Hi,
something interesting.. may be we might need that ?
High Tech Tools Pinpoint Iraq Gunfire
Associated Press
March 23, 2004
ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Pentagon is rushing into service in Iraq a
pair of technologies developed under its advanced research arm: a
Humvee-mounted sensor for pinpointing hostile gunfire and a
"command post of the future" designed to cut down on combat
leaders' travel and streamline decision-making.
The tools come courtesy of the Defense Advanced Research Projects
Agency, which is known mostly for its imaginative, over-the-horizon
work. Current DARPA projects include underwater holograms that
disguise submarines and artificial human "tissue" for testing
vaccines against biological and chemical weapons.
But urgent war zone needs have prompted the Pentagon agency to get
to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan inventions ranging from
handheld computerized language translators to thousands of
pen-sized water purifiers.
The sniper detector, named "Boomerang" and developed by BBN
Technologies Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., is all about diluting the
element of surprise in urban ambushes.
Sensors atop an aluminum pole on the back of a Humvee pick up
supersonic shock waves to give an approximate location of gunfire,
and sound waves measured from the muzzle blast narrow it some
more.
A cigarette box-sized display on the dashboard or windshield then
shows the findings. "Incoming, 5 o'clock," says a speaker inside
the box.
Assailants in urban Iraq are often inexperienced, missing on the
first shot, said Karen Wood, who supervised development of
"Boomerang" in just two months. They also tend to be armed with
AK-47s rather than more accurate rifles, giving soldiers time to
return fire or get out of harm's way.
DARPA tested the Boomerang on a snowy December day at the Marine
Corps Warfighting Laboratory in Quantico, Va. The Marines and Army
in Iraq (DARPA won't say which units) then volunteered to take 50,
becoming the first to try them in battle.
DARPA's goal is to lower the cost of a sniper detector from $10,000
to $3,000 and to link them in a network that lets soldiers
throughout Baghdad know sniper whereabouts. And while hostile
gunfire doesn't pose near the lethal threat to U.S. troops as
craftily rigged roadside bombs, every little bit helps.
"Is a 20 percent solution better than nothing?" Wood said. "If it
saves lives, a partial solution is better than nothing."
New computer systems designed to streamline the command bureaucracy
- letting senior officers collaborate in real time with visual
tools - will get tested in the field by the 1st Cavalry Division,
which will take 50 such computer banks to Iraq in about a month.
Half will go in the division's Baghdad headquarters while the rest
are sprinkled at eight command posts in the area. All will be
connected by one overarching wireless network.
Each bank of computers has three screens: one for the user's own
work, one for 3-D simulated battlefields and a third to peer into
what's happening on other systems throughout the city. Commanders
will also be able to talk to each other using voice over Internet
technology.
The network is designed to sharply reduce the need for commanders
to crisscross the city for meetings while hastening the flow of
information. Instead of sending an e-mail request, for example,
they can simply drop in on each other's computers for data they
need.
"Right now we have to bring everyone to the same place to have a
meeting, and Baghdad is a dangerous place," said Ryan Paterson,
project manager of DARPA's "Command Post of the Future," which is
being developed by Maya Viz LLC of Pittsburgh and three other
companies.
DARPA had been working with a few generals since 1999 but had no
takers until wartime, said Steve Roth, Maya Viz's chief executive
officer. "It was limping along on pennies," he said.
Then, Maj. Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the 1st Cav commander, invited him
to Fort Hood, Texas, for a demonstration in October. Chiarelli
immediately agreed to test it in Iraq.
Other inventions highlighted by DARPA earlier this month at a
conference that coincided with the Grand Challenge desert robotic
race were geared toward girding soldiers against the elements,
improving their field nutrition and cleansing dirty water.
Special Operations forces recently tried a handheld vacuum chamber
that sucks heat from the body, much like a radiator does for an
automobile. They hit the treadmill in a 95-degree room at a
Stanford University lab, saddled with backpacks. During breaks,
they stuck their hands in the bubble-shaped vacuum, developed by
Avacore Technologies Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.
The Special Operations Command was encouraged enough by the results
to ask for more devices, which they will test on their own, said
Dr. Brett Giroir, deputy director of DARPA's defense sciences
office. DARPA's next step is designing a body cooler small enough
to fit inside a soldier's boot.
DARPA operates a $2.8 billion annual budget with only 240
employees. Project managers such as The Boomerang project's Wood
generally stay only four years, a practice aimed at preventing
researchers from getting too comfortable.
"You have four years to make a difference and you feel the clock
ticking the moment you walk in the door," said Wood. "It guarantees
that you have fresh ideas coming through the door."
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