Tisr 3 4 final updated

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter

ISR Supplier Stephen Kreider

www.TISR-kmi.com

December 2013 Volume 3, Issue 4

PEO U.S. Army PEO IEW&S

DCGS-A O Unattended Ground Sensors Data Storage O Multispectral Imaging

Exclusive Interview with:

Dyke Weatherington Director Unmanned Warfare & ISR Strategic and Tactical Systems

2014

Tactical ISR Technology Editorial Calendar

Feb

Mar

Apr

Jul

oct

Nov

Terry Mitchell

Maj. Gen. Tim Crosby

Col. Tim Baxter

Rear Adm. Mathias W. Winter

Stephen Kreider

Maj. Gen. John N.T. Shanahan

4.1

Director Intelligence Futures Army G-2 Special Section ISR 2014 Roundtable Features Persistent Surveillance IED Detection UAV Night Vision UGV Roundtable Trade Show AUSA Winter Closing Date

2/6

4.2

U.S. Army PEO, Aviation Special Section Manned Unmanned Teaming Features Recon Rotary Wing Who’s Who at Army PEO Aviation Sonar Rapidly Deployable Surveillance Trade Show Quad-A Closing Date

3/10

4.3

U.S. Army Project Manager UAS Project Office Special Section Supervised Autonomy Features Tactical UAVs Automating Intelligence Multi-Spectral Imaging Lasers Trade Shows SPIE SOFIC AUVSI Closing Date

4/7

4.4

U.S. Navy PEO, Unmanned Aviation and Strike Weapons Special Section ISR in Denied Areas Features UCLASS Ground Penetrating Radar Common UAS Requirements Unattended Ground Sensors Trade Shows AFA Modern Day Marine AOC Annual Conference Closing Date

7/23

4.5

PEO Army PEO IEW&S Special Section Anti-jamming/Antiintercept Features Situational Awareness Onboard Processing Capabilities Collecting Weather Data Ground Control Stations Trade Shows AUSA GEOINT Closing Date

9/19

4.6

Commander U.S. Air Force ISR Agency Special Section Who’s Who Air Force ISR Interview with Lt. Gen. Bob Otto Deputy Chief of Staff for ISR U.S. Air Force Features Manned Airborne Assets Aerostats Full Motion Video Trade Shows A6 Conference Quad-A UAS Closing Date

11/19

TACTICAL ISR TECHNOLOGY

December 2013 Volume 3, Issue 4

Features

Cover / Q&A Special Section

Multi-spectral Imaging Industry Roundtable

The science of multi-spectral imaging is enhancing situational awareness on the battlefield. TISR sought the opinion of leading industry voices and asked them the following question: What does multispectral imaging have to offer the modern warfighter?

11

Exclusive interview with:

Dyke Weatherington Director Unmanned Warfare & ISR Strategic and Tactical Systems

16

23

5

9

20

Advancements in Unattended Ground Sensors

Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A)

As Sensors Improve, Storage Beefs Up

Modern unattended ground sensors are designed to safeguard the maneuver capabilities of a highly mobile force. This is a far cry from the original acoustic and seismic unattended ground sensors used during Vietnam.

By Peter Buxbaum

Departments

2 Editor’s Perspective 3 ALL INT/People 14 ISR KIT 27 Resource Center

The project manager for DCGS-A discusses the promise and the capabilities of this exceptional intelligence system. The DCGS-A program is, in his words, the “Army’s connection to the joint intelligence community.”

By Charles Wells

The terabytes of information gathered by modern ISR systems all have to be stored somewhere. Eventually ISR information ends up on a variety of mediums such as magnetic tapes, solid-state drives and spinning disks.

By Hank Hogan

Industry Interview Ronald Rosemeier

CEO and President Brimrose Corporation

28

Stephen Kreider

PEO U.S. Army PEO IEW&S

“We don’t want to fall into the trap of fighting the last war, and instead are prepared for a much more agile threat or a much more agile technology developmental construct that allows us to be the most efficient and effective stewards of the nation’s dollars.”

—Stephen Kreider

EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

Tactical ISR Technology Volume 3, Issue 4 • December 2013

Actionable Intelligence for the Warfighter Editorial Editor Chris McCoy chrism@kmimediagroup.com Managing Editor Harrison Donnelly harrisond@kmimediagroup.com Online Editorial Manager Laura McNulty lauram@kmimediagroup.com Copy Editor Sean Carmichael seanc@kmimediagroup.com Correspondents Peter Buxbaum • Henry Canaday • Hank Hogan

Art & Design Art Director Jennifer Owers jennifero@kmimediagroup.com Senior Graphic Designer Jittima Saiwongnuan jittimas@kmimediagroup.com Graphic Designers Scott Morris scottm@kmimediagroup.com Amanda Paquette amandak@kmimediagroup.com Kailey Waring kaileyw@kmimediagroup.com

Advertising Account Executive Reid Broendel redib@kmimediagroup.com

KMI Media Group Chief Executive Officer Jack Kerrigan jack@kmimediagroup.com Publisher and Chief Financial Officer Constance Kerrigan connik@kmimediagroup.com Executive Vice President David Leaf davidl@kmimediagroup.com Editor-In-Chief Jeff McKaughan jeffm@kmimediagroup.com Controller Gigi Castro gcastro@kmimediagroup.com Trade Show Coordinator Holly Foster hollyf@kmimediagroup.com Receptionist Vania’ Jones vaniaj@kmimediagroup.com

Operations, Circulation & Production Operations Administrator Bob Lesser bobl@kmimediagroup.com Circulation & Marketing Administrator Duane Ebanks duanee@kmimediagroup.com Circulation Barbara Gill barbg@kmimediagroup.com Data Specialist Raymer Villanueva raymerv@kmimediagroup.com

The past month has seen a number of large developments in the world of UAVs at home and abroad. Most recently, the European Defense Agency endorsed a roadmap for a “European Solution” with regard to the creation of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance UAV community. An official press release from the agency included the following statement on this new community.

“The objective of this community is to exchange information as well as to identify and facilitate cooperation among member states which currently operate or plan to operate RPAS. At the steering board meeting on November Chris McCoy 19, 2013 seven member states (France, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy, the Editor Netherlands and Poland) signed a letter of intent to join the community.”

European Defense Agency, Chief Executive Claude-France Arnould placed these actions in a greater strategic context in another portion of the document.

“The discussion by heads of state and government at the forthcoming European Council is of utmost importance for European defense. We need recognition at the highest political level that defense—considering the diversity of threats and challenges—is a priority. In view of today’s constrained financial situation, this effort for defense must be fully efficient which implies cooperation and searching for synergies.

Clearly, we cannot do ‘more with less.’”

Clearly, joint cooperation between powerful nation-states like Germany and France, with mature homegrown aerospace industries, will lead to greater competition for UAV contracts over the next few decades.

It will take some time for the European UAV community to get off the ground. However, this European effort will most likely cut into the future market now led by American and Israeli firms that currently provide UAVs to states within the E.U. Not all is bad news for American UAV manufacturers, however. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration has finally released its own roadmap for integrating UAVs into domestic airspace.

For the sake of TISR’s readership, I’ve included the official FAA press release within the “All Int” section of this issue.

As usual, feel free to contact me with any questions or comments for Tactical ISR Technology.

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ALL INT

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

FAA Releases Unmanned Aircraft Systems Integration Roadmap The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released its first annual roadmap outlining efforts needed to safely integrate unmanned aircraft systems (UASs) into the nation’s airspace. The roadmap addresses current and future policies, regulations, technologies and procedures that will be required as demand moves the country from today’s limited accommodation of UAS operations to the extensive integration of UASs into the NextGen aviation system in the future.

“Government and industry face significant challenges as unmanned aircraft move into the aviation mainstream,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “This roadmap is an important step forward that will help stakeholders understand the operational goals and safety issues we need to consider when planning for the future of our airspace.”

The roadmap outlines the FAA’s approach to ensuring that widespread UAS use is safe, from the perspective of accommodation, integration and evolution. The FAA’s main goal for integration is to establish requirements that UAS operators will have to meet in order to increase access to airspace over the next five to 10 years. The roadmap discusses items such as new or revised regulations, policies, procedures, guidance material, training, and

understanding of systems and operations to support routine UAS operations.

“The FAA is committed to safe, efficient and timely integration of UASs into our airspace,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta. “We are dedicated to moving this exciting new technology along as quickly and safely as possible.”

The roadmap also addresses the evolution of UAS operations once all requirements and standards are in place and are routinely updated to support UAS operations as the National Airspace System evolves over time.

The document stresses that the UAS community must understand the system is not static, and that many improvements are planned for the airspace system over the next 15 years.

The FAA plans to select six UAS test sites to begin work on safely integrating UASs into the airspace. These congressionally mandated test sites will conduct critical research into how best to safely integrate UAS systems into the national airspace over the next several years and what certification and navigation requirements will need to be established.

The use of UASs, both at the designated test sites and in the national airspace generally, raises the issue of privacy and protection of civil liberties. In February, the FAA asked for public comments specifically on the draft

privacy requirements for the six test sites. Today, the agency sent a final privacy policy to the federal register that requires test site operators to comply with federal, state and other laws on individual privacy protection, to have a publicly available privacy plan and a written plan for data use and retention, and to conduct an annual review of privacy practices that allows for public comment.

For the next several years, the FAA will continue to use special mitigations and procedures to safely accommodate limited UAS access to the nation’s airspace on a case-by-case basis. The roadmap notes that this case-bycase accommodation will decline significantly as integration begins and expands, but will continue to be a practical way to allow flights by some UAS operators in certain circumstances.

In addition to the FAA’s roadmap, as required in the 2012 FAA Reauthorization, the Joint Planning and Development Office has developed a comprehensive plan to safely accelerate the integration of civil UAS into the national airspace system. That plan details a multi-agency approach to safe and timely UAS integration and coordination with the NextGen shift to satellite-based technologies and new procedures.

PEOPLE

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

Washington, D.C., has been assigned as director, intelligence, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base LangleyEustis, Va.

Brig Gen. Veralinn Jamieson

Brigadier General Veralinn Jamieson, special assistant to deputy chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Pentagon,

www.TISR-kmi.com

Captain Alexander L. Krongard, who has been selected for promotion to rear admiral (lower half), will be assigned as deputy commander, Joint Task Force, Horn of Africa, Djibouti. Krongard is currently serving as director, counter terrorism, National Security Council, Washington, D.C.

and resource integration, Headquarters U.S. Cyber Command, Fort George G. Meade, Md.

Brig. Gen. Bradford J. Shwedo

Brigadier General Bradford J. Shwedo, director, intelligence, Headquarters Air Combat Command, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va., has been assigned as director, capability

Daniel B. Prieto III has been appointed to the Senior Executive Service as director, cybersecurity and technology, Office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, Washington, D.C. Prieto previously served as vice president, IBM Global Business Services, Public Sector, Washington, D.C.

TISR 3.4 | 3

ALL INT

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

U.S. Army ISR Program Transfers to the Program Executive Office for Aviation The U.S. Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation accepted the transfer of the Enhanced Medium Altitude Reconnaissance and Surveillance System, also known as EMARSS, on October 1, 2013. Under PEO Aviation, EMARSS will be managed by the Fixed Wing Project Office.

The transfer comes as part of the October 2011 directive by the U.S. Army Acquisition Executive that mandated all manned fixed wing aircraft, current and future, be transferred to the Program Executive Office for Aviation for standardization in safety, airworthiness certification and maintenance.

“We are pleased to have this valuable asset under our command. The EMARSS program will provide protection to our ground troops by detecting and identifying those who wish us harm,” said Major General William “Tim” Crosby, program executive officer for aviation.

“Just as that ISR program helps to keep our ground troops safe, the Fixed Wing Project Office will provide a safe platform through airworthiness assessments and certifications.”

The EMARSS program had been managed previously by the Program Executive Office for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors and the project manager for Airborne

Reconnaissance Exploitation Systems (PM ARES).

“PM Fixed Wing and PM ARES have been working together on this program and will continue to deliver the most effective ISR capabilities to the soldier,” said Colonel Brian R. Tachias, fixed wing project manager. “With EMARSS under our management, we will continue to provide operational end users with persistent ISR capabilities while ensuring that all assigned aircraft remain safe to operate through continuous airworthiness oversight and certification.”

The relationship between the project offices will continue as the responsibility for the aircraft sustainment and integration transfers to the Fixed Wing Project Office, while PM ARES will retain responsibility for the sensor mission equipment package and the processing, exploitation and dissemination architecture.

EMARSS provides the Army with the ability to detect, locate, identify and track surface targets, day or night, in almost any weather condition and provides soldiers with ISR capabilities with a high degree of timeliness and accuracy. EMARSS is the last ISR program to formally transfer to PEO Aviation and the Fixed Wing Project Office.

NETCENTS Task Order NCI Inc., a provider of information technology solutions and professional services to U.S. federal government agencies, announced that it was awarded a task order under Network Centric Solutions in the third quarter of 2013 for the development, integration and delivery of two additional nodes of the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS) Data Storage and Dissemination (DSD) system. NCI provided the first two DSD nodes under a similar contract in 2012.

The DSD accelerates data transfers across the AF DCGS network and provides storage, dissemination, processing and retrieval capabilities to the net-centric AF DCGS enterprise.

The DSD is completely redundant for fail-safe considerations, and it is anticipated that the deployment of DSD capabilities to specified locations will be used as the primary distribution method for large data files over the AF DCGS network.

“We are pleased to continue our relationship with the AF DCGS and are proud to provide solutions to the AF DCGS enterprise by bringing innovation to the warfighter and enabling battlefield readiness through affordable IT and cyber capabilities,” said Brian Clark, NCI’s president.

Direct Geo-positioning Metric Sensor For the first time, Raytheon Company has integrated an advanced targeting capability into the U.S. Army’s Common Sensor Payload (CSP) airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance targeting system. Mission commanders can now directly utilize an airborne tactical sensor’s geo-location data for real-time targeting of coordinate-seeking weapons.

Previously, target coordinates and imagery from an airborne tactical sensor had to undergo a remote and time-consuming image registration process to meet DoD/National GeospatialIntelligence Agency coordinate-seeking weapons delivery requirements for real-time targeting. Now, target coordinates can be transferred directly in real time from the CSP sensor to the weapon, significantly reducing the delivery timeline while increasing accuracy.

In October 2013, Raytheon and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems collaborated to complete development and fly the CSP High 4 | TISR 3.4

Definition and Target Location Accuracy sensor, the industry’s first demonstration of a sensor that meets DoD/National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency requirements for target location and error knowledge.

The sensor is unique in that it not only provides high-definition sensor imagery, it is also equipped with a high-accuracy, advanced multicolor diode-pumped laser produced by General Atomics Aeronautical. The sensor also provides an accurate range receiver, improved precision inertial sensors, advanced geopositioning algorithms, precise internal/external event timing and rigorous error propagation to generate real-time targeting information.

The CSP High Definition and Target Location Accuracy

sensor is fully compliant with DoD and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency specific requirements for a Direct Geo-Positioning Metric Sensor and marks the first time the capability has been integrated into a single airborne tactical package and flown.

“Our Direct Geo-Positioning Metric Sensor technology, which has now been demonstrated in CSP, provides a major leap in capability to the warfighter with direct, real-time targeting and fire control of coordinate-seeking weapons,” said Andy Bonnot, director of Surveillance and Targeting Systems in Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems business.

www.TISR-kmi.com

Decades of improvements to an old technology have contributed to heightened battlefield awareness.

By Peter Buxbaum TISR Correspondent

Unattended ground sensors (UGS) have been employed by the United States military for decades. But advances in technology would make today’s sensors almost unrecognizable to earlier generations of users. At the same time, changes in U.S. military mission sets have also put new and more demands on the sensor systems.

The acoustic and seismic sensors— which measure sound and vibration, respectively—used in Vietnam were dropped from aircraft in the vicinity of Viet Cong supply routes. Separate Navy aircraft sorties would later fly over the areas seeded with the sensors to pick up their output. The processing, analysis and interpretation of the sensors’ work was done on the back end by experts in the interpretation of sensor data.

Today’s unattended ground sensors, and more so, the sensors of the future, are intended to protect the maneuver capabilities of a highly mobile force. They have processing power on board to provide users with instant intelligence and are networked so that they can communicate data to backend analysts as well as local operators.

A number of different approaches to the configuration and deployment of ground sensors have emerged, but the consensus is that future UGS will need to be simple and cheap, perhaps even expendable, so that any soldier can easily emplace them, read their output, and, if necessary, forget about them. www.TISR-kmi.com

help provide additional secu“There is a requirerity and intelligence on the ments generation process battlefield and that can be underway targeting Army easily deployed and operated.” requirements,” said Robert “Ground sensors have Jones, a product manager for been around for decades,” ground sensors at the liaisaid Patti Shaffner, director son office to TRADOC. “We of business capture at Textron have brought in stakeholdDefense Systems. “When we ers from the science and first started looking at develtechnology, acquisitions and oping UGS product lines, we user communities to shape Patti Shaffner got feedback from customers the strategy.” That strategy is and users who complained being shaped by two factors, about the high rate of false added Jones—the success the alarms, that the sensors are military has had in recent not as reliable as they should theaters of operations with be, that they were too difstandalone ground sensors ficult to use, had too many and the lessons learned from moving parts and had too that same experience. many modalities to connect “The U.S. military needs up. Those systems took weeks UGS that support operations of training to get users up in a multitude of environto speed.” ments,” said Alex Moore, a Bob Lisowski “The hope is that sensors business development lead for technology can provide capabilities beyond Lockheed Martin’s line of ground sensors. detection and classification to provide an “Nobody knows what we need to prepare image of the target,” said Bob Lisowski, vice for. The Army and Marine Corps have a president of secure space and sensor sysdiverse set of missions, from security operatems at L-3 Communications Systems-East. tion, humanitarian assistance and stability “There are some systems fielded like this support. The pivot to the Pacific means today. They send a signal from a seismic or they may be operating in new areas. In a acoustic sensor to a video camera system to constrained budget environment and with power itself up and begin to record frames. shrinking forces, they need a tool that can TISR 3.4 | 5

The video system has some processing power onboard so it is able to send back images to users of things it thinks are targets.”

The new UGS requirements that are being drafted will provide a quick reaction capability to the Army, according to Jones.

“It will be recommended as an acquisition program candidate for a rapid transition,” he said. “This takes a capability that has proven valuable during combat and accelerates it through the programmatic system.

This has been recommended by the vice chief of staff of the Army for us to pursue.”

The focus of the requirements process will be to view UGS capabilities from a maneuver perspective, said Jones. “At the 30,000-foot level, we would like to see an integrated, closed-loop detection and response capability, especially for the company level and below. In the near term, we are looking for a family of expendable sensors that will initiate target, detection, identification and response over the network. We want the sensors to be smaller, smarter, better-concealed and easier to emplace. Most of these devices are now being emplaced by maneuver soldiers. We want the average person to be able to emplace the sensors in such a way that they are not likely to be compromised.”

Longer term, UGS may evolve into devices that are task- or threat-specific.

“That will bring us back to sensors deploying multiple modalities because of the threat variance that the Army may go after,” said Jones.

The ultimate vision is that the sensors act as tripwires that activate network assets which enable a confirmation or denial that the object detected by the sensors is a threat and/or a target. “That is the integration piece,” said Jones. “It has to do with the ability to funnel sensor data to users and to process that data automatically.”

In the past, there was a trend to make unattended ground sensors more multifunctional and complex. This appears to have run full circle, to the point where the Army is demanding, and industry is providing, sensors that emphasize a single modality, for the sake of simplicity and to achieve a small form factor.

“It would be nice to have magnetic, seismic and radar sensors in a small package,” said Jones. “But history has shown us that they need to be separated if we want them in the form factor we are looking for. We want to have multiple modalities in play, but the Army won’t be putting lots of pres6 | TISR 3.4

sure on vendors to put them into one device.

On the other hand, five years from now, advances in processing may allow some of these issues to resolve themselves. It is just not known at this point exactly where we will end up.”

Jones expects the language in the requirements document to be flexible on this point. “I think they will leave the language open-ended enough to accommodate either one of those possible solutions,” he said. “The document will reflect the need for multiple modalities. If a vendor demonstrates that multiple modalities can be incorporated in a small form factor, it will allow that to come about.”

For now, some vendors are focusing on a limited set of modalities as they develop new lines of UGS. Brimrose Corporation’s Silhouette Profiling Optical Tripwire [SPOT] UGS is unique in several aspects. It is a profiling sensor that is unique in that it detects and classifies targets and provides image-like silhouettes of the target that consist of as little as 200 bytes of data.

“For many applications, it is as operationally useful as a ground sensing imager except that it uses significantly less power and bandwidth and costs significantly less,” said Ron Rosemeier, Ph.D., president and CEO. “In addition, it classifies targets and is user-programmable as to what areas in a scene are of interest, as well as what class or classes of targets are of interest. SPOT will only report what the user has specified is of direct interest to the user. SPOT is adaptable to changing missions.”

“When we set out to develop our line of UGS, we picked the best all-weather single modality–– seismic––to build it around,” said Shaffner. “Seismic sensors work in all kinds of weather conditions and it is the least susceptible to false alarms given different weather and terrain conditions. Acoustic sensors are more susceptible to false alarms under certain wind or weather conditions.”

Textron Defense Systems’ line of MicroObserver unattended ground sensors incorporate a low-power radio for long mission life and are optimized for groundto-ground communications, according to Shaffner. “The sensor is very compact, measuring 3 by 3 inches and weighing just over 1 pound,” she said. “It can be completely buried so that it is extremely covert.”

The sensor feeds detection data into a gateway that provides tracking classification capabilities. The sensor is also equipped

with an infrared imaging node that is triggered when detection of an object of interest takes place.

“In our system, the infrared imaging node is triggered by any detection in the sensor field,” said Shaffner. “The sensor node would detect a person or vehicle and send that information to the gateway, where a command would be issued to turn the camera on. The camera’s algorithm takes pictures only when the target is in the field of view so images can immediately be sent up to the user. This allows the camera to have a much longer mission life.” As sensor technology and processing power continue to improve, it will be possible to incorporate more modalities in a small and covert ground sensor, Shaffner explained.

A Lockheed Martin sensor system, currently in a development and testing phase, also emphasizes a limited number of modalities. The Self-Powered Ad-hoc Network [SPAN] system is built around an acoustic sensor, but incorporates a port into which other kinds of sensors, such as seismic, magnetic and weather, can be plugged.

“The idea is to provide the flexibility of supporting more than one type of sensor,” said Moore. “Sensor signals are transmitted to a gateway which enables the system to send alerts to any location in the world.”

SPAN advances the state-of-the-art system by providing decreases in size, weight and power, according to Moore. The system is based on commercial off-the-shelf technology, which lowers the cost, and at 1 by 3 inches, it is small in size. “The system can run for 8,000 hours if it can get one hour of daylight per day,” said Moore. “It will also be provided with an enhanced battery so that it can run without daylight for 60 days without interruption.”

The reason for embedding an acoustic sensor as the default is based on “deep proprietary information,” said Moore. “The algorithms the sensor works with are able to differentiate squads from platoons and vehicles. The user gets a different alert depending on which algorithm is activated.”

The SPAN sensor can be customized for different missions and can also be integrated with unmanned aerial systems to provide additional coverage of an area of interest.

“The sensor sends a signal to a UAS to cover a specific area,” said Moore, “and the UAS feeds data back to an operations center.”

At the same time, ground sensors offering multiple modalities are also available to military organizations. “L-3 has been in the www.TISR-kmi.com

YOUR SEVENTH SENSE

Use of this U.S. DoD image does not imply or constitute endorsement.

When Your Life Depends on Knowing What’s Out There The Battlefield Anti-Intrusion System (BAIS) is the soldier’s seventh sense, providing our warfighters with covert, early warning intrusion detection and threat classification of vehicles and personnel at levels well beyond the range of human capability. In support of a DoD Program of Record and tested by the U.S. Army Test & Evaluation Command, L-3’s BAIS (AN/PRS-9A) is providing critical in-theater force protection to troops actively fighting on battlefields today. It’s just another example of how our systems are on the leading edge of tactical unattended ground sensor technologies.

For more information, visit L-3com.com/bais.

Communication Systems-East

L-3com.com

UGS game for a long time,” said Lisowski.

“We currently supply unattended ground sensors for two DoD programs of record, the Army’s Battlefield Anti-Intrusion System [BAIS] and the Marine Corps’ Tactical Remote Sensor System.”

L-3 is finishing up production and is preparing to deliver the last of 7,000 BAIS systems. BAIS is meant to serve small, dismounted units with lightweight and low power usage devices. This UGS is also used to augment systems protecting forward operating bases with aerostats, towermounted cameras and ground-based radars.

“Those are still not able to see into gullies, into areas with dense forestation, or through hills and mountains,” said Lisowski.

The sensor, can classify personnel, wheeled and tracked vehicles. The magnetic and infrared detectors can also be connected to the seismic sensor if desired to provide additional target information. “The magnetic sensor detects metallic objects and vehicles,” said Lisowski, “and is also capable of supporting reporting on the direction of travel. to provide some estimation of the speed of the target.”

The L-3 sensor provides 450 linear meters of detection against personnel targets. Its wireless communications range is 15 kilometers. An entire system of three sensors, a handheld monitor, batteries and manuals weigh less than 10 pounds and can operate for over 60 days on a single set of batteries.

Millennium Sensor provides a range of ground sensors designed to provide the U.S. military with a range of capabilities, including situational awareness, ISR and force protection. “Our focus is personnelcentric,” said Mike Roberts, the company’s chief executive and chief technology officer.

“All of the sensors report to the operator first but can also send data upstream by way of satellite communications.”

Millennium’s sensors include optical tripwires and seismic sensors. The tripwires can provide protection up to 400 meters and the seismic sensors report back from as far as 300 meters. The sensors can also report back over the horizon to Android devices and computers.

“We have links into the bigger network systems,” said Roberts, “but the sensors can also be disconnected from the larger 8 | TISR 3.4

systems so that small teams can operate autonomously where there is no information infrastructure.”

Millennium sensors have been used to protect small sniper teams watching over a target area. “The sensors protect those teams and can give them target acquisition information,” said Roberts.

The sensors have also been used for small teams that are holed up for a few hours awaiting an extraction. “A team may have found a spot for extraction, but it makes them nervous because an adversary might be able to approach without being visible,” said Roberts. “The team can set up

The Silhouette Profiling Optical Tripwire includes on board processing for added intelligence and is interoperable with other disparate sensors. [Photo Courtesy of Brimrose Corporation]

the sensors opposite the open area where they are expecting the extraction.”

The Marine Corps has specialists at sensor emplacement, but the Army has no such position in its structure. Army sensors are emplaced by ordinary maneuver soldiers, so it makes sense for the Army to emplace sensors during the course of other regular activities.

“The Army is looking to get out of the business of sensor emplacement,” said Jones. “We will mandate sensors capable of being emplaced during regular operations.

If a unit is out on patrol and finds an area of vulnerability or some other issue that needs to be addressed, they can place a sensor and move. They don’t want to be under observation for two and a half hours while they are hiding the sensor.”

Textron Defense Systems is looking at the possibility of emplacing sensors using unmanned ground vehicles as well as from the air. “As the use of UGS becomes more prevalent and as they are used in areas that are more dangerous, having automatic emplacement techniques would facilitate increased use of ground sensor systems,” said Shaffner. “We have looked at different emplacement techniques using unmanned ground vehicles. Air emplacement is also something we are looking at for the future.”

Another big part of the upcoming Army requirements will be that sensors be interoperable with other visual assets.

That means that a sensor can send an understandable message to a camera on an aerostat or atop a tower to slew a camera in the direction of a detected object. “At some point we would like to be able to use remote standoff sensors to target the use of high-level weapons systems if necessary,” said Jones. “We will require a lot of interoperability with C4ISR systems and targeting capabilities that are out there.”

Systems interoperability will facilitate a greater level of networking, which means that sensor data will make its way to multiple locations. “Right now sensor data is typically provided either to the guy who emplaced it or to the intelligence community for further processing, exploitation and dissemination,” said Jones. “Rarely do we see the data going to both places.”

Jones envisions detection reports being conveyed simultaneously to the local unit as well as to a back- end analyst. “This will facilitate a more rapid response by the guys on the ground,” said Jones, “while the guy in the back can thread this data into the bigger picture.”

For the future, Jones sees the new generations of unattended ground sensors helping the operations of the next generation of Army combat forces, configurations such as the Global Response Force and the Regional Aligned Forces. “It is very important to the Army that these capabilities can be utilized in any future scenario where the Army may need to operate,” he said. O For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related stories at www.tisr-kmi.com.

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Distributed Common Ground System–Army (DCGS-A) The intelligence analyst’s weapon system for today and the future.

The Distributed Common Ground System–Army Program (DCGS-A) enables our soldiers to quickly access and sift through large amounts of data, conduct timely intelligence analysis and provide accurate intelligence assessments to support our strategic, operational and tactical commanders. While DCGS-A is powerful, it is still just a tool––the real power is in our intelligence analysts. No matter what tool is provided, it is only as good as the trained intelligence analyst who uses it. My job as the project manager for DCGS-A is to give our intelligence analysts the best tool possible to support their mission.

We field DCGS-A systems at every echelon of the Army, from company intelligence support teams to brigades, divisions and up to the corps-level supporting the theater or combatant commander. In every case, DCGS-A must be available and operational 24/7––all day, every day, fielded worldwide in every condition and environment where the Army is deployed. www.TISR-kmi.com

By Charles Wells

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks of 2001, the 9/11 commission provided the imperative to break down intelligence stovepipes. We never again want to experience the result of an analyst being unable to connect all the dots or unable to build the complete intelligence picture.

Breaking down stovepipes and seamlessly connecting the Army intelligence enterprise is exactly what we’ve been doing––we’ve combined multiple legacy Army intelligence programs that now work seamlessly together to provide all-source intelligence that is truly much more powerful than anything the Army had before.

Where we used to have separate, dedicated ground stations for each collection asset (whether it was an unmanned aerial system or a manned joint surveillance and target attack radar system aircraft), we now have a single ground station that receives and collects from all of them. Where we used to have separate data formats and standards for each sensor, we now have a common method of ingesting, tagging and storing data, so that every DCGS-A system can quickly access and exploit all of that data.

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Today DCGS-A pulls data from more than 600 data sources in real time from across the Army, DoD and the intelligence community. While we still have intelligence specialists for different types of intelligence, we are now witnessing the true advent of the “all source analyst.” This is the Army analyst who can literally touch every facet and type of intelligence using the DCGS-A Multifunction Workstation––full-motion video, static imagery, signal intelligence, human intelligence, biometrics, document exploitation and others––and seamlessly bring all that intelligence together for much more powerful, timely and accurate knowledge to support the commander.

A powerful capability of DCGS-A is the ability to collaborate. Every service has a Distributed Common Ground System program, and they all build to a DoD common architectural blueprint—the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise. This means that Army analysts are able to collaborate and share intelligence with DCGS users in the other services. Analysts can then work together and collaborate to build intelligence products that are much deeper and more meaningful than previously possible.

This is particularly powerful in the hands of our young analysts, who grew up in the age of Facebook and are very comfortable with sharing and collaborating; in fact, they often work more effectively that way. It also allows Army analysts the ability to directly benefit from subject matter experts at multiple “reachback” locations and echelons, including theater intelligence centers or DoD’s intelligence community centers of excellence.

These two characteristics––the ability to have every piece of the intelligence puzzle on a single system, and the ability to seamlessly collaborate––are what make the DCGS model so powerful and effective for DoD. DCGS-Army is a successful program––we are on schedule, within budget and in the field supporting our soldiers. In 2012, we received two successful Major Acquisition Milestone decisions from Frank Kendall, the defense acquisition executive—a notable achievement for an Acquisition Category I program, which is the largest category of acquisition program in DoD. Two keys to DCGS-A program success are our agile acquisition strategy and our successful partnership with commercial Industry.

We adjusted the DCGS-A acquisition strategy so that the program intentionally delivers smaller, iterative capabilities over time––continuously improving––rather than delivering one large, unchanging capability via a traditional “big bang” delivery model often seen with large acquisition programs. For a software-intensive program, this iterative capability model is exactly what is needed for two reasons.

First, even though we are a large program, this provides the required agility to make adjustments to support ever-changing requirements.

For example, in Afghanistan, we focused heavily on developing and fielding analytic tools to support counterinsurgency operations.

Now the focus is shifting to other theaters of operation where different tools become important; for example, the detection, identification and counter of theater ballistic missile threats. DCGS-A must support the full range of military operations, and the threat is always evolving, so this agility is absolutely critical. The second strength of an iterative strategy is that it allows the DCGS-A program to align these latest requirements with emerging capabilities from the laboratories of both commercial industry and government. This allows DCGS-A to deliver cutting-edge, best-of-breed technologies to the field with less cost and risk.

DCGS-A’s partnership with industry is robust and continuous.

Nearly all of the tools and capabilities in DCGS-A––both the hardware 10 | TISR 3.4

Before DCGS-A: •

Uncommon networks

•

Delayed, stovepiped intelligence

•

Lack of fusion

•

Lack of situational awareness

•

Disconnected from reachback

With DCGS-A: •

Common enterprise framework

•

Common data ingestion and tagging

•

Common analysis/exploitation platform

•

Ability to manage data

•

Advanced analytics

•

Common understanding at all echelons

•

Reliable reachback to IC

and the software––are commercial off-the-shelf from industry or government partners. DCGS-A has more than 60 full-time industry partners from across the United States; in addition to some traditional defense contractors, we have numerous high-tech Silicon Valley industry companies and several partners from small business.

What we’re really looking for are companies that can deliver innovative, cutting-edge solutions that easily integrate into the program by leveraging the open standards and architecture of the DCGS Enterprise. Compliance with intelligence community data and standards is absolutely essential to ensure that we move forward without creating additional data stovepipes or intelligence seams that would set us back.

Twice a year we conduct an engagement with industry that we call our “Innovation Showcase,” which allows DCGS-A to highlight emerging requirements while viewing and evaluating the latest industry capabilities to help meet those requirements. The latest Innovation Showcase on August 29, at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., was a solid success––we had more than 560 attendees and 200 companies represented, presenting 48 different technical demonstrations. This is just one example that highlights the attitude and dedication of commercial industry supporting DCGS-A––it is a partnership that has been proven to be a real “win-win” scenario for industry, the DCGS-A program and the Army.

DCGS-A is a system that provides connections. It is our Army’s connection to the joint intelligence community, every sensor on the battlefield, and vast amounts of data that our analysts need to answer today’s tough questions from our commanders. It is our soldiers’ connection to one another and other intelligence analysts both in theater and throughout DoD––analysts with whom they can collaborate and partner with in real time. And it is our commander’s connection to the critical intelligence that drives our Army’s successful operations. O Charles Wells is the project manager for Distributed Common Ground System-Army.

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

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TISR reached out to several leading defense contractors in order to explore the many military uses of multi-spectral imaging. Each contractor was posed the simple question:

What does multi-spectral imaging have to offer the modern warfighter?

John MacEachin Technical Director Persistence Surveillance BAE Systems Multi-spectral imaging provides a new level of security for the modern warfighter. Today’s military engagements require the warfighter to be highly connected to available intelligence in near real time. By blending low light and the infrared spectrum, soldiers are presented a picture that provides a high level of detail, perception and striking cues to important elements of a scene. The fusion of information provided by multi-spectral

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imaging can help identify the presence of a variety of materials—for example, items used to create bombs or other chemicals. Many of the wavebands used in multi-spectral imaging can recognize gases or see that the ground was recently unsettled and potentially hiding danger from view. This is all vital situational data for our troops.

It’s also important to note that this imaging technology is available day or night and in all weather so that the warfighter has even more timely information—and information that is impervious to the elements.

At BAE Systems, we want to provide the modern soldier the most advanced situational awareness at all times. Remote sensing comes in many forms, and that’s why

we’ve developed a family of systems to serve many needs. BAE Systems’ Digitally Fused Sensor System, with its multi-spectral camera and fusion engine, provides multiple modes of imagery, and weighing in at just 144 grams, it’s sized to fit on the smallest UAVs. For larger battle space requirements, BAE Systems developed the Spectral Infrared Imaging Technology Testbed to provide troops with near real-time detection and identification.

Whatever the situation, it’s about knowing what you’re up against. We want our men and women in uniform to return home safely—and with multi-spectral imaging, our troops have the tools to help them do just that.

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Kevin P. Gibbons Program Manager Government Products Group, Deposition Sciences Inc. A significant aspect of the modern warfighter’s function has become information management. Today’s sensors and communications capabilities can inundate a soldier or pilot. Multi-spectral imaging is a key technology used to provide the warfighter with the information he needs to perform his mission, in a clear, efficient and intuitive manner. At its most basic level, multi-spectral imaging is simply capturing and processing an image at multiple wavelengths (colors). In simple

Dave Fish Vice President Technology Pixelteq The key is providing warfighters effective imaging tools to make the best decisions quicker—delivering richer data, displayed intuitively in real time. Multispectral imaging enhances contrast to see beyond our human vision. Using targeted spectral bands across the visible and infrared can improve target acquisition, tracking and stand off chemical detection.

Today’s multi-spectral cameras deliver live processed images that highlight key features in specific scenarios. In the same way

Tim Cronin Director Strategy & Business Development, Surveillance and Targeting Systems Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems During the past decade, warfighters have developed an insatiable appetite for multi-spectral, full-motion video (FMV) imaging fueled by the exponential growth of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms.

The reason is simple—FMV imaging provides complete and accurate situation awareness, which is critical to the safety and success of a mission.

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terms, this means more data is available to analyze a situation. Instead of a monochrome image, a soldier can see a full-color view, or cycle between different colors to highlight features that might otherwise be camouflaged.

A helicopter pilot or remote analyst can view images in both the visible and infrared spectra to see through bad weather and smoke, or at night. A sensor can analyze heat signatures at several different temperatures simultaneously to more accurately identify the source and to defeat single-wavelength jammers such as flares or lasers. All these instances are examples of extracting and managing data to get the most useful information most efficiently.

Thin film coatings play a vital role in multispectral imaging. Discrete bandpass filters can be deposited on planar substrates which can

be bonded together to make multi-spectral filter mosaic assemblies placed in front of a sensor. To reduce size and weight, multiple filters can be deposited on a single surface via traditional semiconductor photolithography techniques. To further reduce size and weight, the multi-spectral filters can be deposited directly on the active sensor devices. These advances allow for miniaturization, which enables multi-spectral imaging in helmet—or eyeglass-mounted sensors, weapons scopes, small, remote vehicles and satellites.

Deposition Science Inc. provides highly durable, optical thin film coatings for a wide variety of applications, including multi-spectral imaging for military/defense and industrial tasks. For more information, please visit www.depsci.com.

color cameras use red, green and blue pixels, multi-spectral cameras have pixels at specific targeted wavelengths, combining three to nine bands of visible and infrared “color.”

Even when part of that light is invisible to our human eye, multi-spectral cameras can assign false color so the warfighter “sees” colorized images that the brain processes quickly and logically. Going beyond the visible range, this approach is applied to a variety of sensors—including the near infrared with conventional silicon, and indium-galliumarsenide sensors to reach into the short wave infrared, or SWIR, band.

Multi-spectral SWIR has some interesting applications in low light, covert, detection and authentication applications. SWIR light is invisible, but it’s also reflective—so it behaves

a lot like visible light, bouncing off objects with similar shadows and contrast … and the images appear more natural to us. A conventional SWIR camera is monochrome, imaging shades of gray, but a multi-spectral SWIR camera can deliver a colorized image that helps uncover more spectral detail across the visible and infrared.

Multi-spectral cameras also go more places now. The latest technology integrates custom mosaic filter arrays on sensors—a robust, passive approach that creates multispectral cameras in the same size, weight and power footprint as a monochrome camera. So this reduced payload means a broader range of missions—from handheld and unattended platforms, to smaller UAVs with longer range and duration.

Furthermore, multi-spectral imaging provides situation awareness under all types of environmental conditions. For example, Raytheon’s Multi-spectral Targeting System (MTS) products use up to six different cameras operating in multiple spectral bands allowing warfighters to select the optimum camera spectrum for the conditions.

Visible and near infrared (IR) cameras (0.4-0.9 mm) provide the highest resolution for daytime detection, recognition and identification. Short-wave IR cameras (0.91.7 mm) are good for haze penetration and in low light conditions, day or night. Midwave IR cameras (3.3-5.1 mm) are ideal for airborne imaging at night and in tropical or maritime environments. Long-wave IR

cameras (7.5- 10.5 mm) penetrate smoke, dust, clouds and other obscurants.

Each spectrum provides unique benefits under different conditions, and having access to these different bands allows warfighters to tailor a single multi-spectral FMV imaging system to the mission.

Raytheon is proud to provide our warfighters with the finest multi-spectral, full motion video imaging sensors, augmented by targeting, in the world. Raytheon’s MTS systems have successfully completed more than 2.5 million flight hours, providing our warfighters with a decisive edge over their enemies. MTS systems are in constant use around the world, logging almost 50,000 flight hours per month supporting missions that reduce threats, protect borders and save warfighters’ lives.

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Frank Vallese President Sofradir EC Inc. At Sofradir EC Inc., we recognize the role of multi-spectral imaging systems in improving visibility through battlefield obscurants (such as fog, smoke and dust) as well as discerning camouflaged and low-visibility objects in a cluttered background. As such, we offer three classes of infrared imaging solutions that are useful for these multi-spectral applications.

First, because of the versatility of mercury cadmium telluride detector materials, we offer a full range of infrared detectors and engines in several distinct spectral ranges,

Cees Draiijer Senior Program Manager IR Applications Teledyne Dalsa Modern warfare is mainly about achieving a more detailed situational awareness of the battlefield than your opponent.

Translated for the imaging domain, this means gaining as much information as possible from a captured scene and providing it to a fighter in a format that enables them to take action. Multi-spectral imaging provides more scenery information just by the fact that the images are captured over various wavelengths

David Dennis Business Development Manager ISR Systems Sensors Unlimited - UTC Aerospace Systems For quite some time, Sensors Unlimited - UTC Aerospace Systems’ SWIR and nearinfrared (NIR)/SWIR cameras have been the heart and lungs of many hyperspectral imagers (HSI). HSI is essentially the process of chopping up the camera response into several slices, and looking at very narrow pieces of spectrum within the camera’s response. Over the years, much of the hyperspectral work that has been done has

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including SWIR (visible to 2.5 mm), MWIR (3-5 mm), LWIR (8-10 mm) and VLWIR (8-12 mm).

We recently introduced our new MiTIE line of SWaP engines, including a LW video graphics array engine and high definition MW engine ideal for use in gimbals and pan-tilt-zoom surveillance systems. In addition, we offer tiny uncooled thermal imaging cores for portable SWaP applications that, when coupled with image intensifiers, provide better visibility for soldiers wearing night vision goggles.

Second, we also produce dual-band imagers based on a single detector array that simultaneously detects infrared radiation in two distinct spectral bands. For example, Altair MLW is a video graphics array imager designed for use in third generation tactical IR systems to detect in both MWIR and LWIR,

delivering the benefits of imaging in both spectral bands. A dual-band MW/MW system is also available exploiting the optical characteristics of certain battlefield signatures to improve visibility.

Finally, Sofradir EC also produces infrared detectors for hyperspectral imaging systems to collect image data simultaneously in hundreds of narrow, adjacent spectral bands making it possible to derive spectral information for each observed location. Our Saturn and Neptune Integrated Detector/ Dewar/Cooler Assemblies are based on a 1000-by-256 and 500-by-256 format (pixel pitch of 30 mm) array, respectively, to image in the SWIR spectral range (0.9-2.5 mm) or optionally with extension to visible spectrum (0.4-2.5 mm).

and can be compared with a relative or an absolute standard.

The additional information can result in stand-off and early detection of threats, which has a tremendous strategic advantage for the modern warfighter, especially in this era of doing more with less. An interesting example is the detection of man-made objects in a natural environment like camouflage. Although camouflage is designed to blend with landscape by utilizing color and patterns to create a cover for man-made objects barely visible to the human eye, multi-spectral imaging can basically detect whether materials have been used that are not consistent with the natural scene (e.g., a fabric).

Obviously camouflage technique will continue to evolve, but its detection will

always be challenged by multi-spectral imaging modalities. An equally important aspect is how the additional detail is brought to the attention of the warfighter, so that the “awareness” is effectively achieved. This is not an easy task.

By definition, detailed spectral information is more difficult to comprehend and can result in misinterpretation because of the very large amount of information being conveyed.

A high level of image processing capability combined with smart detection-overlay imagery and high resolution display technologies will take care of this issue and then we can truly claim that more detailed situational awareness has been realized to the benefit of the modern warfighter.

identified several different areas of interest within the SWIR and NIR/SWIR regions.

We’ve been fortunate enough to participate in the development of multi-spectral imaging technology. We were teamed with a company called Pixelteq (previously Ocean Thin Films). Pixelteq’s expertise is very specialized optical filter technology.

They have been able to develop Bayer pattern filters at the pixel level. Once our customers have identified the unique bands they are most interested in, Pixelteq then creates a custom filter that focuses the camera on the unique bands of interest.

The filter is then bonded to the camera FPA through an active alignment process.

This process is called hybridization. This process creates a color SWIR image, which

allows the user to identify/detect very specific spectral lines.

Unfortunately, many of the DoD applications for multi-spectral imaging are sensitive, so I can’t share specific applications. What I can tell you is that this technology is game changing and provides never-before-seen, enhanced situational awareness for the warfighter. We continue to work with Pixelteq and our integration partners to develop higher resolution and smaller pixel pitch multi-spectral imagers. These imagers have a relatively small SWaP, and can be integrated in airborne, land-based, shipboard and dismounted soldier systems. Multi-spectral imaging has also shown promising results for medical, agricultural and manufacturing markets. The future for multi-spectral imaging is very exciting. O

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ISR KIT Phase II SBIR Contract Award from Air Force Research Laboratory Silvus Technologies Inc., a developer of mesh networked multiple input multiple output radio products for tactical and commercial applications, has been awarded an SBIR Phase II contract to design and build a digital beamforming antenna array for airborne applications. This contract award is a result of a successful Phase I feasibility study that Silvus Technologies conducted under SBIR topic # AF131038. The total dollar amount of the

award including Phase I and Phase II is $900,000.

Under this two-year contract, Silvus Technologies will build a digital beamforming antenna array for airborne and ground applications. The final deliverable of the program is to demonstrate electronic tracking of multiple simultaneous transmit and receive beams to and from airborne assets. The ability to adaptively null out interferers will also be demonstrated.

All-in-one Land Navigation System SBG Systems released Ekinox Land Solution, an all-in-one solution combining the cost-effective Inertial Navigation System with an odometer and a GNSS RTK Reference Station for smooth positioning in land applications.

The combination of Ekinox Inertial Navigation System with complementary technologies such as wheel speed sensor and RTK GNSS is the key to provide smooth vehicle positioning, even during GPS outages.

Mounted on a vehicle, Ekinox Land Solution provides real-time roll, pitch and true heading (0.05 degrees accuracy) while delivering a smooth position (2 cm). Data is output at 200 Hz and recorded in an 8 GB data logger. Post-processing software is offered to increase attitude accuracy (up to 0.02 degrees).

All Terrain Mine Detection System Proves a Success The Humanitarian Demining Bureau Peru carried out a mine detection test in the office of surveillance in Puesto de Vigilancia in the province of Santiago in Peru. The purpose of the test was to identify the best device for the detection of the Spanish P4A mine. Among a wide range of detectors, Schiebel’s All Terrain Mine Detector (ATMID) proved outstanding performance and reliability as it was the only one to detect all sample mines.

In the course of the conflict between Peru and Ecuador in 1995, hundreds of P4A mines were placed in the border area of the Cordillera del Condor, in the Amazonas department. This area is characterized by towering mountains and aggressive jungle forest. The detection of mines there is complicated by the high mineral content of the soil.

The Humanitarian Demining Bureau is responsible for planning, organizing and conducting all humanitarian demining operations in the Peruvian border area. To validate the best detector for these missions, the Humanitarian Demining Bureau carried out a test, which showed that a number of detectors cannot fulfill the high requirements set by the humanitarian demining operations. Schiebel’s ATMID was the only one to comply with the difficult local needs.

Andrea Blama; andrea.blama@schiebel.net

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory Master Service Agreement UAV Solutions Inc. received a master service agreement from The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory ( JHU APL) for engineering support services. The contract period of performance is for four years with a contract ceiling of $20 million.

Under the agreement, UAV Solutions will provide general engineering services to support APL in the development of unmanned vehicle capabilities and payloads. The engineering services required include engineering, design, manufacturing, testing and evaluation in the areas of small (less than 600-pound gross) 14 | TISR 3.4

unmanned vehicles, unmanned vehicle payloads and associated ground support equipment.

“UAV Solutions has a history of supporting APL prototype and development requests with rapid turnaround times and with high-quality products,” stated Billie Ann Davidson, vice president of UAV Solutions. “With our full-service manufacturing capabilities, including in-house additive rapid prototyping, we can take concept designs and translate them into functioning components to meet customer requirements.”

Sharon Corona; sccorona@uavsolutions.com www.TISR-kmi.com

Compiled by KMI Media Group staff

GPS III and OCX Satellite Launch and Early Orbit Operation Exercises Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Company successfully completed the third of five planned launch and early orbit exercises to demonstrate the launch readiness of the world’s most powerful and accurate Global Positioning System, the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation GPS III satellite and Operational Control System (OCX).

Using new installments of Raytheon’s OCX software and Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Launch and Checkout Capability, the Air Force Global Positioning System Directorate and the industry team completed a launch and early orbit exercise over a three-day period. Exercise 3 demonstrated space-ground communications; first acquisition and transfer orbit sequences; orbit-raising maneuver planning and execution; and basic anomaly detection and resolution capabilities. In addition, the industry and customer teams jointly executed mission planning activities, such as orbit determination and the generation of upload command files.

The Lockheed Martin-developed GPS III satellites and Raytheon’s OCX are critical elements of the U.S. Air Force’s effort to modernize the GPS enterprise more affordably while improving capabilities to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide.

GPS III satellites will deliver three times better accuracy; provide up to eight times more powerful anti-jamming capabilities; and include enhancements which extend spacecraft life 25 percent further than the prior GPS block. The GPS III also will carry a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with other international global navigation satellite systems, enhancing civilian user connectivity. The spacecraft bus and antenna assemblies for the first GPS III satellite have been delivered to Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility and are in the integration and test flow leading to the planned space vehicle delivery in mid-2014.

OCX is being developed in two blocks using a commercial best practice iterative software development process, with seven iterations in block 1 and one iteration in block 2. Exercise 3 was conducted using the recently completed Iteration 1.4 software. Exercise 4, scheduled for early 2014, will use Iteration 1.5 software, which includes the Launch and Checkout System capability as well as all critical information assurance features needed to support launch of the first GPS III satellite.

Advanced Optical Taggants Brimrose Technology Corporation is introducing a new generation of optical taggants that will again let the U.S. warfighter own the night and day in terms of being able to see and process critical information beyond what the human eye can see even with the help of third-generation night vision goggles. Optical taggants are target identifiers located on friendly or enemy personnel or material that enable the warfighter to make critical decisions in target identification in a tactical environment.

Brimrose is supplying its Short Wave Infrared Acousto-Optic Tunable Filter (SWIR AOTF) hyperspectral imager to provide the warfighter with “special eyes” to find and locate tagging, tracking and locating taggants that are not observable by commonly used 3G night vision goggles, which are globally available.

“The 21st-century battlefield is evolving rapidly, and for the U.S. Army to stay out in front of it we need to continue to employ tools and tactics that keep us ahead of those who would do harm to our nation,” said Brimrose CEO Ron Rosemeier, Ph.D. “With these new taggants, we are opening opportunities at the edge that will make our fighting forces more effective.”

The SWIR AOTF hyperspectral imagers let the soldier in the field identify optical taggants at a highly specific wavelength which is outside of the

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commonly viewed IR frequencies. When the taggant activates or fluoresces, the soldier can track friendly troop and material movements.

The soldier also has a Brimrose covert source invisible to the naked eye that he can track and locate which provides critical information about enemy troop and vehicle movement, weaponry and contraband, as well as being useful for other purposes. This source is also beyond the range of 3G night goggles.

It is critical that the optical taggants only be seen by the observing party, the U.S. war-fighter. When all parties have goggles that can see the activated taggants, as is the case with 3G IR goggles, they lose their effectiveness. The new generation of Brimrose taggants can be seen only by those using SWIR technology.

“The U.S. soldier must be in the position where he can make informed decisions,” said Rosemeier. “U.S.-only readable optical taggants allow him to do that on a variety of fronts, including at the edge, where the gathering of enemy intelligence is critical.”

The optical taggants themselves are made of a proprietary fiber material.

Brimrose performs materials research with nano-materials and quantum dots, both of which are used to make the next generation of optical taggants.

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ISR Supplier

Q& A

Providing the Soldier with Intelligence Worldwide

Stephen Kreider PEO U.S. Army PEO IEW&S

Stephen Kreider became the program executive officer for Intelligence, Electronic Warfare and Sensors at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., in December 2012. In this position he is responsible for the development, acquisition, fielding and life cycle support of the Army’s portfolio of intelligence, electronic warfare and target acquisition programs. These capabilities provide the soldier with the ability to detect, recognize and identify targets, as well as to collect, tag and mine intelligence which can be integrated into the tactical network to support force protection, maneuver, persistent surveillance and provide a more detailed understanding of the battlefield.

Kreider is a native of Summit, N.J. He holds master’s degrees from National Defense University in national resource strategy, Florida Institute of Technology in management, and Georgia Institute of Technology in nuclear engineering. Additionally, he is a United States Military Academy graduate.

Prior to his current position, Kreider served as the deputy program executive officer, Program Executive Office Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors. He was initially selected to the Senior Executive Service in October 2008.

Kreider’s other assignments include acting deputy program executive officer, Program Executive Office Integration; director, Combined Test Organization; program manager, Future Combat System (Brigade Combat Team); acting director and deputy director, Future Combat System Combined Test Organization, APG; commander of Yuma Proving Ground, Yuma, Ariz.; deputy for Ballistic Missile Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics), Washington, D.C.; product manager, Multiple Launch Rocket System Improved Launcher, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.; Department of the Army System Coordinator Multiple Launch Rocket System, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Research, Development and Acquisition), Washington, D.C.; project director and technical manager, Harry Diamond Laboratories, Adelphi, Md.; as well as numerous Field Artillery positions in the 3rd and 7th Infantry Divisions including battery command, fire support officer, S-4, and fire director officer.

His military education includes the Industrial College of the Armed Forces Senior Acquisition Course, United States Army Command and General Staff College and United States Army Combined Arms Service Staff College.

16 | TISR 3.4

Q: What do you consider to be the priorities of your office?

A: Our number one priority within the PEO is to continue to provide support to the soldier down-range, primarily in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) but really across the globe since we engage and support all the COCOMs at all times. We ensure that we provide them with world-class sensors and electronic warfare capabilities so that they have the understanding to make decisive actions.

The second priority is moving the enterprise to more of a system of systems architecture. One that allows us to plug and play new sensors and quickly bring in software changes or new technologies—from industry—so that we’re more agile. It embraces the Defense Intelligence Information Enterprise to make sure that we employ across domain, global integrated constructs that allows us to interface with all of our partners. These partners would be the other services and components of the intelligence community (IC) that need to share data transparently across the architecture so that the operators can make their decisions.

My third priority is the disciplined process of acquisition, which is now focused on a comprehensive 30-year investment portfolio.

We don’t want to fall into the trap of fighting the last war, and instead are prepared for a much more agile threat or a much more www.TISR-kmi.com

agile technology developmental construct that allows us to be the most efficient and effective stewards of the nation’s dollars. A lot of lessons have been learned from the last 12 years of war.

We’ve fielded an awful lot of quick-reaction capabilities to try and be more adaptive. Now, we’re focusing on how to adapt that construct more so that we are flexible. We don’t have a single focus but have a global focus as we shift to the Pacific and the other COCOMs since technology and the threat environment is different in those areas and we need to be able to adapt to all of them.

Q: What are some of the most recent advances to the Distributed Common Ground System-Army (DCGS-A)?

A: There are a great number of initiatives ongoing with DCGS-A. The main current thrust is getting Increment I Release II software through the very disciplined testing construct up and through operational tests so that we can have a full deployment decision.

To keep it simple, the main changes from Increment I Release I are bringing on the high-side TS/SCI components, enhancing the workflow of the data between all the different domains—low-side and high-side—and focusing on ease of use.

We’ve gotten to the point now where we’re ingesting upwards of 600 different sensors into the DCGS-A data cloud. We want to be able to help users do their searches and analysis and prompt them as we get such large amounts of data that are impossible for a single person to look at. That’s the main focus.

A couple of pilots that we’ve developed focused on ease of use.

We developed soldier working-groups that have been so successful that it’s gotten to the point where we can say we have software for the soldier developed by the soldier. Our working group has iterated through a number of pilots that ease-of-use construct, which is being incorporated into this new Release II software. Another aspect is we’re trying to have a better linkage to the special operations community as we conduct a pilot called DCGS-A Lite, which is getting a capability to a disadvantaged field environment where they don’t have all the same connectivity but need to have a lot of the same capabilities. Essentially this means getting data, collecting data and sharing data. We’re working on that with the special forces and will field that with them mid-next year for an operational assessment as they deploy down-range.

On the long-term side, the main thrust of Increment I Release III, the next release of software, is how do we transition all of DCGS-A to the cloud environment and the whole construct of the IC information technology enterprise. This is where we put that capability across the entire IC in the cloud environment. We’re working on a lot of pilots in that regard.

There is a lot in the development side of the house as well. We just recently had the Army’s requirements board define what the priorities are for Release III and now we’re going into the engineering and design side, roughly looking at a fiscal year 2017 fielding of that capability.

Q: How is your office coping with the fall in military spending as a result of the sequester?

A: We talked about this last year. We’ve been seeing this coming for some time, so our team has gone back to a more disciplined process of back to basics. We’ve got to do a better job of developing the contracting strategy earlier in the process as opposed to trying www.TISR-kmi.com

to find a contract that is not exactly what we need but easier to jump on a little bit quicker. That gets us to properly incentivize the contractors to get what is really needed.

We’ve also used the Army’s common operating environment opportunity to look at defining the architecture and interface standards. This is to help us get at the issue of introducing duplicate work and help get to the situation where the architecture and interfaces are clearly defined so we’re not doing a lot of rework of trying to patchwork things together. If we meet that known interface control document, it gets to that plug-and-play construct.

From an acquisition perspective, it’s always said that 70 percent of the program really is in the sustainment side of the house.

PEO IEW&S has had a concerted effort—working with our C4ISR partners to look at efficiencies on the sustainment side—and we focused primarily on DCGS-A because that is the largest of the programs. But it really goes across all programs. The biggest drivers that we’ve seen to those costs right now are software licenses and contractor field service representatives. Therefore, we’ve looked at and done a lot of great things to reduce the software license fees by looking at a demand model versus a correlation of a single license for every piece of software that may not be in use.

We’ve also been looking at getting government rights to capabilities so the Army is not paying as high a license fee, thereby managing it a little bit more. We’re also working to bring all of these quick reaction programs support. They have typically had contractor logistics support. This is due to expeditious processes and not going through the due diligence of creating all the training packages and bringing them into the schoolhouse. Now we’re defining and changing the course structure to be able to take on a lot of those tasks and reduce the reliance on contractor logistics support.

Q: How is stepping away from a wartime footing changing the work of your office?

A: To me that’s kind of a misnomer. I don’t think we’re stepping away from a war fighting footing because of the enterprise that we’re in. PEO IEW&S is fully engaged around the world at all times.

People forget that the IC has a really large contingent in the Pacific already. We’re supporting PACOM, SOUTHCOM and AFRICOM, so we’re not really changing the footing of the work that we do.

The change is that we’re paying more attention to threats in other areas, but we’ve always been engaged and we continue to be engaged in all aspects. The G2 of the Army’s construct is that there is no soldier at rest. You move a soldier out of OEF for intelligence and he’s immediately doing work for SOUTHCOM or for PACOM or for AFRICOM—it’s not like he’s idle.

From an acquisition side of the house, the change is looking from a COIN environment to a more global interface that we call Level 0. Those missions encompass gathering intelligence to determine an initial pattern of life as opposed to being in an occupational force. It’s really not changing the core construct of what it is that we do—the need for rapid equipment and the need for being an agile force in response to the threat remains constant.

Q: Could you discuss the Intel 2020 Vision?

A: The Intel 2020 Vision is the G2’s explanation of how intelligence fits into the Army 2020 vision. That is, how does it support that TISR 3.4 | 17

strategic vision? How does it involve the opportunities through investment in the force structure side of the house? What technologies and training are needed to provide those capabilities and the depth required to ensure that the Army is successful in its mission globally?

From a material side of the house, the challenge that we face is not unlike others, but it probably impacts our portfolio more than others. That is the fact of the pace of change of technology, because we are so closely tied to a changing threat. It comes down to prioritizing within the portfolio what’s necessary to meet that Army’s global requirement. So it’s looking at new capabilities in the intelligence force and upgrading equipment where appropriate. It’s upgrading advanced skills, and that coincides with the ease of use construct. That way when an intelligence force arrives in theater it’s not like it’s starting new.

The construct is—as you regionally align the IC to a focus in the world—it should already be familiar with the region from a CONUS environment. The land ISR net vision of reality is [finding out how to] get to the point of retaining an expeditionary construct.

It’s knowing ahead of time where we’re going and making sure that we got the foundational training while focusing on terrestrial, air and space, and an increased focus on the cyber construct that goes across all those layers.

The G2’s Army 2020 vision focuses on a few things that we have to take into account, such as no “cold starts.” Cold starts go back to the idea that no intelligence soldier is at rest. Another aspect is making sure that we provide solutions to leverage technology and the most recent capabilities so that intelligence soldiers can understand what is really going on and then provide that information to the relevant combatant command.

Q: What new platforms are candidates for upgrading the Airborne Reconnaissance Low (ARL) system?

A: Well, there is the aircraft component—the aircraft itself. Currently they are a Dash 7 series and we’re looking to transition to a Dash 8 series, which gives us a newer platform, more legs and more commonality across the force. In the fiscal year 2015-2019 timeframe we’re looking to transition five of the nine ARL platforms to a Dash 8 platform. Then, we’re going to take a lot of the lessons learned from the last 12 years with all the unique aircraft sensors utilized in Operation Iraqi Freedom and OEF and bring ARL into a more multi-sensor capability platform that has a suite of sensors that can be plug and play depending upon the particular mission.

This would be with a minimum of two—and an objective of at least three—simultaneous sensor capabilities on the platforms.

There is an aerial sensor study going on right now that prioritizes in each of the different modalities for capabilities, the state of the technology in a short-term fiscal year 2016-2017 timeframe, mid-range fiscal year 2018-2019 timeframe and longer-term timeframe.

Q: Is the pivot to the Pacific expected to have a great impact on the work of your office?

A: No, and it goes back to our earlier questions. We’re there now.

We always have a focus there. There are a lot of military intelligence and other organizations that we supply information to or capabilities to in that region. There may be a little more of prioritization of 18 | TISR 3.4

assets as we bring assets out of OEF while we realign to the needs of the other COCOM commanders, and certainly PACOM has requests for some of those assets. But the capabilities we deliver—force protection and ISR—are really needed everywhere at all times.

Therefore, it doesn’t really change what we do from a materials side of the house.

Our systems have to be prepared to support full spectrum operations regardless of where those are in the world so that’s really not changing. We’ve seen over the last 12 years and we’ve talked about that an agile process of capabilities to threats is absolutely necessary and our scope of the threat is probably what changes a bit. It’s new to us in that we’ve placed more emphasis on it in some of those other regions as opposed to the specific threat in OEF. Q: In our last interview you discussed the Electronic Warfare Planning and Management tool (EWPMT). What is the status of that project?

A: EWPMT is a component of an integrated electronic warfare suite that is the new Army program of record. EWPMT is one aspect of that. The contract award for that actually occurred on June 28, 2013. It has about a 15-month period of performance to provide the initial capability. We will have an automated tool for the electronic warfare officer to conduct management, planning, analysis and deconfliction, and to provide a common picture of the electromagnetic environment so that he can manage it to best meet the needs of the battalion or the brigade that he supports. It was actually a five-year contract that goes through 2019 with numerous incremental updates so that we can synchronize it with many other programs across the Army. So it’s on track, it’s funded and we’re moving forward on it.

A major change of responsibility from last year is that OSD said that we need to transition the ground electronic warfare single management responsibility and the executive agency from the Navy to the Army. We’re on track to make that happen as the Secretary of the Army and the Secretary of the Navy have already signed the agreement. The current single manager in the Navy and I agreed to a transition plan where the Army became the executive agent and I became the single manager. We’ll continue to focus on a DoD perspective to electronic warfare, and EWPMT is a major player in the management of that spectrum.

Q: We understand the PEO is going through some reorganization; can you tell us about the changes and explain why they were needed?

A: It was just our due diligence as members of the nation and as managers of resources to be efficient and effective in the use of the organizational construct and the spending of the dollars. The realignment was a two-phase process. We converted from seven to six project managers in the summer of 2012. And then in October we realigned from six program mangers to five program managers.

It affected three of the six that previously existed: PM Night Vision/ Reconnaissance Surveillance Target Acquisition at Fort Belvoir, PM Navigation Capabilities and Special Programs at Aberdeen Proving Ground, and PM Airborne Reconnaissance and Exploitation Systems at Aberdeen Proving Ground.

We aligned them into two new PMs. They are the PM for Sensors-Aerial Intelligence and the PM for Terrestrial Sensors. We www.TISR-kmi.com

looked to close the loop on a number of challenges facing the PEO, [including getting] a closer tie to the research side of the command. It is the science and technology development we were looking at. Each one of the commands has laboratories with certain specialties or expertise.

We want the capabilities of each of these commands to be closer aligned to supporting that science and technology so there is an improved transition and a better discussion of the priorities. And as a result of this, we’re doing a better job realizing the resources that we’re given. It also helps us to best align with the TRADOC’s Centers of Excellence.

I had some PMs that had multiple Centers of Excellence that they had to deal with. This realignment allows us to lessen that diversity which will create a better working relationship with the requirement side of the house. Both in terms of helping them to understand what the state of technology is, what’s in the realm of doable and working with them to result in better defined requirements which will Students and instructors from U.S. Army Geospatial Intelligence Analyst Course at U.S. Army Intelligence Center of help reduce risk in our being able to provide those Excellence receive a tour of the ground terminal station of the Distributed Common Ground System-Army. [Photo courtesy capabilities. And then from an internal perspective, it of U.S. Army/by Captain Ray Ragan] helps us to consolidate program management, engiAnother major thrust in aircraft survivability is developing the neering, logistics components and expertise so that they can focus advanced radar warning receiver. We’re anticipating fielding that on specific capabilities. It’s pretty multi-faceted, but it comes down in 2017. We have teamed with the Navy and are now partnered to how we can be more efficient in our management of dollars. where we’re going to do a leader-follower arrangement with the Navy, where they’re taking the lead and then we’ll adapt it to our Q: On the aircraft survivability side, now that you are nearing needs with certain capabilities for us. There is roughly $1.5 billion engineering, manufacturing and development for Common Infraof savings to the Army by doing this and about a two-year accelerred Counter Measure (CIRCM), can you tell us about the latest ated capability for the Army. We’re really thrilled to partner and do with the program as well what other new initiatives you are seeing that with what the Navy calls their version II, which is currently in on that front? development.

The last one is the Holy Grail, and that is an integrated airA: Well, CIRCM is in the technology development stage. There are craft survivability equipment suite, where as opposed to multiple two contractors in that phase. They are on cost-schedule performodality sensors giving individual warning to the pilot, he sees an mance and doing quite well. Both contractors are showing very integrated picture. As a result we increase his confidence in what mature capabilities and prototypes have already been delivered. the threat is because we’ve taken an infrared and a radar capability We’ve completed preliminary design reviews, and those are on and integrated them together so he can take appropriate action to track and leading us to a milestone B decision to get us into engithe threat. Our initial capability drop we’re looking to put into the neering, manufacturing and development by next year. So we’re CH-47s in the fiscal year 2015 timeframe. And we’ll continue to excited; it’s going particularly well and it’s going to provide an build upon that in other platforms as we move the whole enterprise overmatch capability against existing threats and expected threats into that integrated construct. coming in the future.

One change from last year in the aircraft survivability arena Q: Is there anything else you would like to add that we haven’t is that the Army and OSD have now nominated CIRCM to be the discussed?

Army’s representative—looking at the program to provide foreign military sales ability. And so we’re in the early stages of that to proA: I just want to make sure that everybody understands that I vide this capability. We’re working with OSD and the two contracrecognize the outstanding work that the soldiers, civilians and tors to see what can be done to make this exportable earlier in the contractors are doing in supporting the war effort and that for us, process as we work particularly with our coalition partners capait is a great opportunity to support them and we’re proud to do that. bilities. One of the major changes that just occurred is a significant Yes, we face significant challenges in continued high operations upgrade to the Common Missile Warning System [CMWS]. CMWS tempo, the budget challenges and the sequestration that we went started its fielding and initial operating capability in Afghanistan, through, but morale is still high and everybody is doing great work. where we’re fielding the third-generation electronic control netI just want to make sure everybody understands how proud we are work. It comes with three major capability upgrades—a more and happy we are to continue to focus on getting to the soldier powerful processor, improved and expanded threat algorithms, and what the soldier needs. I’m personally honored to be able to lead an initial hostile fire detection capability for small arms and rocketthe team to do that now. O propelled grenades. www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 3.4 | 19

By Hank Hogan TISR Correspondent

A deluge of ISR data is driving innovation in data storage technology.

If a picture is worth 1,000 words, what’s the value of 100 million pictures? And how much is it worth to have that information accessible on demand, now and later?

For the U.S. military, the answers to such questions are of more than passing interest due to advances in ISR. ISR sensors and technology in such systems as Gorgon Stare and Blue Devil generate a deluge of data every day. The video streaming into the military’s DCGS, or Distributed Common Ground System, totals over 7 terabytes daily.

“That works out to about 1,600 hours of video exploitation that we would collect on a given day. And we look at that. It’s a huge effort,” said Colonel Michael Shields, chief of the capabilities division of the Air Force ISR Agency.

That data has to be stored somewhere. The Air Force ISR Agency does so for about 30 days. After that, the information may end up in various national three-letter agencies, such as the NSA, NGA or DIA. The decision to use this approach means that bridges to these deep data stores must be in place. This helps ensure that the data ends up in the right place, without storage-devouring extra copies being produced. It also means that an analyst who wants access to older information can get it, as each bridge is a two-way conduit.

In this storage scheme, multiple systems operate at different archival levels and depend upon different technologies. Because 20 | TISR 3.4

they’re built using semiconductor memory, solid-state drives offer the fastest access of the three broad storage categories. However, they’re the most expensive and provide the smallest storage capacity. Magnetic tapes are the slowest class of storage, but are the least expensive and offer the greatest capacity. Spinning disks, familiar to any personal computer user, fall between the other two groups in terms of cost, speed and capacity.

The different storage technologies all play a part in achieving the desired result. Indeed, this is true even if the effective data retrieval rate from a technology is far slower than the means by which that information is distributed to analysts.

“There are different layers or echelons of storage that could, at times, be slower than your transport mechanism. But that, hopefully, would be a conscious decision. The stuff that you need to make an immediate call, like a troops-in-contact type of decision, would be available immediately. You wouldn’t have to pull it up from archive,” Shields said.

As for the future, one clear trend is that more of all categories of ISR data storage will be needed. Argus, a next-generation ISR system, will produce the equivalent of 85 years of high-definition video in a 24-hour period. That is a lot of imagery to archive and analyze.

Thus, there will be an even greater demand for storage, requiring advances in technology, architecture and methods. www.TISR-kmi.com

Broadcast Roots

copied across a network. The connection between remote and local objects is secure yet allows needed data access, according to Bunker.

Vendors are helping the military meet the challenge of handling ISR generated data. For DataDirect Networks (DDN) of Chatsworth, Calif., the issues raised have a familiar look. The 15-year-old comAssessing, and Addressing, Cyber pany began its existence by creating products for another area that demands a real-time ingest and handling of high-value but shortDave Denson, big data strategist at Sunnyvale, Calif.-based lived events.

NetApp, noted that the ISR data storage challenge is actually “We started out building systems that people could do live, on much bigger than it initially seems. Traditionally, intelligence, the air broadcast off of. Losing so much as a bit or missing a beat surveillance and reconnaissance involved sensor and other data was not an option. This is the same in ISR,” said Laura Shepard, rooted in the physical world of air, sea, land and space. Recently, director of marketing for high-performance computing at DDN. the cyber realm was added to that list. The result is another large Other areas with similar characteristics include the oil and gas increase in the data load. industry, high energy-physics and radio astronomy. In all of these, A 14-hour Gorgon Stare mission generates 70 or so terabytes as in ISR, an event occurs and that event cannot realistically be of data, Denson said. “A single 10-gigabit link for 24 hours at half reproduced. Therefore, all of the data has to be speed, which is a practical, real number, is over 100 ingested as it occurs, without the dropping of a terabytes of data. And that link goes 24/7/365, and it single bit. never stops.”

The company’s technology is found in the Navy’s Denson added that packet capture of network new ISR aircraft. The data captured by sensors traffic looks like video from a workload perspective. aboard the Boeing 737 derivative is held in rugSo NetApp adapted its full motion video solution to gedized units that each provide more than 80 terathe problem. bytes of storage with a 5.0-5.5 gigabyte per second In tackling such issues, the company exploits sustained throughput. Upon landing, the mountain modern network connectivity, along with distributed of collected data is moved off the aircraft by relocatcomputing and storage. The combination can create ing drive canisters from a mobile to a land-based some remarkable outcomes. For instance, NetApp Dave Denson system for readout. This approach removes any netdid a study comparing these cloud computing techwork bottlenecks and so helps ensure a more rapid niques to traditional solutions. The study showed an turnaround of the plane, according to David Bunker, senior director 80 percent power savings of the new as compared to old methods. of government programs at DDN. Those power savings ripple through the system, since this also Speaking of avoiding bottlenecks, DDN’s success is due, in part, means that less energy is needed for cooling. What’s more, the to technical choices that the company made in meeting its cussystems that are used for data processing during the day can be tomers’ needs. For instance, in solving the original live broadcast used for information fusion at night, Denson said. problem the company’s engineers came up with an architecture that The infrastructure in such an approach is dynamic, with sysbeefed up the capabilities on the disk side. They therefore put any tems and storage assembled as needed to satisfy a mission. Storbottleneck on the host side of the system. This allowed a guaranteed age demand is kept in check because a large shared file system sits quality of service and provided the company’s products with the at the center of the infrastructure. This minimizes storage needs processing power to do such things as fix bad data on the fly as it is by eliminating extra copies of data. read from or written to a disk.

With regard to storage, there have been recent advances, such Thanks to this choice of architecture, the company can protect as the move from 2- to 4-terabyte drives. But that isn’t enough, less expensive disks from the silent data corruption that makes Denson said, because over that same span the resolution of senthem otherwise unusable in mission critical situations. Other sors has jumped at least twofold and the bit width of the data has features of the technology enable more efficient caching of data, also grown. The result is that storage is losing the race to sensors. boosting performance.

Thus, more intelligence will have to be applied to the probBunker noted that at one time DDN used specialized chips in lem of storage. Eliminating extra copies of data is one way to do storage systems for processing of data. This task is now being hanthis. Another is to make sure that full data is preserved close to dled by general purpose processors. That brings two benefits. The where it is consumed but that longer-term data is increasingly first is that it will be easier in the future for the storage company to abstracted. That is, what starts out as raw full motion video may keep up with, and take advantage of, processor improvements. The be processed so that only those frames of greatest importance are second advantage is that the use of general purpose chips enables ultimately preserved in an archive. The difficulty, of course, lies the assigning of up to 50 percent of processor power to apps running in determining just which images out of millions should be kept. on the storage platform itself.

For that, the right algorithms, storage and processing might be “Importantly, it eliminates network latency. Now we’re able to the solution. run analytics directly inside the storage platform, almost in a realThe infrastructure shouldn’t be static, Denson said. “Let that time format. That is a very interesting area,” Bunker said. composition be dynamic. Now, suddenly, you open the world up.”

Another technology from the company, Web Object Scaler, He noted, for instance, that processing might be done using improves capabilities in another way. An object storage platform, it idle virtual desktop infrastructure. Such systems have access to efficiently stockpiles large amounts of unstructured data. It allows nearby local storage and this approach keeps the data near the local access to information without the requiring that all of it be processing site. www.TISR-kmi.com

TISR 3.4 | 21

Disks that Don’t Spin

A Hybrid Approach

Known for its processors, chip maker Intel also offers a line “The solution to ISR storage can be helped by recognizing that of solid-state drives. The current products from the Santa Clara, there are different dimensions to the problem,” said Geoffrey Noer, Calif.-based company range in size up to 800 gigabytes and provide senior director of product marketing at Panasas. The Sunnyvale, data transfer rates of up to 6 gigabits per second. One of Intel’s difCalif.-based company tackles big data storage problems, with one ferentiators is the storage arena is the consistent performance of its of its first customer being the Department of Energy’s Los Alamos products, said James Myers, applications engineering and solutions National Laboratory. marketing manager for the non-volatile memory solutions group at One aspect of storage for ISR and similar tasks involves large Intel. data files. An example might be the video captured by an aircraft.

He added that the latency in fetching data out Such data might be accessed largely from beginof storage and any variations in it are important. To ning to end, with various starts, stops and side trips understand why, consider the analysis of ISR sensor along the way. However, there’s another storage data or any other similar big data problem. Typically, need, and this centers on small files and metadata, these analytics involve a cluster of server nodes that or data about data. While the individual files in this chew through the data, process the information and category are comparatively tiny, there may be a lot then produce a result. of them. For this group, there’s a need to randomly Data is accessed, processed, and then the node handle many different files and parts of files at a works on the next bit of information. Necessarily, relatively high speed. there is a slight gap between a processor finishing up Panasas’ products use a patented parallel file sysone task and starting another. The length of that short tem in an approach that scales processing, memory, James Myers pause is determined, at least in part, by how long it networking and storage together. One way to meet takes the storage system to respond to a data request. the dual needs for sequential and random access “Those waits accumulate and add up quickly. And if can be seen in the company’s latest offering, the you have a variation in those waits, you may have other ActiveStor 14. Released in September 2012, it conprocesses in this clustered node waiting. The waiting sists of a mix of relatively expensive solid-state and usually is limited by the slowest element. So perforsignificantly less costly hard disk drives. Metadata mance consistency in itself can speed up throughput and small files are automatically routed to solidand efficiency,” Myers said. state drives while everything else goes to hard disks.

This need to constantly feed data into a procesThis arrangement boosts performance by matching sor can actually make seemingly expensive solid-state the strength of each technology to the task at hand. drives cheaper than the alternative. Spinning media In this hybrid, careful attention is paid to the ratio hard disk drives are the traditional solution to many between the two technologies.

Geoffrey Noer storage problems. But hitting the needed performance “We’ve typically found that having 1 percent gnoer@panasas.com requires that many hard drives be used. For example, capacity being solid-state is sufficient. That basically 480 hard drives might be needed to satisfy the demands doesn’t throw the economics of the solution way out of a 500 web server application. The cost of the drives would be of the window,” Noer said. $150,000. In contrast, using a solid-state approach would only run Over time, the optimum division between hard disks and solid $12,000 because only 12 solid-state drives would be needed, Myers state drives will shift. This will happen due to changes in the relative said. price and evolving capabilities of the two technologies.

Thus, while an individual solid-state drive would cost three times As illustrated in ActiveStor 14, greater use of tiered storage as much as a traditional hard disk, the total solution cost of the solidcould be a future trend. It’s one way to put off the day of reckoning state approach would be dramatically lower. Less space and power that is approaching due to data volume growth outpacing storage would also be needed. capacity. Another way to postpone this deadline might be to adopt In November 2012, Intel introduced a solid-state drive aimed at technologies and practices that maximize storage utilization. Panadata centers, such as those facilities that would host ISR analytics. sas’ scale-out architecture and parallel processing represent one way The company’s products are not themselves ruggedized to the point to achieve this, Noer said. that they can meet military specifications with regard to temperature In addition to sheer capacity, another critical consideration now and shock. However, solid-state drives are inherently more robust and in the future has to do with performance. After all, for ISR and when it comes to vibration than hard disks, Myers said. other applications, what’s important is what can be derived from To be sure, solid-state drives are not the answer to all ISR storage the data. That implies speedier storage is more valuable if it enables needs. For instance, when storing vast amounts of data for archival processing to be done more quickly. purposes, other solutions, such hard disks or magnetic tape, would As Noer said, “If you can shorten your time to results and get be more cost effective. value from the data faster, obviously that improves your chance for However, Myers noted that the cost of solid-state storage is plumsucceeding at whatever mission you’re in.” O meting. When Intel offered its first solid-state drive in 2008, it was a 64-gigabyte disk. Five years later, an 800 GB version can be had for For more information, contact Editor Chris McCoy at chrism@kmimediagroup.com or search our online archives for related about the same price. Thus, a half decade saw a more than tenfold stories at www.tisr-kmi.com. increase in capacity. Look for that trajectory to continue, Myers said.

22 | TISR 3.4

www.TISR-kmi.com

Special Section: Dyke Weatherington Interview

ISR Procurer

Guiding the acquisition of manned and unmanned

ISR assets.

Dyke Weatherington Director, Unmanned Warfare & ISR Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for AT&L

Prior to coming to the Office of the SecDyke Weatherington is the director, retary of Defense, then-Lieutenant Colonel Unmanned Warfare & Intelligence, Surveil(USAF) Weatherington was the program lance, and Reconnaissance (UW & ISR), element monitor for U-2 and Global Hawk Strategic and Tactical Systems in the Office sensors, data-links and imagery standards of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquiwithin the Air Staff (Office of the Assistant sition, Technology and Logistics and the Secretary of the Air Force Office of the Assistant Secrefor Acquisition), serving in tary of Defense for Acquisithis position from 1997 to tion. He is responsible for 2001. During this assignacquisition oversight of DoD ment, he also served as the unmanned aircraft systems U.S. Head of Delegation to (UAS) and manned ISR airNATO Air Group IV in the craft systems. UAS programs ISR mission area. include the Navy Unmanned Previous experience Combat Air System (Demonincludes a position as the strator), Global Hawk, Triton, chief of the Precision TarPredator, Gray Eagle, Reaper, Dyke Weatherington geting Branch at the ReconShadow, Fire Scout, many naissance System Program small UAS, and the NATO Office at Wright-Patterson AFB (WPAFB).

Alliance Ground Surveillance system.

Earlier Air Force management and engiFor ISR, Weatherington’s portfolio neering positions included activities at includes the Joint Surveillance Target Ballistic Missile Office at Norton AFB and Attack Radar System, Rivet Joint, U-2, intelligence analysis efforts at Foreign Liberty and Guard Rail Common Sensor.

Technology Division (now National Air Weatherington is also the functional lead Intelligence Center), also at WPAFB. for the Deputy Secretary of Defense directed Weatherington holds a Bachelor of UAS task force that serves as a forum for Science degree in engineering mechanics the military departments to collaborate on from the United States Air Force Academy UAS initiatives and resolve issues. He also (1981) and a Master of Arts in national serves as chairman of the multi-agency securities studies from California State (DoD, Federal Aviation Administration, University (1993). He is also a graduate of Department of Homeland Security and the Air Force Air Command and Staff ColNational Aeronautics and Space Adminislege and the Defense Systems Management tration) UAS Executive Committee Senior College. He has been awarded numerous Steering Group that addresses UAS access Air Force Decorations including the Airto the National Airspace System for its man’s Medal. members. www.TISR-kmi.com

Q: Could you describe the roles and functions of your office?

A: I work directly for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategic and Tactical Systems; my office has two main functions. My primary role, my “day job,” is to provide portfolio management, technical and programmatic evaluation, and functional oversight of acquisition programs, specifically unmanned aircraft systems and airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. In this role, I support the Defense Acquisition Board by providing technical expertise and by facilitating the discussion of program issues, risks and concerns across multiple stakeholders within the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the military services. Success is delivering a balanced and informative recommendation to the Defense Acquisition Executive that enables an accurate and timely decision.

In my second capacity, I chair the OSD UAS Task Force. The task force was created in 2007 and given the mission to work across programs and the military services to reduce duplication of effort in developing new UAS, to encourage cooperation, and to advocate for the department on issues unique to UAS, such as integration into the national airspace. We have multiple organizations in the department actively participating in the task force and, by working together, have made real progress in UAS interoperability, airspace integration, frequency and bandwidth management, and TISR 3.4 | 23

Special Section: Dyke Weatherington Interview logistics and sustainment. In running the task force, my goal is to avoid creating additional processes for programs; rather, we try to make the existing process work better.

Q: What do you look for when overseeing the acquisition of ISR aircraft systems?

A: Acquisition oversight of ISR aircraft systems is a job we take very seriously, and it’s not really much different than OSD oversight of other defense weapon systems.

Before we embark on an acquisition, we ensure the requirement is well defined by the warfighter, and well understood and affordable by the acquisition system charged with procuring the capability for the department. Therefore, we are closely tied to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who validate the warfighter requirements for major defense acquisition programs and other programs of specific interest to the Joint Staff.

In the area of ISR, there are many different potential solutions to meet a specific ISR requirement, no matter how well defined.

We work closely with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Under Secretary of Defense of Intelligence and other Office of Secretary of Defense offices to avoid redundancies in capability and provide the most efficient and cost-effective solution to meet requirements. Prior to major program initiation, we focus on affordability—specifically making sure costs are well understood—to include research, development and procurement costs, as well as sustainment costs, which account for the large majority of a weapon system’s life cycle costs. Acquisition programs begin because there is a current or projected shortfall in capability and, once started, we pay considerable attention to make sure the program is on schedule and within budget to provide the capability that the warfighter needs. Throughout the acquisition process, we track critical metrics and provide updates and recommendations to assure program success.

Q: How do you expect the force drawdown in Afghanistan to affect today’s UAS programs?

A: As we draw down our forces in Afghanistan, it is critical that we intelligently shape an ISR and UAS portfolio which will meet security interests and requirements in other parts of the world. Given that we cannot 24 | TISR 3.4

absolutely predict how the future strategic environment will develop, we need to maintain a UAS enterprise capable of supporting full-spectrum military operations anywhere in the world. There are some currently fielded platforms and capabilities developed specifically for a unique counterinsurgency environment whose utility elsewhere is limited.

Some of these quick reaction capabilities (QRCs) will likely need to be retired as part of our drawdown due to affordability issues. Sustainment is a major contributor to life cycle costs and the systems’ affordability. QRCs present a challenge in that many have no sustainment funding or manpower in the base budget. Additionally, many of these systems were procured without the benefit of a long-term sustainment plan, resulting in a myriad of challenges including lack of tech and training data, diminishing manufacturing sources, lack of spares/depot support and a heavy reliance on contractor logistic support. With a smaller commitment of personnel and systems in Afghanistan, there are near-term opportunities to take advantage of available resources. During the past decade, fewer systems were allocated to combatant commanders in other areas of responsibility.

One potential opportunity we can capitalize on is additional ISR UAS availability for use in other regions. Another opportunity is to return some of those systems home to allow a more normalized training environment, enabling the training pipeline to recover from years of high operational usage. In all cases, the current budgetary climate dictates that we proceed smartly in terms of how we acquire and apportion ISR systems, including UAS, to best deal with an evolving strategic environment.

Q: Could you tell us about any current projects or initiatives within your office that our readers might find especially fascinating?

A: When a UAS is acquired, a considerable amount of time, money and effort is invested in developing and procuring its associated ground control station (GCS).

Often the GCS and its underlying architecture are developed in a closed, proprietary and inefficient manner. Consequently, many systems today face interoperability issues due to proprietary interfaces, differing data

models and a failure to adopt open standards. This limits our ability to effectively communicate and transmit data and imagery across multiple UAS and between the military services.

For the past few years, my office has spearheaded an effort called the UAS Control Segment (UCS). UCS breaks open ground control stations into an open architecture marketplace, similar to the commercial smartphone app industry, promoting competition from small businesses and encouraging best-of-breed solutions. UCS is committed to creating common data services through a joint app store market, which will encourage reusability across the military departments and provide tremendous efficiencies in software certification, testing and future modifications. This approach promotes innovation and competition while driving down cost. We are actively pursuing strategies to transition existing vendor-proprietary ground control station architecture to an open architecture standard. However, due to individual program cost, schedule, disciplined software migration, and military departmentcentric requirements and budgeting, full embracement of a major change is difficult—the UCS effort is no different. It is taking time.

Q: Broadly speaking, could you discuss some current trends in ISR UAS technology?

A: I think there’s going to be a revolution in how software is implemented across the systems and how we leverage that software to take advantage of the massive amount of data our sensors make available to us on a daily basis. We’re conceiving this as a way to get around the communication challenge of limited bandwidth availability and transmission volume.

It’s all about interoperability, not just within a system itself, but among the entire collection of systems. Within the unmanned systems, software is used to refine and prioritize which data is important and move the most critical information along the data link first. Standard metadata is applied to the gathered information and is sent to exploitation cells, where it is dissected by intelligence analysts applying software applications. Those software applications are going to advance in capability, not only www.TISR-kmi.com

Special Section: Dyke Weatherington Interview to exploit data explaining what’s happening now, but to show us what likely happened in the past and predict where actions might be necessary in the future. Across systems, standardized data will allow more relevance to the warfighter for situational awareness and allow better extrapolation of events to provide for better decision making and planning.

Another area where we’re counting on technology advances in algorithms is in unmanned autonomy. You can check out lots of videos on the Internet and see that there are many projects out there solving various aspects of autonomy and robotics in general. I see lots of potential here. With similar advances in control software technologies, we’ll see more manned-unmanned teams arise as well. Additionally there is great opportunity for advanced software to reduce the human burden on collecting, correlating and fusing raw data allowing for more precise and much quicker decisions, or “actionable intelligence” in military speak.

Some of these concepts have already been demonstrated in last year’s Manned Unmanned Systems Integration Capability (MUSIC) Exercise. For the first time, we saw a Universal Ground Control Station operate three different types of unmanned aircraft (Gray Eagle, Hunter and Shadow) in real time. We demonstrated a One System Remote Video Terminal controlling the sensor ball on an unmanned aircraft in real time. We saw the debut of the Triclops sensor suite, a three sensor payload suite carried by a single Gray Eagle. It was notable that control of the various sensor feeds in the air were handed back and forth with little delay, including the new ability of the Mini UGCS to take command of a sensor ball, a feat enabled by the use of a digital data link. The Hunter was also able to send its video feed into the cockpit of the Kiowa Warrior helicopter, a capability that has already been fielded as a QRC. MUSIC is the first of a planned series of demonstrations, one that will include more capabilities— data from signals intelligence sensors, widearea surveillance systems, etc.—and even inter-service cooperation. We hope to see more of these types of technology advances.

Q: How do you expect the rebalancing to the Pacific region to alter the course of DoD UAS development and deployment? www.TISR-kmi.com

A: In light of the new defense strategy, the department is in the process of assessing its overall ISR requirements, both in terms of overall quantity and capacity and in specific capabilities. That assessment includes space, manned and unmanned ISR systems.

We expect this activity to be ongoing over the next several months. First and foremost, the department has acquired a tremendous amount of ISR capability over the past 10 years and it is incumbent on us to allocate those assets appropriately to meet the new defense strategy. The large majority of those assets are supporting our current operations in Afghanistan. As we draw down, some of those assets will likely be reallocated to other needs across the globe, but many of them will continue to support the current and evolving counterterrorism mission.

With respect to future development, the expanse of the Pacific theater will put a premium on the ability of our unmanned systems to cover increasingly long distances, and thus, endurance will be an important aspect of our future UAS force structure.

Likewise, our systems will require modularity and the ability to carry a wide variety of sensors and payloads to maximize flexibility to support the full spectrum of operations, including operations in a maritime environment. Lastly, we have had the benefit of being able to operate in a mostly permissive airspace for the past 10 years. The future may be different. I expect that future UAS systems will need the ability to operate in airspace that may be less than permissive and require more sophisticated systems and designs to enable these capabilities.

Q: Can current UAS operate in denied airspace? If not, what future capabilities would allow them to do so?

A: UAS face similar challenges as manned aircraft with respect to operating in denied airspace. The planned operating environment is considered when requirements for UAS are being developed as for other weapons systems. The Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap, FY2011-2036 (located at www.acq.osd.mil/sts/organization/ uw.shtml) discusses approaches and options to meet various operational capabilities.

Q: Could you tell our readers about the Navy Unmanned Combat Air System?

A: The Navy UCAS Demonstration (UCASD) program originated following the 2005 Quadrennial Defense Review, and was initiated to develop a carrier suitable, low observable, unmanned aircraft system that will demonstrate UCAS carrier operations and autonomous aerial refueling, and mature required technologies in support of potential follow-on acquisition programs such as the Unmanned Carrier Launched Air Surveillance & Strike System (UCLASS) program. The UCAS-D air vehicle is the X-47B, produced by Northrop Grumman.

UCAS-D will provide valuable data and lessons learned regarding technologies and concepts of operations required to conduct catapult launch, recovery (arrested landings) and carrier-controlled airspace operations and potentially autonomous aerial refueling of an unmanned platform. The X-47B made its first successful flight in February 2011. There are currently two X-47Bs at NAS Patuxent River, Md., which underwent extensive shore-based carriersuitability testing prior to successful sea trials in spring 2013, which included catapult launch, arrested landings and carrier airspace operations. Specific UAS technologies required to operate an unmanned vehicle within the Carrier Controlled Airspace include digital messaging, precision GPS based navigation, autonomous software algorithms, and wireless air vehicle deck handling devices, all of which have been successfully demonstrated by the UCAS-D program. UCAS-D provides key foundation for future carrier-based unmanned capabilities, such as the UCLASS program.

Q: Which unmanned program of record will most likely lead to the retirement of the U-2?

A: The U-2 is an incredibly useful and sustainable system. I had the privilege to manage development and production for one of the many U-2 collection systems while in the Air Force acquisition community. The value of a persistent high-altitude airborne ISR system has been validated almost constantly over the last 50 years. At the same time, technology and threats to traditional high-altitude aircraft have advanced to the point where DoD must evaluate the appropriate mix of space, manned and unmanned ISR systems. If the ongoing ISR requirements analysis revalidates a high altitude TISR 3.4 | 25

Special Section: Dyke Weatherington Interview airborne requirement, any system that may replace the current U-2 capability will need to demonstrate improvements in affordability and effectiveness compared to the U-2.

Q: What is the future of military UAS over the next decade?

A: From a quantitative perspective, DoD UAS inventories are planned to grow through 2015, then level off. Within DoD, research, development, test and evaluation funding is planned to taper off over the next five years, and depot maintenance consolidation efforts underway are expected to reduce operations and maintenance costs.

However, considering current inventory levels, overall funding demonstrates a continued commitment to invest in UAS performing predominately ISR missions. Thus, while one industry analysis and forecasting group estimates worldwide UAS spending will almost double over the next 10 years to a total of $89 billion, a comparison between DoD funding plans and industry predictions indicates DoD will not be the primary investor within that market.

Looking toward the future, development of new capabilities will likely focus on smaller numbers of higher-end platforms capable of operating in more challenging airspace environments. With fewer new systems in development and some future projects being deferred, the planning outlook toward future systems is much more conservative. However, DoD does intend to be the most innovative user. I anticipate substantial capability improvements with current systems as well as emerging ones.

The potential for increasingly autonomous systems presents tremendous promise, but also poses challenges which we do not take lightly. We’ll also see increased capability as continued merging of manned-unmanned teams combines the inherent strengths of each system type while increasing overall mission effectiveness. These advances have already demonstrated the ability to provide increased situational awareness, improved lethality and greater survivability. I expect to see substantive UAS capability improvements and a corresponding reduction in operating costs during the next decade.

Since 2000, DoD has been regularly publishing a 25-year roadmap for unmanned systems (UMS). The purpose of this roadmap is to articulate a vision and strategy 26 | TISR 3.4

for the continued development, production, test, training, operation and sustainment of unmanned systems technology across DoD. With the rapid development and increased acquisition of UMS over the last decade, the roadmap provides a useful UMS snapshot, encompassing not only UAS, but unmanned ground vehicles and unmanned maritime systems as well. The 2013 version of the Unmanned Systems Integrated Roadmap should be released in the next few months.

It will give readers a good idea of the unmanned capabilities desired by DoD, and the technical path required to achieve those advances.

Q: What are the two or three largest challenges DoD is facing with respect to UAS? A: Far and away the most significant challenge for ISR UAS, and many other programs within the department, is budget uncertainty. The combination of planned budget reductions and sequestration is forcing many of our program managers to make painful decisions that will result in inefficiencies and higher cost to deliver capability to our warfighters. In many cases, programs will be stretched out at lower production rates that will result in higher overall costs to the department. In the UAS portfolio, the combined budget of R&D, procurement and O&S is about 25 percent less in FY13 than in FY12, and that does not include the FY13 sequestration impact. I expect the portfolio will see a further reduction in the FY14 president’s budget submission largely due to the overall DoD topline reduction.

Recently, the UAS Task Force’s Interoperability integrated process team conducted a study and produced a capability-based assessment outlining the UAS interoperability challenges. Of the 29 prioritized UAS interoperability gaps identified, the ability to detect and avoid (DAA) other airspace users was the number one capability gap.

DAA is the main factor limiting UAS airspace integration and presents one of the most challenging tasks facing DoD. There are a myriad of regulatory and policy issues to resolve that impact multiple governmental agencies in many disparate areas.

The ability to integrate UAS into national airspace requires standards and technology development in coordination with the FAA and other federal agencies. The military departments are planning for increases in

the number of UAS operating locations within the continental United States as a result of the redeployment of troops and equipment out of Southwest Asia and will need additional airspace to train, making UAS integration into the national airspace system (NAS) an even more important priority.

DoD is working NAS integration issues diligently within the department and externally with other agencies. The DoD UAS Task Force and the DoD Policy Board on Federal Aviation are working through the UAS Executive Committee (ExCom) for Airspace Integration to enable UAS integration activities. The ExCom is a joint committee composed of senior executives with responsibilities tied to UAS activities from four member organizations: DoD, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and NASA. The mission of the ExCom is to enable increased and ultimately routine access of federal UAS engaged in public aircraft operations into the NAS in order to support UAS training, development and research requirements, and the operational needs of the FAA, DoD, DHS and NASA. The current focus of the ExCom is on efforts that will provide near-term access for UAS operated by federal agencies while developing the requirements to facilitate long term solutions.

Another significant challenge for ISR and UAS is the continued expansion of new capability areas and the associated requirements and acquisition process. Over the last 10 years, DoD had healthy budgets and warfighter pull that resulted in multiple ISR efforts. While some of them were very successful, such as MC-12, Reaper, Gray Eagle, Shadow and Raven, there we also efforts that did not meet department expectations.

In the future, the availability of funding could reduce future innovation and rapid capability improvements. OSD and Joint Staff will continue to work with the military departments and agencies to expand innovative and affordable ISR capability to meet the prioritized needs of our warfighters. O

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

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The advertisers index is provided as a service to our readers. KMI cannot be held responsible for discrepancies due to last-minute changes or alterations.

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INDUSTRY INTERVIEW

Tactical ISR Technology

Ronald Rosemeier CEO and President Brimrose Corporation Ronald Rosemeier, Ph.D., started Brimrose Corporation in 1979 as he was getting his Ph.D. in materials science from Johns Hopkins University on a full scholarship. Rosemeier, who has always had a passion for making things work, has not accepted a dime of outside funding for Brimrose, starting the company on funding from several SBIR awards. Rosemeier has always had a keen interest in helping the U.S. military, and has been engaged in providing technology solutions to military problems from the time the company began. Brimrose has become a mainstay in Hunt Valley, Md., with a full-time staff of more than 40 and an extensive lab, testing and manufacturing facilities on premises.

Q: Could you tell our readers about some of the solutions Brimrose offers to the military?

A: Our mission is to help keep the U.S. military one step ahead of our enemies. There are a number of ways we are doing that. For one thing, we want our soldiers to own the night again by providing them with special night vision capabilities that extend beyond the typical 3G IR goggles that are flooding the global market. Through the use of our SWIR technology, we can activate optical taggants which are invisible to those using 3G goggles. In fact, we have a unique arsenal of electro-optic and acousto-optic technology that can be deployed for a wide range of military applications. We now also have a unique aerial capability, called the Heli-Engagement Reconnaissance Observatory, or HERO, which offers localized surveillance and sensing capabilities for the warfighter and first responders coming into situations involving toxic chemicals.

Q: What unique benefits does Brimrose provide its customers in comparison with other military contractors?

A: Because we are a focused, cuttingedge, high-technology company staffed by 28 | TISR 3.4

sources like power plants and automobiles operating here on Earth. Technology can change things. Our company lives that reality every day.

Q: Can you provide a few success stories?

highly intelligent, technologically savvy scientists and engineers, we can hit the ground running when the U.S. military comes to us with a problem. We can immediately swarm an issue with scientists and engineers who analyze it and are able to come up with the right solutions. Also, we are free from the bureaucratic slowdowns and entanglements that plague larger companies.

Q: How is Brimrose positioned in the market for expansion?

A: Brimrose has a unique balance of military and commercial products. We are a powerful example of how technology developed for the military can be applied to the commercial market. We recognize that there is a lot of value in the technology we develop for the military. For example, technology that was used to quickly differentiate MiG fighters from friendly aircraft now is used in our spectrometers to analyze pharmaceuticals, clothing, insulation and food. Also, we are very excited about spinning off some of this technology into new companies that eventually would be independent of Brimrose. For example, the technology that we initially used to help NASA engines be more efficient on long-duration space flights by reusing waste energy to convert into electricity is becoming available through a new company we are developing to do the same for heat-generating

A: The whole company is a success story.

We began from humble roots, scratching out a few SBIRs, to develop and extract technology that is cutting-edge on a global level. We still have a unique relationship with the U.S. military. Every defense agency we deal with, from the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force to its Aberdeen Proving Ground, knows that we are devoted to meeting their special and unique requirements. Yet, we also have reached the point where 80 percent of our revenue now comes from commercial products. As a result, we believe we are resilient to some extent to the many gyrations of the U.S. marketplace. The same technology that we used for the U.S. military can now help companies better make seedless watermelons. This is via our globe-leading spectrometers, which have no moving parts and are being used to meet a growing list of applications to make better products for consumers.

Q: How are Brimrose’s solutions customized to meet the needs of the military?

A: Our response time to questions posed

by DoD agencies and military services we are working with has to be the fastest in the industry. Everything we do is focused on providing the technology and meeting the needs of our warfighters. We have the engineers, scientists and researchers, many of whom are at the Ph.D. level, to provide intelligent solutions rapidly. That is what we do: solve problems. We have been doing it for 33 years and we will keep doing it for as long as we can help our warfighters. O www.TISR-kmi.com

February 2014 Volume 3, Issue 5

Cover and In-Depth Interview with

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IED Detection

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Equipment for detecting improvised explosive devices is continuing to advance and has come a long way from the start of Operation Enduring Freedom.

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