rioters who faced the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) despite the fact that the IDF used rubber bullets. Impact rounds are projectiles that cause blunt force trauma and reduce fatalities.

Special operators are in particular need of less-than-lethal weapons and devices. Their missions often involve the stealthy infiltration of a hostile area to detain a target for interrogation and gather intelligence. Non-lethal rounds are essential to incapacitate targets without killing them.

“After the military actions were over in Afghanistan and Iraq, we were involved in policing and rebuilding those countries,” said Gregory Sullivan, president and CEO of SDI, a developer and maker of rubber bullets and other non-lethal rounds. “This is also likely to be true in future conflicts.”

The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate, headquartered in Quantico, Va., was established in 1997 to procure nonlethal weapons and devices on behalf of the American military. A July 1996 DoD directive designated the commandant of the Marine Corps as executive agent for the DoD Non-Lethal Weapons Program.

The assistant secretary of defense for special operation and low intensity conflict is responsible for policy oversight and the under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics is responsible for program oversight.

The need for non-lethal weapons is increasingly important in today’s complex environments, according to Colonel Michael A. Coolican, director of the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate.

“While our operating forces have benefited from the first generation of fielded nonlethal capabilities, the DoD Non-Lethal Weapons Program continues to improve on SOTECH 13.6 | 21

those capabilities through increased operational ranges, duration of effect and precision delivery,” he said.

The Non-Lethal Weapons Program stimulates and coordinates non-lethal weapons requirements of the U.S. armed services and allocates resources to help meet these requirements. The commandant of the Marine Corps, as executive agent, facilitates development and fielding of nonlethal capabilities to achieve counter-personnel and counter-materiel objectives with reversible effects.

“The armed services work with the combatant commanders and the executive agent through a joint process to prioritize capability gaps which drive non-lethal weapons requirements,” said Coolican. “The program budget includes Marine Corps funding in support of joint efforts for a wide range of program activities including non-lethal weapons research and development, as well as service funding for non-lethal weapons procurement, operation and maintenance support.”

At the center of the efforts to develop and field non-lethal capabilities is the need for a thorough understanding of effectiveness and risk of injury. “The DoD Non-Lethal Weapons Program coordinates these research efforts using subject-matter experts throughout the acquisition process,” said Coolican.

DoD Instruction 3200.19, issued in 2012, requires system developers to identify effectiveness and risk of significant injury for all non-lethal weapons. The program’s Human Effects Review Board provides program managers with an assessment of a capability’s potential human effects risks and recommendations for further study.

Currently fielded non-lethal capabilities include optical distractors or “dazzling lasers” that provide non-verbal warnings to deter approaching individuals at a range of 25 to 3,000 meters; acoustic hailing devices that produce focused, directional sound waves to deter individuals at ranges of more than 500 meters; and vehicle-entangling nets that can be deployed in less than one minute to puncture and lock up the front tires of an approaching vehicle. “One in particular, the Vehicle Lightweight Arresting Device, can stop a vehicle moving at 30 miles per hour,” said Coolican.

Perpetual Solutions is a distributor of HyperSpike Acoustic Hailing Devices (AHD), manufactured in the United States by Ultra Electronics. “HyperSpike was developed for military applications like shipboard hailing 22 | SOTECH 13.6

While the use of lethal force will remain an option, providing less lethal options may prevent situations from escalating.

[Photo courtesy of DoD]

for anti-piracy, early warning systems on forward-operating bases and tactical and psychological warfare,” said Gavin Washburn, the company’s director of market development. “AHDs are now used for a myriad of applications due to their unique capabilities to amplify and broadcast voice messages at great distances measured from hundreds of meters to miles.”

Hyperspike’s HS-60 model holds the Guinness world record for loudest acoustic hailing device with 140.2 decibels at 128 meters. HyperSpike currently also builds the most powerful production acoustic hailing device, the HS-40.

“HyperSpike is scalable and has virtually no internal moving parts,” said Washburn.

“It has found its way into military, law enforcement, search and rescue, border and port protection and other applications.

Users are able to alert intruders, thwart violence and danger and protect themselves and assets peacefully through the power of long-range communication that does not require the target to have anything but a pair of ears.”

HyperSpike also produces High-Pressure Speaker Arrays (HPSA) for wide-area emergency alerting, public address and emergency evacuation systems. These systems possess the same acoustic output as the HS series but project their sound omnidirectionally. The HS series are directional communication devices with acoustic beams that vary between 10 and 30 degrees, depending on the model.

Military organizations use HyperSpike in early warning systems and in connection with road blocks and shipboard hailing. The system has also been used in psychological operations in efforts to mislead adversaries, according to Washburn. The omnidirectional version of HyperSpike is often used to convey alarms to personnel at forwardoperating bases.

“In the case of a shipboard application, the security officer would carry it to the ship rail and speak directly to a perpetrator or a target,” he said. “He can also use a translation device to convey messages in different languages. People are more likely to heed verbal messages than sirens or alarms.” www.SOTECH-kmi.com

HyperSpike works like a public address system or a bullhorn, but the technology that underlies it is quite different. “In the case of a bullhorn, the sound comes out in the form of a spherical wave and goes wherever,” Washburn explained. “HyperSpike processes the sound to give it a laser effect.

It has a level of clarity and intelligibility much higher than an ordinary PA system.”

Other fielded non-lethal capabilities sponsored by the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate include: non-lethal grenades, blunt impact munitions, 40 mm and 12-gauge non-lethal warning munitions and the X26E Taser. “The Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and the National Guard Bureau have procured non-lethal capability sets and escalation-of-force mission modules,” said Coolican. “The U.S. Coast Guard has been using the LA-51 as a warning signal during interdiction operations. The device is also being used during security zone enforcement and the execution of the ports and waterways and coastal security missions.”

SDI was founded in 2005 in response to the finding in Israel that a more advanced blunt force round was required to minimize fatalities. “At the very least, there is a www.SOTECH-kmi.com

need to provide soldiers and officers with a less lethal option,” said Sullivan. “They can always move to lethal force if the situation calls for it.”

The company produces a 40 mm rubber blunt impact round that collapses and disperses energy over a wider area of the target’s body. “It is an energy adsorption system,” said Sullivan. “It hits more nerve endings and causes more pain than a conventional round, but penetrates the body at a lower depth.”

The rubber rounds can also be outfitted with pepper spray, tear gas or a stink bomb.

“The round provides not only the effect of blunt impact but also a blast of something else,” said Sullivan. “In the case of the malodorant smell, the round makes the target smell and feel like he’s in a sewer. The target wants to leave the area, and so does everyone around him.”

The rounds can be delivered with any type of 40 mm launching system. These rounds are often equipped with lethal and non-lethal options so that all the shooter has to do is move his finger to deliver the desired effect. The rounds can be used at a distance of between 2 and 80 meters from a target.

“Earlier generations had a maximum distance of 30 meters,” said Sullivan. “Our products give users better operational range.”

The U.S. military’s non-lethal weapons program continues to investigate innovations that appear in the market. Active denial technology uses millimeter-wave energy to provide a repel effect against human targets with minimal risk of injury.

There are currently two systems, ADS 1 and ADS 2, under evaluation.

“The DoD initially demonstrated active denial technology using long-range (1,000 meter) large spot-size (1.5 meter) systems,” said Coolican. “These systems use highpowered vacuum tube-based gyrotrons to generate millimeter waves at a frequency of 95 gigahertz that produce the active denial repel effect.”

The DoD Non-Lethal Weapons Program is refurbishing ADS 1 into a new and more robust, mobile platform. The program maintains ADS 2, a containerized version of the technology that is suitable for operational deployment. “If an operational user request is received, a plan is in place to deploy the system, train operators and provide operational support through a field service representative,” said Coolican.

The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program and the Army’s Research Development and Engineering Command (RDECOM) Armament, Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) have been collaborating on a next-generation active denial system that will use solid-state technology and yield a smaller, lighter system with a reduction in the start-up time and lower cost. “Solid-state active denial technology has the potential to provide a shorter 100-meter range, smaller half-meter spot size active denial system that offers size and weight reductions when compared to the current long-range systems,” said Coolican. “Using a gallium nitride semiconductor energy source to produce 95 gigaherz millimeter waves, solid-state active denial technology can be used as a stand-alone adjunct system that is integrated onto new or existing platforms.”

The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program is also partnering with the Marine Corps for a new capability called the Mission Payload Module-Non-Lethal Weapons System (MPM-NLWS), a non-lethal counter-personnel weapon system that provides both force-application and force-protection capabilities. The system consists of an advanced 66 mm munition, a launcher and a laser SOTECH 13.6 | 23

sighting system with an extended range of 30 to 500 meters. The system features a high volume of fire, the capability to transition from non-lethal to lethal engagements within seconds and a shoot on-the-move capability. The system can be launched from vehicles, vessels or from the ground using a tripod-mounted tube launcher.

“The MPM-NLWS capabilities are suited for missions such as stability operations, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, embassy security augmentation, and a host of other direct operations in which Marine forces must escalate and de-escalate responses during complex and changing scenarios,” said Coolican.

Another emergent technology includes the Indirect Fire Munition (IDFM), a nonlethal 81 mm mortar munition that integrates flash bang, to suppress an area at range while minimizing collateral damage.

“A pyrotechnic payload allows the IDFM to suppress or move personnel and deny access into or out of an area by delivering reversible effects on enemy personnel who may be embedded among civilian populations,” said Coolican.

The Navy is transitioning its LongRange Ocular Interrupter (LROI) to a rapid deployment capability program for initial fielding. “The LROI provides a controlled, high-intensity light beam for warning and suppression of vessel and vehicle operators,” said Coolican. “The device’s lower-power beam provides visual warning with a range of 500 to 3,000 meters, while its high-power beam provides temporary visual suppression at 500 to 1,800 meters.”

During the past year, the U.S. Air Force undertook a non-lethal escalation-of-force equipment assessment at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. “The purpose of the assessment was to become familiar with the approved non-lethal equipment and put together an equipment integration plan,” said Coolican. “Headquarters Air Combat Command, Security Forces is reviewing the equipment modules for inclusion into established unit task codes.”

Also this year, the U.S. Air Force continued to lead the development of Joint Electronic Tactics, Techniques, and Procedure Guides (e-TTPGs). Five non-lethal training modules and two videos for the Army, Air Force and U.S. Transportation Command were developed. Each module contains a student study guide, lesson plan, task performance checklist and references.

Eleven of the non-lethal modules contain 24 | SOTECH 13.6

Tasers have long been employed by law enforcement and military alike to control specific individuals. [Photo courtesy of DoD]

10-to-12-minute instructional videos.

“The modules are available via the Internet using a Common Access Card and can support all services with non-lethal training,” said Coolican.

Also in development with funding from the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Program is the Improved Flash Bang Grenade, a handthrown munition designed to deny access into and out of an area to individuals, move individuals through an area, and suppress individuals. “This technology has the potential to support multiple missions, including force protection, checkpoints, clearing spaces, crowd control and entry points,” said Coolican. Improvements to the grenade include greater light output, increased duration of flash-blindness, and debilitating sound pressure levels.

The Airburst Non-Lethal Munition and the 12-Gauge Non-Lethal Extended Range Marking Munition are also being developed for much the same missions as the Improved Flash Bang Grenade. The Airburst Non-Lethal Munition is a 40 mm round for use in the M203 grenade launcher. The round is capable of a flash-bang effect, ocular and auditory impairment, and thermal heating. The 12-gauge munition, designed for ranges of between 30 and 75 meters, provides an increased range from currently used non-lethal 12-gauge shotgun rounds and provides a marking capability so warfighters can later identify or capture a target.

The Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate is exploring the electromagnetic

spectrum to identify new and advanced non-lethal directed energy capabilities.

“High-power microwaves are showing promise as a means to non-lethally stop vehicles and vessels without harming the occupants,” said Coolican.

In concept development, the RadioFrequency Vehicle Stopper would allow for the maintenance of a safe and non-lethal keep-out zone with the use of high-power microwaves to disrupt vehicle engines by interacting with electrical components causing the engine to stall. Also on the forefront is the Radio-Frequency Vessel Stopper, which is designed to stop or disable vessels.

“This technology has the potential to support multiple missions, including force protection, port operations and vessel pursuit and interdiction,” said Coolican.

SDI is currently developing a 40 mm round that includes an electrical charge, an effect which causes neuromuscular incapacitation and can be fired from 50 meters.

SDI plans bring it to market within the next couple of years.

“The challenge is that the military wants rounds that go further,” said Sullivan. “We are constantly evolving our round to make it fit operational needs at short distances as well as out to 100 meters and further.” O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

UAV platforms are continuing their transformation from ISR to hunter-kill roles.

Last February, the U.S. Air Force announced it will be acquiring 24 MQ-9 Block 5 Reaper attack drones under the terms of a $279.1 million contract with General Atomics. The contract includes the delivery of the unmanned aerial vehicles together with spare parts and support.

The Reaper (also known as the Predator B) is a variation of the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator UAV that is designed for surveillance and attack missions using a suite of airborne sensors and the AGM114 Hellfire air-to-ground missile. While current UAVs fly at altitudes of 15,000 to 25,000 feet, the Reaper is able to loiter at 50,000 feet for up to 30 hours over a mission area. With an increased gross takeoff weight and weapons capacity, the Reaper will be armed with 16 Hellfire II missiles or a combination of Hellfires and precision-guided bombs, such as the GBU-38 JDAM or the GBU-12 laser-guided bombs.

The Reaper Block 5 also enjoys a more advanced engine, increased electrical power, secure communications and more streamlined payload integration capabilities than earlier iterations of the Predator.

This recent announcement is emblematic of the increasing reliance that the U.S. military, and, for that matter, military and non-military organizations around the world, make of weaponized UAVs. Originally designed strictly for ISR, the earlier weaponization programs involved modifying those ISR assets. Today, UAVs are being designed from the ground up for the dual purposes of ISR and attack.

There has been some controversy in recent days over the legality and the wisdom of using weaponized drones for certain types of missions. But those arguments aside, there is little controversy that combining target identification, acquisition and engagement on a single platform promotes the efficiency and the effectiveness of mission executions.

One of the original moving forces behind the military use of drones was to save on the manpower costs—both monetary and physical—associated with deploying manned aircraft over danger zones.

The original weaponization of UAVs allowed for severely limited options as far as the quantity and the diversity of the weapons that www.SOTECH-kmi.com

By Peter Buxbaum, SOTECH Correspondent could be carried. The deployment of larger UAVs, such as the MQ-9 Reaper, capable of carrying much heavier payloads, opens new possibilities for the use of GPS- and laser-guided bombs, providing UAVs with all-weather attack capabilities and making them all the more valuable on the strike, as well as the ISR, side of their capabilities ledgers.

General Atomics UAVs have been weaponized since 2001, when the original Predator MQ-1, operational since 1995, was fitted with two Hellfire missiles and became the MQ-1B. The MQ-1B routinely flew armed reconnaissance missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“The MQ-1 was first developed for the Air Force strictly for ISR purposes,” said Jason Ehret, manager for strategic development at General Atomics. “Operational needs drove the weaponization of the aircraft.”

At the time of original weaponization, the Predator platform had to be modified to allow the aircraft to accommodate the Hellfires. “We adapted a helicopter Hellfire launcher and made it work for our platform,” said Ehret. “We also had to modify the electronics and design pylons internal to the aircraft in order to allow it to carry Hellfire missiles. The missions performed by our weaponized UAVs include close air support for ground troops. We also do some time-sensitive targeting, as well as special reconnaissance missions and multi-mission roles when the aircraft moves in for a kinetic strike.”

The UAVs are aided in their missions with electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) cameras that enable both day and night operation. Some platforms also carry synthetic aperture radar, which enables weapons to hit moving targets. “The aircraft coming off the line are equipped with the Raytheon MTS-B [multi-spectral targeting system] sensor package as well as a communications package that includes RQ-10 radios, said Ehret.”

With the integration of the MQ-8B Fire Scout, a Northrop Grumman product, the U.S. Navy will be fielding the world’s first weaponized UAV helicopter. The original MQ-8A Fire Scout has been deployed since 2009 when the Navy was tasked with counter-piracy operations SOTECH 13.6 | 25

off the coast of Somalia and other surface surveillance operations. The Fire Scout has more than 600 hours of operations while deployed with U.S. Navy surface ships.

“In 2011, the fleet identified an armed Fire Scout as an urgent need for joint forces,” said Navy Captain Jeff Dodge, the Fire Scout program manager. “This led to a rapid deployment capability effort to integrate a Captain Jeff Dodge laser-guided rocket into the system to meet that need.”

Live-fire testing for the MQ-8B Fire Scout and the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS) was completed in 2013 at the Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, Calif. “This testing demonstrated the ability to designate and shoot APKWS from Fire Scout,” said Dodge. “The integration and testing were successful. The next step would be ship-based testing, but there are no immediate plans at this time.”

The APKWS, currently in its third year of full-rate production, is a guided 2.75-inch rocket which came to fill an aviation systems weapons gap between the Hellfire Missile and the unguided Hydra-70 2.75-inch rocket. APKWS uses semi-active laser guidance to strike soft and lightly armored targets in confined areas. The APKWS has achieved a 93-percent hit rate, has been demonstrated on 12 platforms and requires only minimal training for the crew. The 29-pound system uses the Hydra Universal Rail Launcher originally developed for the Comanche attack helicopter and modified for use with UAVs. The Fire Scout is equipped with an EO/IR sensor turret as part of its baseline capability. “A multi-mode radar and APKWS have been integrated and tested on MQ-8B and are planned for the MQ-8C,” said Dodge.

The Navy’s two MQ-8 variants include the MQ-8B, currently in operation today, and the MQ-8C, a larger airframe with greater endurance and payload capacity, which is now finishing developmental testing. The MQ-8B has supported deployments aboard guided missile frigates and is currently in its first deployment with a littoral combat ship. The Navy is planning to integrate APKWS into the MQ-8C platform beginning in 2016.

“Arming the Fire Scout with guided rockets will enable the fleet to engage hostile threats with the Fire Scout independent of air support from carrier or shore-based aircraft,” said Dodge. “The MQ-8 Fire Scout complements the manned MH-60 helicopter by extending the range and endurance of ship-based operations. It provides unique situational awareness and precision target support for the Navy.”

The program has procured 30 MQ-8B air vehicles and 19 MQ-8C air vehicles. The Navy currently has 23 MQ-8B and two MQ-8C air vehicles in inventory. The total program of record is for 70 aircraft, 30 MQ-8Bs and 40 MQ-8Cs. “We are always collecting new requirements from the Department of Defense, whether from the Air Force or special operations components,” said Ehret. “Most recently, we have been looking at integrating the Brimstone missile onto our unmanned platforms.”

Last year, the Brimstone multi-mission missile from BAE Systems was successfully demonstrated on a MQ-9 Reaper. In testing conducted at the U.S. Naval Air Weapons Station in China Lake, Calif., a Brimstone-equipped MQ 9-Reaper scored nine direct hits against stationary and maneuvering targets traveling at speeds as 26 | SOTECH 13.6

The Predator C Avenger, first flown in 2009, is currently in an expanded flight test program.

[Photo courtesy of General Atomics]

fast as 70 mph from up to seven miles away at altitudes as high as 20,000 feet. The missile uses dual-mode semi-active laser and active millimeter-wave radar seekers in tandem to score direct hits while minimizing collateral damage. The U.K. Royal Air Force deployed Brimstones on Tornado GR4 fighter aircraft in Afghanistan and Libya and achieved a one-shot/one-kill success rate of 98 percent in 300 operational strikes.

As far as Navy efforts are concerned, Dodge foresees the MQ-8 Fire Scout primarily supporting surface warfare and mine countermeasures missions in the near term. “We continue to assess the Navy potential anti-submarine warfare capabilities to complement the MH60R in the future,” he said.

General Atomics will be focusing on the development of an extended range variant of the Predator C, known as the Avenger, as well as integrating electronic warfare capabilities on its unmanned aerial platforms. The extended range variant of the Avenger, featuring a 76-foot wingspan and increased fuel capacity that will increase the aircraft’s endurance to 20 hours, is expected to be available next year.

The Predator C Avenger, first flown in 2009, is currently in an expanded flight test program. The aircraft is designed to perform wide-area surveillance and time-sensitive strike missions over land or sea. With higher operational and transit speeds than current Predator-series aircraft, up to 400 knots, thanks to an advanced Pratt and Whitney PW545B turbofan engine, the Avenger will feature quick responses and rapid repositioning. Its payload capacity enables it to carry multiple sensors, and its internal weapons bay can house 3,500 pounds of precision munitions.

“The Avenger will be able to carry one-thousand pound laserguided and one-thousand pound dual-mode bombs,” said Ehret.

Electronic warfare capabilities will likely assume greater importance in the United States as the military anticipates conflicts in environments less permissive than Afghanistan and Iraq. There is early work being done on equipping UAVs with electronic jamming capabilities and active countermeasures.

“We don’t have a timeline for the development of these capabilities because we don’t have any DoD requirements,” said Ehret. “This is all being performed and funded by our internal research and development in anticipation of a time a few years from now when DoD identifies a capability gap in this area.” O For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at jeffm@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

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SOTECH 13.6 | 27

INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Special Operations Technology

Travis Slocumb Vice President, Electronic Warfare Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems (SAS) is a leading provider of integrated sensor, communication and electronic warfare systems. The business also performs research in areas ranging from linguistics to quantum computing.

Travis Slocumb is vice president, electronic warfare systems (EWS), a recently created mission area within SAS, and a member of its leadership team. He leads EWS, which includes the Navy’s Next Generation Jammer (NGJ) program and the Army’s Electronic Warfare Planning Management Tool program, among others. Slocumb also oversees the development and production of tactical airborne processors.

He has published a number of technical papers and holds patents in wireless communications. Slocumb is a member of several associations, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the Association of Old Crows.

Q: What are some of the most significant programs that Raytheon is currently working on for the special operations forces?

A: Raytheon supports the special operations community with a wide variety of programs and capabilities from precision weapons, which include the Griffin missile, terrain following and terrain avoidance radars and multispectral sensors. The company recently won a contract to provide special operations forces around the world with program management and technical services.

We are also developing a capability that will enable aircraft penetration into radardenied areas in support of ground troops, and we are building small, expendable UAVs that fly below the clouds and give commanders vital situational awareness so they can see adversaries who might otherwise operate unimpeded.

Q: In electronic warfare, Raytheon is clearly a leader and well known for its work on the Navy’s next-generation jammer.

How does your team approach a program of that scope?

28 | SOTECH 13.6

apertures can simultaneously do EW, communications, radar and signals intelligence (SIGINT). We’ve conducted a number of recent demonstrations showing how effective cyber can be when hosted in an EW system. That convergence is transforming EW from being a mission enabler to becoming an effector, giving special operations forces the ability to address and negate multiple enemy capabilities simultaneously or nearly simultaneously.

A: We strategically develop technology and look for ways to increase efficiency and lower costs. We test regularly, and not just in the lab. A good example is the NGJ prototype demos flown last October at Naval Air Station China Lake. They were riskreduction exercises to assess aircraft integration, jamming techniques, beam agility, prime and array-transmit power, cooling and jammer management. It was the first time we tested all the subsystems together in an integrated, end-to-end EW system. All baseline objectives were met, and we earned the test radar operator’s highest ratings.

The high-consequence operations undertaken by today’s military must have technology that is reliable and can be easily maintained and used in some of the most challenging environments, so real-world assessment is critical.

Q: Given the demand of the military for smaller, more powerful, lighter, less expensive, open system solutions, how are you innovating to meet those needs?

A: We use high-fidelity modeling and simulation to develop scenarios that deny, disrupt and deceive the enemy’s electromagnetic capability. Anything we design has to be open architecture, flexible and easily modified or updated so that all elements can work together to deliver the required effect.

We are also actively working on convergence. It is no longer necessary to have a different antenna for every function.

Our vision includes a future where AESA

Q: Are you currently developing new products, services and solutions that you hope to bring to market in the future?

A: Absolutely. The United States and its allies are seeking to control the electromagnetic spectrum in rapidly evolving counterterrorism and anti-access/area denial threat environments, where adversaries are becoming increasingly capable, sophisticated and lethal.

By offering special operations forces low-SWaP, open system solutions that can be easily adapted and upgraded, we’ll be putting the future of intelligent EW in their hands and helping to give them maximum operational advantage as they tackle our nation’s most complex, demanding and high-risk challenges.

Q: Any last thoughts?

A: Young airmen who flew in the Vietnam War fired flare guns out of their C-130s for EW protection. Those who were lucky enough to have RF self-protection relied on older tube and horn technology that is still operational today. To ensure our troops can operate unimpeded anywhere in the world, we need to redefine the boundaries of information warfare.

Raytheon will continue to develop electronic attack, electronic self-protection, electronic support, SIGINT, communications, cyber and laser capabilities. Our goal is to demonstrate the modular, scalable, programmable building blocks of next-generation EW systems, and we’re making solid progress across the board. O www.SOTECH-kmi.com

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