SOTECH 11-1 (Feb. 2013)

Policy Shaper

Michael A. Sheehan

Assistant Secretary of Defense Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict

Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1 O Sensor Systems SRSE O Tagging, Tracking and Locating

February 2013 Volume 11, Issue 1

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World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

Leadership Insight:

ReaR adm. GaRy W. RosholtsenioR defense officialabu dhabi, uae

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Michael a. Sheehan Assistant Secretary of Defense

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February 2013Volume 11, Issue 1Special OperatiOnS technOlOgy

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Special operators need to move swiftly but safely wherever their mission dictates, and the GMV permits them to do that. We give you test drives in all of the vehicles being proposed for this critical requirement.By DavE ahEarn

This dual-language issue is tailored to a global audience in the defense industry, including a worldwide special operations readership. This issue will be distributed at the IDEX trade show at Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Departments Industry Interview2 editor’S PerSPective14 Black Watch23 reSource center

denniS hoVice PresidentProduct DevelopmentAegis Defense

9SPecial reconnaiSSance, Surveillance and exPloitationSee the ISR systems that can inform and protect special operators in open desert environments typical of the Middle East, providing warriors with critical situational awareness against an enemy operating in hot, arid, dusty regions.By Hank Hogan

12tagging, tracking and locatingIn the 21st century, war often involves a solitary enemy, or a band of attackers that may occupy a vehicle. But the foes and their vehicle can be tracked, traced and identified by systems that can report their movements several times per minute. By William murray

20 SenSor SySteMSIn an era where the nature of combat has changed and the enemy can appear from any direction at any time, sensor systems are crucial, warning personnel of impending threats. Examine advanced sensor systems and discover how they work.By Henry Canaday

25 leaderShiP inSight

Interview with rear adMiral gary W. roSholtSenior Defense OfficialAbu Dhabi, UAE

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SPECIAL SECTION: Ground Mobility Vehicle 1.1

COMPETITION ATTRACTS TOP TACTICAL VEHICLE MAkERS

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SOCOM Commander Admiral Bill H. McRaven said SOCOM has a $1 billion shortfall in its spending plans because the government is still operating on a continuing resolution (CR) instead of on a newly-crafted federal budget. The CR effectively freezes SOCOM and other agencies at old fiscal year 2012 levels, instead of increasing to FY13 amounts.

This $1 billion shortfall, McRaven continued, doesn’t include any further financial hits that SOCOM would have to absorb if across-the-board sequestra-tion spending cuts occur.

McRaven made his comments in answering our question as to what impact sequestration might have on SOCOM, just at a time when conventional forces are set to draw down in Afghanistan, precipitating a likely increase in requests for more special operations missions.

He responded that the CR problem “in all honesty puts a greater constraint on us than I think seques-tration will, although I’m not exactly sure what the amount of sequestration” cuts will be in the SOCOM budget.

“With the CR in place now, it leaves us at FY12 spending levels, which really means we’ve lost about $1 billion of spending capacity,” McRaven explained. “So the fact of the matter is, right now we’re already constrained through the continuing resolution. We don’t know what sequestration is going to look like. But there is an expectation, clearly, that it is going to be an additional bill on top of that.”

Regardless of what occurs with the CR, budget processes and sequestration, McRaven made this pledge: The needs of special operators performing missions won’t be slighted. They will receive all the support they require. But some other programs may suffer reductions or elimination.

“So my job as the SOCOM commander … is we want to make sure we protect first and foremost our war fighting capability,” he said. “And we will do that. So it’s a matter of priorities. Some things that were lower priority will not be funded, because we are going to take care of making sure that the guys at the tip of the spear are fully trained, fully equipped and ready to go.”

His concern, as always, is with the men that he leads.

Dave Ahearneditor

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

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For the foremost forces—special operators—SOCOM is choosing from a rich array of fast, comfortable and safe vehicles built by first-rank manufacturers, described here in detail by their senior program leaders during interviews with Special Operations Technology.

The Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV) 1.1 program aims to acquire hundreds of rides that can be internally transported by air (such as in a CH/MH-47 Chinook) to a special ops mission objective, a truck replacing the existing special ops GMV that is based on a HMMWV with SOF mods.

The GMV 1.1 will be far faster and more nimble, enabling it to travel off road rapidly so it avoids enemy roadside mines. IEDs are the leading killer of U.S. and coalition forces.

While those are some of the requirements that all of the candidate vehicles must meet, there still are marked differences among the GMV 1.1 contenders designed by the best and the brightest in the A Team of tactical vehicle makers, as described by top program leaders in each rival company:

• AM General offers its version of the GMV 1.1, highlighted by Chris Vanslager, program manager.

• General Dynamics Land Systems is proposing its Spectre vehicle, described by Jim Cooney, director, business development with GDLS Force Protection.

• General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems, and Flyer Defense, offer the Flyer vehicle, detailed by Sean Ridley, deputy program manager vehicles.

• Navistar proposes the International Special Operations Tactical Vehicle, as explained by Scott Cassidy, business development program manager with Navistar Defense.

Those household-name companies have extensive experi-ence in their corporate histories, knowledge and expertise that informs their GMV 1.1 proposals.

AM GENERAL

In developing a vehicle made for rapidly deployable forces, AM General has used its extensive background in building the HMMWV, according to Vanslager. “We’ve got more than 50 years of building and delivering light tactical vehicles for the mili-tary,” he emphasized. “No other company can make that claim.”

It is important that in proposing to provide the GMV 1.1, AM General has provided the GMV 1.0, he added.

“Over the last decade we’ve spent a significant amount of inter-nal investment developing the technologies for light tactical vehicle fleets, for those vehicles to outperform the threat in … automotive

Internally transportable vehIcle to provIde speed, comfort, safety. by dave ahearn

sotech edItor


www.SOTECH-kmi.com4 | SOTECH 11.1

performance as well as survivability in the field,” he said. “Those technologies have [been incorporated in] this vehicle.”

The AM General GMV 1.1 is distinguished by its “extraordinary mobility based upon improved automotive performance,” he said. “We can go faster, farther, using less fuel over more difficult ter-rain than any other vehicle of its class and size available today.”

In a time of constrained defense funding, the AM General vehicle is designed to save scarce DoD dollars by including parts common to other vehicles, he said. “We’re taking advantage of our extensive network of teammates that already exists … to be able to drive affordability into the offering.”

That means the AM General GMV 1.1 would be able to use the existing logistics and supply chain. “So not only is it highly mobile, very transportable, we’re focused in on operations and support costs by having a common supply base that’s already in existence,” Vanslager observed.

Another way the GMV 1.1 can save money is in fuel costs, because “the power train is approximately 20 to 25 percent more fuel efficient, which impacts or provides two benefits to our cus-tomer. One is, it can go farther on a tank of fuel for those extraor-dinary missions that we expect this vehicle to support. The other one is that [it] reduces the logistics tail, requiring less fuel to be moved forward to where the mission will occur.”

Fuel delivered in theater can cost $400 or so per gallon. Using less fuel not only saves money, it means fewer fuel convoys for the enemy to target.

The power plant is an Optimizer 3200 diesel engine, a six-cyl-inder, 270 hp asset produced by General Engine Products, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of AM General.

AM General also provides a low-risk solution as a vehicle maker, because of the volume of vehicles that it is able to produce, Vanslager said, citing “cost-effective, high-quality manufacturing processes that are in existence, in place today.” He pointed out that the company has given customers more than 300,000 light tactical vehicles. Training for those maintaining the GMV 1.1 also would be in place. “So it’s not like we’re having to recreate or put in place new systems. It’s there, in place, ready to go,” he stated.

For example, he related, “We’re about 70 percent common in parts with the existing HMMWV fleet that’s out there.”

While the engine now is programmed to produce 270 hp, that can be expanded to 300 hp merely by a quick alteration, he said. If, for example, more armor or systems must be added to the GMV 1.1 later, the higher horsepower would ensure that vehicle perfor-mance doesn’t suffer because of the added weight. Meanwhile, the lower 270 hp output provides enhanced fuel economy. And that translates into a range for the vehicle of well more than 400 miles.

That 300 hp version of the engine already exists, in another vehicle that AM General has proposed for the military, the joint light tactical vehicle. In that competition, the AM General can-didate is called the Blast Resistant Vehicle-Off Road, or BRV-O. Having multiple vehicles in the field with the same engine drives down operating and maintenance costs, thanks to economies of scale, Vanslager said.

Aside from horsepower, other flexibilities in the AM General GMV 1.1 include modularity to change the seating capacity from two to seven personnel, or to handle wounded warfighters in a casevac configuration, or to switch armor levels as threat levels shift.

AM General already has shown it can provide many configura-tions of a single vehicle, as seen in the multiple roles played by the HMMWV, he said.

To ensure that the GMV 1.1 could be internally transportable in a Chinook helicopter, AM General had to make the GMV 1.1 6.5 inches narrower than the HMMWV. Despite being narrower, the GMV 1.1 vehicle uses the same frame as the veteran HMMWV.

And the GMV 1.1 weighs just 6,200 pounds, trim for a military vehicle. But at the same time, the interior dimensions of the GMV 1.1 had to be generous, accommodating a hefty 98th percen-tile male warrior measuring 6-foot-7-inches and weighing 300 pounds. One solution was to shrink the drive tunnel around the transmission in the middle of the vehicle. And to help that large combatant enter and exit the GMV 1.1, the door sill was lowered by about 6 inches. There also is a center-pivoting door.

To protect against injury to occupants, there is a rollover pro-tection structure. It can support far more than the weight of the entire vehicle, so it won’t crush if the vehicle rolls over.

While the AM General version of the GMV 1.1 weighs just 6,200 pounds, it can carry more than 7,000 pounds of personnel or payload—a curb weight to payload ratio greater than 1 to 1.

GENERAL DyNAMICS LAND SySTEMS

Another vehicle comes from a company with a long heritage of major military vehicle production, ranging from MRAPs (Buffalo, Cougar) up to the Abrams tank.

While the GMV 1.1 program is relatively recent, General Dynamics Land Systems has been meticulously working for years on its Spectre vehicle, Cooney explained.

The GDLS GMV 1.1 vehicle “has been in development with us for a little over three years,” Cooney said. “You’ll find that it’s a very simple … vehicle, but everything was built with purpose in mind. The purpose was, obviously, to meet a discrete set of requirements made by the special operations community.”

Cooney explained how GDLS came to have a head start in developing the GMV 1.1 well before SOCOM opened the competition. “We originally started work with this vehicle for another program, and then we became aware that SOCOM was competing a GMV 1.1,” he recalled. “So we did a little bit more engineering work, and what you have today is the actual bid sample that we submitted to SOCOM.”

GDLS performed extensive testing over a two-year period to validate the vehicle’s design and performance. The vehicle passed


www.SOTECH-kmi.com SOTECH 11.1 | 5

user trials at Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona and the Nevada Automotive Test Center, and demonstrated its systems reliability during summer trials in the United Arab Emirates.

SOCOM wanted a vehicle that would be internally transport-able in a Chinook helicopter, and even in its wide-track variant that was submitted to SOCOM for review, the GDLS vehicle meets that requirement. But the GDLS GMV 1.1 goes a step further, with a narrow-track version that was not submitted that can be inter-nally transported in a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor.

For power, the GDLS GMV 1.1 candidate vehicle boasts a Steyr M1 6-cylinder turbo diesel positioned in the middle of the vehicle for better weight distribution.

“We’ve gone through both the embarkation challenges, as well as load distribution, how this vehicle would be loaded up,” Cooney said. There also is cooling augmentation, and “a very aggressive suspension,” he said.

One finds ample flexibility as to where guns can be mounted on the vehicle, so that “we can put guns anywhere,” he said, including a weapons-mounting turret ring on top of a cage. “We’re limited only by how the customer wants to configure it.”

In the vehicle floor, a series of tracks mean special operators can have seats—“you can actually get up to seven people inside the vehicle” if personnel configure it that way—or they can opt for litters for casevac missions, an open space for more payloads, or a potential for installing systems of racks, he continued.

Because the GMV 1.1 must move rapidly off-road, away from IEDs, it may encounter steep inclines or rough terrain posing a threat of roll-overs. But the GDLS GMV 1.1 is ready for that, with a roll-over protection (ROP) cage above the seats. The ROP can be cranked up or down. “It’s all hand-cranked. So you can roll the whole thing down in less than 90 seconds, or get it back rede-ployed in 90 seconds or less,” he noted.

That quick-change capability is especially useful when first arriving at a mission objective. “Conceptually, if you’re in attack mode, you’re coming out of the CH-47, rolling out of the aircraft, you could very quickly get this thing up in a combat status,” Cooney continued. When the ROP is lowered, it permits the vehicle to fit smoothly into a Chinook.

GDLS delivered the sample GMV 1.1 vehicle to SOCOM May 30, 2012, in Tampa, Fla.

GENERAL DyNAMICS ORDNANCE AND TACTICAL SySTEMS AND FLyER DEFENSE

These firms have a vehicle with some special attributes: The Flyer vehicle can fit not only in a Chinook helicopter but also

in a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor, even though that isn’t a requirement at this point.

Further, after being flown to a mission objective, the Flyer can roar off the aircraft with all weapons ready to go in 10 seconds, including the overhead-mounted weapon on top.

In racing to that objective, the Flyer has an advanced suspen-sion built for off-road travel, safely distant from roadside mines. And it is designed for lower cost in both procurement and opera-tion, with many components common to the venerable HMMWV, and a commercial drive train that is easy on fuel consumption.

Those were some of the key points made by Ridley.The Flyer advanced light strike vehicle (ALSV), developed by

GD-OTS and Flyer Defense, is well thought-out, with extensive planning and testing, Ridley said.

“We have been working on this vehicle for well over 10 years,” he noted. “And it is a purpose-built vehicle for internal transport [by both] the V-22 and also the CH-47.”

A key goal is to have the GMV 1.1 use little fuel, reducing operating costs in a time of constrained defense finances, while also cutting the number of fuel convoys to supply the GMV 1.1, so there are fewer targets for the enemy to strike.

The Flyer uses mature technologies that lead to program dependability, rather than hoping new technologies can be devel-oped on schedule. It contains a high percent of commercial off-the-shelf components or elements, according to GD-OTS. “And we have done extensive testing on transportability and mobility, combining those two requirements to make a common platform that meets the requirements of [SOCOM],” Ridley said.

Another critical need for the GMV 1.1 is to avoid improvised explosive devices. Special operators in the Flyer needn’t worry about IEDs, because it is designed to move rapidly off-road. “The idea of their operations is not to take vehicles down high-potential roads for IEDs and alleyways,” Ridley said. “They want to be able to get off the road, and then operate in terrain where it’s hard to put IEDs.”

But in going off-road, the Flyer can move smoothly over rough terrain, so occupants aren’t pounded or even injured by a gut-busting ride.

rangers ride in a Ground Mobility vehicle-r, or GMv 1.0. The new GMv 1.1 series will be faster, safer and smoother-riding. [Photo courtesy of U.S. army]



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As far as armor protection, the Flyer comes as an open vehicle. But it is designed so that an armor package can be added, com-plete with a hull, doors, transparent armor and more.

While armor isn’t one of the main key performance param-eters that SOCOM issued initially for the GMV 1.1 competition, “That’s something that they’re going to be looking at … whoever they choose, down the road, putting armor on that vehicle,” he predicted.

Because special operators often must drive to a very distant mission objective in austere regions lacking refueling stations, it also is critical that the GMV 1.1 can move far on a tankful. The Flyer is listed as having a 450-mile range.

As far as armament, the Flyer can bristle with a variety of weapons. “The 360-degree turret ring can accept everything from a 7.62 [mm] crew-served weapon, all the way up to weapons such as a GAU 19 or Mk 44 machine gun,” Ridley observed. “And in between there you cover your 40 mm grenade launcher, your Ma Deuce .50 cal. And we also accommodate a remote weapon station.”

There also are some other points for any enemy to consider. “Each door—or each personnel egress and ingress location—also has an appurtenance for a side mount, which is a crew-served weapon swing-arm at each location,” Ridley said.

NAVISTAR DEFENSE

Now we come to the hot wheels. Navistar Defense has devel-oped a ride, the International Special Operations Tactical Vehicle (SOTV), that looks like an ordinary pickup truck—it pays not to attract attention to yourself in theater—and moves like a sports car, thanks to a V8 MaxxForce turbo diesel engine that cranks out 325 horses and a hefty 570 foot-pounds of torque.

It can haul down the road at more than 100 mph, and it does 0 to 60 mph in about seven seconds, 0 to 30 in 3.9 seconds.

The point of performance in theater is that one good way for a vehicle to survive an RPG blast is to not be hit in the first place. And a vehicle that can move fast can be especially useful when special operators require a hot extract.

This vehicle has had years of development and testing, accord-ing to Cassidy.

“This is a purpose-built tactical vehicle that” was made to look like a civilian pickup truck “to make it blend in anywhere,” Cassidy explained. “It has a fully independent suspension, and it’s fully armored.”

The SOTV, which has 80 percent commonality to the Indigen armor NSTT (Non-Standard Tactical Truck), can be buttoned up to protect occupants. Or if there is a minimal threat environment, the SOTV can be opened up, with doors and heavy transparent armor removed. At all times, the vehicle has some major protec-tion, however.

“We kept the armored floor and roof and structure,” Cassidy said. “That was a tough decision for us to make.” But it was a rational choice, because Navistar knew at some point SOCOM would want a fully armored vehicle, and “there is no way to add those things in later. You can’t add [some parts such as a hinge] in an after-market kit. It’s either armored when you first deliver it or it’s not.”

Because of that, going fully armored is simple, he said. “Our armor B kit is to put these four doors on and those pieces of glass and that’s it,” he noted.

Another engineering challenge was that the vehicle had to sport an overhead weapon, he recalled, but the SOTV was “already within three inches of the height of the Chinook.” Solution: “We designed the turret to actually fold into the bed of the truck.”

Even so, the weapon can be ready to fire immediately after rolling out of the aircraft. “It can be ready to fire in 30 seconds,” Cassidy reported. “When they drive off the bird, they pull the pins out, slide it into place, lock it in and it’s ready to go.”

Despite the pin-you-in-your-seat performance, the high horse-power SOTV also can go a long way on a tankful. “As you see it right now, it has about a 400-mile range,” he said. As good as that is, future versions might possess a far longer range.

And the truck can carry personnel, gear and more, with thou-sands of pounds of payload capacity.

While the GMV 1.1 program is new, this vehicle is a veteran. It has been under development for some four-and-a-half years, and it has “undergone third-party testing at the Nevada Automotive Training Center … durability testing,” Cassidy said. “And we are not making any core changes to that vehicle that underwent that testing. Really what we’re changing now is the ability to add all that modular” gear.

As for armament, the SOTV can be equipped with a mortar. And it can have a weapon mounted at each seat. “Every seat except for the driver has a weapons mount,” he said, ready for anything up to and including a 7.62 mm gun.

Two other hopefuls had submitted proposals for the GMV 1.1 program—Northrop Grumman and Oshkosh—but they are no longer in the competition.

overall

That is a dizzying array of formidable capabilities. What is clear in viewing the contenders and their myriad strong points is this: As SOCOM moves through its selection process to eventu-ally decide on one of these rival vehicles, the true winner will be special operators, who will gain a safer, swifter, better-riding set of wheels to carry them to combat. O

For more information, contact SOTECH Editor Dave ahearn at [email protected] or search our online archives

for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.



Getting right all of the components involved in special reconnaissance, surveillance and exploitation is no easy task. However, for the key functions of mission planning, counter proliferation and identifying individuals, new technology and tools promise to make life easier for special operations forces (SOF).

Take the case of mission preparation and planning. Some of the considerations revolve around nearby features, local eleva-tions, the weather, neighborhood residents and people’s travel patterns. When remotely searching for weapons caches or weap-ons of mass destruction, analysts often have similar needs, with a much greater emphasis on image analysis.

The latest from BAE Systems should help both groups. An international defense firm with a U.S. headquarters in Arling-ton, Va., BAE Systems’ geospatial and image analysis tools have long been used by the military. In the past, these tools were in separate products. That changed in July 2012 with the debut of SOCET GXP v4.0 software.

“Version 4.0 is the first release of the fully integrated prod-uct. Now we have all the GA tools and IA tools in one baseline architecture,” said Drew Fisher, BAE Systems GXP director of sales, Americas.

The software now supports LiDAR point clouds, and this capability offers advantages. For one thing, LiDAR collects data at a few points per square meter, as opposed to one or less that can be extracted from aerial or satellite imagery. That greater density allows for more accurate and enhanced three-dimensional visualization. With this, analysts planning a mission can see structures or features as they appear on the ground. They can simulate driving or walking through a village, which can help boost a mission’s chance of success.

Another advantage of this new capability arises from automatic feature extraction in urban areas. Working with LiDAR data, the software looks for a

line of returns that are about the same height and then places a building between that indicated roofline and the ground. Previ-ously, the process had been a manual one, and the automated approach improves the efficiency of the task. The computer generated model can be refined and adjusted by a number of tools, if need be.

There also are some additions and changes to the software that were specifically requested by SOF, Fisher said. In planning a mission and developing a common ops picture, warfighters often divide an area into a grid. Later, when an operation is actually occurring and a reference is made about movement into grid location A2, everyone involved knows where A2 is and what it contains. This process of superimposing a grid onto a locale has traditionally been a manual one, but that changed with the latest version of software, Fisher said.

“We’ve tried to automate that process to make it more effi-cient,” he said. “We did make a number of enhancements to our GRG, or grid reference graphic.”

For field operations, the software allows the creation of GeoPDF documents. These portable site or strip maps with embedded coordinates can be read on-the-go by laptops and other devices equipped with the right software.

Another tool from the company, GXP Xplorer, is a data management application that enables access to images, terrain, features, videos, documents and other data sources. In response to a single query, it traverses diverse databases and unstructured social media sites simultaneously. GXP Xplorer locates relevant data in as little as a quarter the time required to find the same information using legacy systems.

That data is then fed into SOCET GXP for anal-ysis, mission planning and intelligence reporting. Because the software processes imagery and other data in its native format, there’s no need to import and reformat it, thereby saving steps.

new technology aIds sof In IdentIfyIng people, dIscoverIng threats.

by hank hogan

sotech correspondent

[email protected]

Drew Fisher


In the future, the incorporation of measurements made in real time from high-resolution video will lead to more dynamic operations, Fisher said. Drones are now often overhead, monitoring a situation on the ground as it develops. Registering that video to objects on the ground will allow measurements such as the height of a building to be derived.

Further down the road lies full waveform LiDAR. This technology doesn’t merely bounce a laser pulse off an object and thereby determine distance to a point. Instead, it looks at the return-ing waveform and establishes what the material is.

High-resolution video, full waveform LiDAR, and other innovations are under research and development by BAE Systems. Enhancements such as these and others are often the result of customer requests from the special operations community.

“We’re always doing as best as possible to get those tools or features put into the application,” Fisher said.

For another view of technology that benefits SOF missions, consider TerraSight from Princeton, N.J.-based SRI Interna-tional Sarnoff. This video exploitation software comes in ver-sions intended for fixed-base operations. A lightweight, compact incarnation suitable for expeditionary applications was released in October 2012. It can run on a ruggedized laptop, making

advanced video exploitation available to forward operators, the company stated when announcing the product. TerraSight is

used by the Army, including SOCOM.“It helps manage all the sensors in a common

operating environment,” said Mark Clifton, vice president of the SRI Sarnoff products and services division, in discussing TerraSight. “The key is everything is in context.”

Thus, operators can do a virtual fly-through of a location, with every object in the proper loca-tion relative to everything else. SOF can do more than simply view scenes. They also can actually control unmanned aerial vehicles, directing them to point cameras and other sensors so as to view particular items.

The software drapes video onto a map of the terrain below. Every pixel in the video is geo-located, a task that is harder than it sounds. The process begins with the video itself and the GPS data from the bird. That has to be combined with other data from the vehicle, such as its altitude and where the camera is pointed. This metadata—or data about data—is used to determine the location of objects in a scene. One challenge is that the update rate for this information is often slower than that of the video. As a result, the metadata may say the camera is pointed in one direction while it actually is looking a good many degrees away.

Even if the data is largely right about where the camera is pointed, there will be some inaccuracy. These errors translate into displacement of objects, with the discrepancy growing larger for more distant items in a frame. Even small errors can translate into big mistakes for scene elements at the extreme limits of the view.

TerraSight minimizes such problems by extracting objects from the video. Features such as buildings, trees, cliffs or the like can be used as registration points and matched to the underlying terrain model. Provided an item is sufficiently distinctive and large enough, it can be used to fix coordinates from frame to frame and thereby bring everything else into the proper geo-location. Exactly what is needed in the way of size and uniqueness is somewhat vague, but there are certain situa-tions where the technique won’t succeed.

“As long as an area has features, it’ll work. If it doesn’t have features, if it’s just miles of sand or ocean, it’s not going to be able to be geo-registered,” Clifton said.

Other aspects of the environment can also impact the sys-tem’s performance, largely through the sensors. For instance, TerraSight stabilizes incoming video, a procedure that can remove some camera vibration but not image distortion caused by heat-induced atmospheric turbulence. When look-ing straight down, this turbulence is less of a problem, but it is definitely an issue when looking toward the horizon in dry, hot climates. And, of course, when operating in the desert, the computing platform on the ground has to be able to handle the heat and dust.

TerraSight itself doesn’t care about what camera or unmanned vehicle is used, Clifton said. However, it does need metadata from airborne birds, as that provides some of the information necessary for geo-registration.

SRI Sarnoff has put its imaging expertise to use in another area that benefits reconnaissance and other missions by SOF.

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Mark Clifton


When dealing with individuals—before, during, or after a mis-sion—it helps to be able to identify them. In the best of times, this can be a challenge. There are language hurdles, as was the case in Iraq and is the norm in Afghanistan. Identification is even harder, however, when people may be actively trying to hide who they are.

In theory, biometrics—the measurement of body character-istics—provides a solution. In practice, collecting fingerprints or other identifiers is difficult. This has been an issue with imaging the pattern of the iris, a part of the eye. This is the most accurate biometric, Clifton said.

“It has the lowest false accept and false reject rate of any bio-metric. And it’s been around almost 20 years now as a biometric that people have been using,” he said.

Clifton added, “The issue with the iris has always been how hard it is to do the identification.”

SRI Sarnoff has a solution that the company calls Iris on the Move, in which an invisible infrared light illuminates the iris of subjects and an infrared camera captures the resulting pattern, thereby allowing iris identification. The wavelength and power used for illumination are such that the process is eye-safe. Unlike other systems, it does not require intrusive testing, such as wearing a hood or putting an eye up against a camera.

The light can be placed anywhere from 14 to 108 inches from the subject and matching can take place in seconds, with up to 30 people processed in a minute. It’s possible to have people walk through what amounts to a frame, similar to pass-ing through a metal detector for security purposes. There are also handheld units that can operate for approximately six hours on a single charge.

SOF have, over the years, captured iris information, and a system based on this technology offers an easy way to use that data, Clifton said. Subjects could simply walk by a location and be scanned without having to go through an invasive identifica-tion procedure.

Enrollment, the other end of a biometric ID process, is not that painless. For one thing, it requires a cooperative subject. However, by making the system simpler and quicker to use, SRI Sarnoff has made enrollment easier.

Iris identification may tie the person being scanned to an iris image captured at some point in the past. But people need to be tied to other biographical information—national ID cards, work history, paper records, other documents and their com-munity. That data is what’s used to authenticate people and confirm that someone is who he or she claims to be.

Advances in technology may improve this process. However, nothing currently on the horizon promises to fundamentally change the labor-intensive nature of authentication.

As Clifton said, “That’s the slow part. That’s slower than the actual iris capture and recognition. We’ve worked with some companies that want to automate this entire process, but that’s the one place where they want to have a person in the loop.” O



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Tagging, tracking and locating (TTL) systems and enabling technologies provide special operations forces (SOF) with criti-cal tools to improve situational awareness in planning and executing missions from urban to remote areas and most regions of the world. But even as they exploit com-mercial technologies—oftentimes with the help of innovative small business con-tractors that are developing easier-to-use, less expensive applications—elite forces have learned that there are vulnerabilities in near infrared, which has forced them to seek alternatives.

Encouraged by early results and the optimism around TTL capabilities moving forward, Department of Defense organiza-tions have spent hundreds of millions of dollars on TTL initiatives. TTL capabilities allow SOF to find, fix and finish targets, such as enemy personnel and mobility platforms, through the emplacement of sophisticated tagging and tracking devices on persons of interest. SOF can use many TTL applica-tions through the Internet and mobile devices.

Even though some cur-rent TTL capabilities are exciting, future prospects could help SOF even fur-ther. TTL technology could eventually have the ability to track human thermal fin-gerprints, lingering scents and tiny transmitters. Vox-tel of Beaverton, Ore., produces Night-Marks, which enables operators to follow an object through night-vision goggles and other sensors after the object has been marked by a clear liquid substance, which contains nanocrystal quantum dots that

act as spectral barcodes. Another leader in the military TTL market is Blackbird Tech-nologies Inc. of Herndon, Va., founded in 1997.

One current challenge that TTL technology faces is that many objects of interest only appear momentarily from sheltered positions or crowds, where they can be seen by drones or other machines that capture images and build profiles.

According to vendors, the fielded portfolio of tagging/tracking, close-target audio and video tracking, optical tracking and close-target reconnaissance systems is being continuously adapted and updated to meet dynamic SOF operational require-ments across all theaters of operation. TTL has particular applications for blue force tracking, to help avoid friendly fire incidents, as well as tracking an adversary.

One can define a tag as something attached to the person or object to be located and/or tracked. The tag increases

its ability to be detected or its probability of iden-tification by a surveillance system attuned to the tag. The U.S. military uses both active tags, including radio emitting tags, and passive tags, such as radio fre-quency identification tags.

According to Logan Har-ris, chief executive officer at SpotterRF of Orem, Utah, SpotterRF can “protect the

lives of people who couldn’t afford radar before,” but it seems designed especially for elite military forces. SpotterRF claims to sell the world’s smallest surveillance radar, a low-power unit that weighs about 4 pounds and can fit into a backpack.

First unit shipments took place in 2009, the same year that SpotterRF spun off from ImSAR LLC, where Harris was chief technology officer and co-founder. SpotterRF has been tested extensively over water and for force protection.

With a starting price of $30,000, Spot-terRF’s radar has an all-weather coverage area for a walking person that is elliptical in shape—the area is 1,000 meters by 800 meters—and gives operators a 90-degree field of view, according to Harris. The compact radar can run up to 20 hours on one 2590 battery pack, and it can run on Android tablets/phones and notebook PCs. SpotterRF has been used as a homeland security application to protect bridges in Maryland and dams in San Diego. Govern-ment purchasers can obtain SpotterRF through GSA Schedule resellers.

Setup is “very simple” for SpotterRF, according to Harris, and operators have set it up in as little as five to 10 minutes, after five minutes of training. A typical setup timeframe during training in the field is between 30 to 60 minutes. SpotterRF is username and password protected, and operators also need an IP address, but the downside to such easy access is that if a unit fell into enemy hands with the setup instructions, it would be relatively easy for them to use and hard to deactivate.

“It’s not an organized type of adver-sary,” Harris said of the conflicts that many special operators find themselves confronting. “It’s more difficult to track and locate the adversary” as a result. The ability to “put tools in the hands of small units” can be an important key to victory, he said. A soldier on sentry duty can set up a SpotterRF to monitor a particular area in conjunction with a camera, and

ttl systems empower sof to spot and elImInate dangers.

by wIllIam murray


Logan Harris


For more information, contact SOTECH Editor Dave ahearn at [email protected]

or search our online archives for related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.

SpotterRF will allow him to set up an alert to automatically notify him if there are any changes to the alert area, thus lightening the load of the sentry—in effect like putting an unblinking eye that covers 150 acres through snow, rain, dust, fog and darkness to work for him to find those potential threats.

Another vendor seconded Harris’ observation about the application of commercial technologies for TTL and their potential to save money and time in development and fielding. There has been a clear move toward using commer-cial infrastructure on TTL applications, according to Jerry Snyder, president of Advanced Mission Systems (AMS) of Char-lotte, N.C. Rather than rely on their own networks, the U.S. military is using AT&T, Verizon, Vodafone and other commercial cell phone network providers and cloud-based applications to carry out their mis-sions, he said.

“It’s being used off the ground net-work,” said Mike Albert, director of advanced force operations for AMS, a company launched in 2006 as a consulting firm that began developing applications in 2008-2009 and started training U.S. forces in 2008-2009. Until January 2013, the firm’s headquarters was in Fort Mill, S.C. Albert recently retired from the Army, where he worked as a combat developer.

AMS’s work with commercial tech-nologies is no accident or mere flirtation, since it reflects a deeply-held philoso-phy of being nimble and using commer-cial technologies to build quickly-fielded applications that meet emerging military needs. “We’re seeing more [commercial off-the-shelf] and civilian applications for situational awareness,” Albert said, including the use of Google databases and Google Maps. “Google Earth is just as good as proprietary systems,” and users benefit from major updates that Google makes to it, he said.

AMS’s mission is to “take whatever is available” in commercial industry and make it better for military and law enforce-ment users, Snyder said. One of the chal-lenges is that government procurement regulations and the overall government developmental cycle tend to hinder inno-vation because they can take five to seven years, according to Snyder. “In the tech-nology world, five years is obsolete.” AMS officials have learned to be flexible in working with government organizations.

Aided by commercial technology, AMS officials try to produce a proof of con-cept in six weeks once presented with a customer requirement, followed by a six-month developmental cycle, accord-ing to Snyder. A program launched in October for a government customer could be fielded in the spring, for example. The typical government procurement cycle, conversely, dictates that it takes between six and eight months just to award a contract.

One can probably assume that the U.S. military’s adversaries don’t operate under such limitations, engaged in fight-ing protracted, global, non-conventional, guerilla warfare.

“There’s a lot of [research and devel-opment] to build specific mission capabil-ities on military applications,” according to Snyder. U.S. forces, for example, want to use software that gives them a com-mon operating picture during operations, Albert said. “We have a willingness to take risks,” he said of AMS, which is typi-cal of quick-moving small businesses, as opposed to larger companies, which tend to be more risk-averse.

“We’ll put our money into it to develop a proof of concept,” to demonstrate to a government customer, Albert said. By that time, approximately 90 percent of costs have been incurred, and with a for-mal contract and government approval, AMS officials can meet their requirements with minimal additional costs, according to Albert.

AMS finished calendar year 2012 with a suite of three TTL products in its port-folio. Gecko is AMSDV’s geolocation and marking device, while Shadow Wolf is the company’s global tracking tag product, and Jabiru is AMS’s multi-network global tracking tag product.

“We have good business opportunities on the horizon,” Snyder said, and AMS officials are actively looking for former military operators and other highly tal-ented and motivated post-college can-didates. “We’re rolling out some new products,” he said, so it’s clear that some military and law enforcement agencies like AMS’s developmental cycle and reli-ance on commercial technologies.

AMS officials are also seeing a reduc-tion in size of gear used for TTL work, as well as greater power. “Battery life is always an issue,” Albert said. There’s a strong demand in the U.S. military for

equipment-locating devices and battery alternatives, such as solar technologies and power harvesting. “These are very important,” Albert said.

U.S. forces have long relied on near-infrared beacons and night vision goggles for covert identification of blue and red forces. Unfortunately, those beacons are being compromised due to the prolif-eration of image intensified night vision goggles to adversaries and the develop-ment of commercial CCD [charge-cou-pled device] and CMOS [complementary metal-oxide semiconductor] cameras that produce infrared images. Near infrared beacons can no longer be considered covert on the battlefield, according to Bob Kogut, director of advanced engineering for the Sensor Systems Division of The O’Gara Group of Cincinnati, a homeland security and counter terrorism contractor that provides sensor, mobile security and training services to government agencies.

Alternatives to near infrared beacons can be found in the short, mid and long wave parts of the spectrum. Beacons oper-ating in the mid and long wave infrared spectral bands (collectively called ther-mal) are superior, according to Kogut, because they can’t be seen by the naked eye, commercial cameras or night vision goggles and are compatible with cur-rently deployed aircraft targeting pods. “We’re trying to get into the part of the spectrum that’s not visible to the enemy,” Kogut said. Pointers, lasers and beams in the visible and near infrared bands can be vulnerable to the enemy.

One challenge of digital night imag-ery, according to Kogut, is obtaining the training to use it properly. Another ongoing challenge, according to vendors, is leftover tagged items that last for long periods of time, after they’ve served their usefulness. A theater of operators could potentially get quite cluttered with a lot of leftover tagged item signals, which would make it difficult for SOF and other operators to discern between useful information and that which is no longer useful. Insurgents could also use such leftover taggants to confuse SOF and other operators. O


BlacK Watch What’s hot in Special Operations gear

Stinger Classic LED FlashlightStreamlight

Streamlight introduced the Stinger Classic

LED, a rechargeable flashlight that is similar in

size, shape and feel to the original Xenon Stinger,

but that also features an extremely powerful LED.

“The Stinger Classic LED is an update to

the standard flashlight used by law enforcement

and other professionals the world over,” said

Ray Sharrah, Streamlight president and chief

executive officer. “It was designed in response to

customers who appreciate the compact size and

simpler functionality of the original Xenon Stinger

model, but who also want the advantages of the

latest in LED technology.”

The updated model offers three

microprocessor-controlled variable intensity

modes and a strobe function. It delivers 390

lumens and 13,200 candela peak beam intensity

on the high setting; 210 lumens and 6,500

candela on medium; and 100 lumens and 3,100

candela on low. Run times range from 6 hours

and 45 minutes on low to 1 hour and 45 minutes

on high.

The Stinger Classic LED features a C4 LED

for extreme brightness that is impervious to

shock with a 50,000 hour lifetime. The light’s

custom optic design provides a smooth beam

with optimal peripheral illumination.

The new light is available with either a 3-cell,

3.6 volt Ni-Cd or Ni-MH sub-C battery, both

of which are rechargeable up to 1,000 times.

Fabricated from 6000 series machined aircraft

aluminum with an anodized finish, the Stinger

Classic LED also includes a multi-function push-

button switch, designed for extremely long life.

The new light measures 7.65 inches in length

and weighs only 11.1 ounces. It fits all existing

Stinger-series charger holders. The available

steady charger fully recharges in 10 hours on 100

volt, 120 volt, 230 volt, or 240 volt AC or 12 volt

DC. A 2.5 hour fast charger and a PiggyBack

charger that allows for simultaneous charging of

both the light and battery also are available.

The Stinger Classic LED is IPX4 rated

for water-resistant operation and is impact

resistance-tested up to one meter.

Available in black, the new light has an MSRP

of $205 and comes with Streamlight’s limited

lifetime warranty.

Diablo Rugged Android DeviceRaytheon

Raytheon Digital Force Technologies recently launched the Diablo

Rugged Android Device. This field-ready handheld packs a powerful dual-core

processor, a ruggedized 4.3-inch 800-by-480 multi-touch LCD, integrated GPS,

WiFi and a rechargeable battery all into a cargo pocket-sized device. The Diablo

is fully sealed for use in harsh environments and runs the Android “ice cream

sandwich” OS.

Made in the USA, the Diablo has been engineered from the ground up

for SOF mission requirements. Targeted applications include: manned and

unmanned observation post controller, ISR downlink display and control, body-

worn team situational awareness display, and force protection sensor system

controller.

Unique among Android handhelds, the Diablo integrates a D1 resolution

video recorder for viewing and capturing live ISR feeds from UAVs, surveillance

cameras, or any standard video source. Additionally, a full Ethernet port allows

for connection to mesh networking radios or satellite data terminals.

Raytheon Digital Force Technologies is currently integrating the Diablo into

several custom applications for specific end-user requirements.

MAC 1911 Bobcut PistolMetro Arms

Caliber: .45 caliber acp

Overall Length: 7.88 inches

Barrel Length: 4.25 inches

Height: 5.42 inches

Width: 1.25 inches

Weight: 34.58 ounces

Action: Single

Frame: 4140 steel

Slide: 4140 hammer-forged steel

Eagle Imports is offering the powerful and compact MAC 1911

Bobcut in the United States.

The MAC 1911 lineup was developed by Hector Rodriguez,

a former competitive shooter. MAC 1911 pistols are known

worldwide for their precise fit and function, delivering performance

and repeatable accuracy right out of the box, according to the

company.

The MAC 1911 Bobcut model, available in a deep blue or

hard chrome finish, is a single-action, semi-auto, .45 caliber ACP

compact pistol. The Bobcut has custom style features including

a flared and lowered ejection port, an enhanced beavertail grip

safety, a skeletal hammer and combat trigger, rear slide serrations

and a stippled front strap serration, an extended thumb safety

and a throated forged steel barrel. This is offered on a compact,

lightweight 4140 steel frame with a hammer-forged slide.

It has fully-adjustable Novak-type rear sights with a dovetailed

fiber-optic front sight and are outfitted with custom hardwood

grips featuring the MAC logo.


Compiled by kmi media group staff

MPAR 556 Rifle MasterPiece Arms

Buttstock: Six-position polymer

Magazines: AR-15/AR-16 compatible

Internal: Short-stroke piston

MasterPiece Arms is unveiling the new MPAR

556 rifle. The weapon was under development

throughout 2012 and will feature upgrades including

a short-stroke piston design and a lightweight, free-

floating, two-piece aluminum handguard with user-

located Picatinny rails.

It will also include an innovative front handguard

cap to keep debris out of the internals of the

handguards while providing strength and stability

to the assembly. The MPAR 556 will also contain a

side folder six-position polymer buttstock, locked

bolt action and a side charging-handle with forward-

assist. The MPAR 556 is compatible with AR-15/

M16 magazines.

The MPAR 556 will be phosphate/hard coat

anodized depending on the material. Disassembly

will be very user friendly, both for access to the

internals of the weapon as well as to the piston

assembly housed in the front handguard. This gun

is American-made and offers the MasterPiece Arms

lifetime guarantee. MSRP is $959.

Tavor SAR Rifle IWI US

Body: High-strength polymer

Colors: Black or flat dark earth

Controls: Ambidextrous

Barrels: 16.5-inch or 18-inch

Accessories Mounting:

•Top-mountedintegralPicatinnyrail

•Shortrailforwardata45degreeangle

Magazines: Standard AR-15/M16

The Tavor SAR rifle is now being offered

in the U.S. market, according to IWI US, a

subsidiary of Israel Weapon Industries.

The Tavor family of Bullpup rifles is

versatile, innovative and technologically

advanced, according to the company.

They have been extensively proven on the

battlefield, performing with precision and

reliability, and meeting the needs of human

ergonomics. The Tavor family was developed

in close cooperation with the Israel Defense

Forces (IDF) based on lessons learned from

actual combat, and the weapons are in service

in the IDF infantry and special forces as well

as in other countries throughout the world.

The body of the Tavor SAR, specially

designed for the U.S. market, is crafted

from high-strength polymer and will be

offered in black or flat dark earth colors.

Features include fully ambidextrous

controls, removable 16.5-inch or 18-inch

barrels, cold hammer-forged CrMoV

chrome-lined barrels with 1:7 twist, a full-

length top-mounted integral Picatinny rail

and another short rail forward at a 45

degree angle for mounting accessories.

There also is a stock left-hand model with

16.5-inch barrel and an IDF model with

integral Mepro-21 reflex sight, which round

out the product line.

The Tavor SAR uses standard AR-15/M16

magazines, and can be easily field-stripped

into sub-assemblies for routine maintenance.

The standard caliber is 5.56 NATO (.223REM),

with conversion kits available in 9 mm Luger

Parabellum and 5.45-by-39 mm.

System to Avert Friendly Fire IncidentsCubic

ID Method: Reflective tags

Weapon Info: Distance to target

Target Location Data: On military grid

Cubic was a winner in the Connect “Most

Innovative Product Awards 2012” competition for

its system to help prevent friendly fire casualties

and provide location and targeting information to

ground troops.

Connect is a regional program that helps foster

innovative technology and life science products by aiding

formation of new companies and by linking inventors and

entrepreneurs with needed resources.

Originally founded in the mid-1980s as part of the University of

California San Diego, Connect has recognized innovative products in

the region with its annual awards competition for 25 years.

Cubic Defense Applications’ DCID-TALON system, for

Dismounted Combat ID with Target Location and Navigation, was

named a 2012 winner in the category of Aerospace and Securities

Technology. The laser-based system, built into the equivalent of a

standard rifle scope, uses reflective tags to instantly identify friendly

forces. Readouts in the scope also show the distance to a target and

its precise location based on a military grid system.

“Just being in the competition with the very best companies

in the region was an honor,” said Steve Sampson, Cubic’s vice

president of advanced programs. “To win, and with a product that

can save lives, was extraordinary.”


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Michael A. Sheehan was confirmed by the U.S. Senate and sworn in as the assistant secretary of defense for special opera-tions and low-intensity conflict (ASD SO/LIC) in December 2011. He is the secretary of defense’s principal civilian advisor on pro-grams, policies, and resources for special operations. In addition, the office oversees Defense Department policies and programs regarding counter-narcotics, humanitarian assistance, security force assistance programs for building partner capacity, and sta-bility operations. He has over 30 years in public service, much of it involved in counterterrorism, counterinsurgency, peacekeeping and law enforcement operations.

Sheehan is a 1977 graduate of the United States Military Acad-emy at West Point. He served in a variety of infantry and special forces assignments. In the infantry, he commanded a mechanized company in an armored brigade in Korea with multiple tours on the demilitarized zone (1983-85). As a special forces officer, he served in a variety of counterterrorism and counterinsurgency capacities. He commanded an Operational Detachment-Alpha in a hostage rescue unit in Panama (Company C, 3rd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne)) and participated in numerous training and advisory deployments in Latin America including Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. In addition, Sheehan graduated from the Colombian Commando course, Lancero. He is airborne, ranger, special forces, jungle warfare and jumpmaster qualified, and is a recipient of the Combat Infan-try Badge. In 1985 and 1986, Sheehan was the brigade counter insurgency advisor for the Fourth Brigade in Chalatenango, El Salvador, one of the most combative regions in the country.

While on active duty, Sheehan served in the field on peace-keeping missions in Somalia (1993-94) and Haiti (1995). In both cases, he was special advisor to the head of the United Nations (U.N.) mission and engaged in the integration of U.N. military and civilian police programs. He served on the National Security Council staff for both President George H.W. Bush (1989-92) and President William Jefferson Clinton (1995-97).

After retiring from the Army in 1997, Sheehan served at the State Department in the Bureau of International Organizations. After the bombings of U.S. embassies in East Africa, he was appointed by President Clinton as ambassador-at-large for coun-ter terrorism (1998-2000) and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate in 1999. During his tenure he established bilateral counter terror-ism working groups with India and Russia, both of which are still operating. From 2001 to 2003, Sheehan went back to peacekeep-ing duty as the assistant secretary general of mission support in

the U.N. Department of Peacekeeping Operations, where he was responsible for supporting 16 missions around the world and over 40,000 military and police peacekeepers.

From 2003 to 2006, Sheehan served as the New York Police Department (NYPD) deputy commissioner for counter terrorism. In this position he was instrumental in reshaping the NYPD into what is widely regarded as one of the most effective counter ter-rorism organizations in the world.

Sheehan has master’s degrees from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service (1988) and the U.S. Army Command and Staff College (1991). In both programs his dissertations concerned irregular warfare theory and practice. He spoke and lectured on counterterrorism and counterinsurgency policy and was a distinguished fellow at the Combating Terrorism Center at West Point and the Center for Law and Security at NYU. In addi-tion, he was the on-air counter terrorism analyst for NBC News from 2006-11.

Q: What changes have you instituted since becoming the assis-tant secretary of defense for special operations and low-intensity conflict [SO/LIC]?

A: My key focus has been on al-Qaida and its affiliates in Afghani-stan, Pakistan, Yemen, East Africa and North Africa to continue to

Special Forces are Well-Poised for New Challenges

Policy Shaper

Michael A. Sheehan Assistant Secretary of Defense

for Special Operations and Low-Intensity Conflict

Q&AQ&A


crush their ability to threaten the United States and our interests. The strategy is a comprehensive approach aimed at increasing partner capacity to work with international and U.S. govern-ment elements by using our unique SOF capabilities to provide assistance to key partners. I think we’ve achieved some success in those regions, and as we move forward, I hope to build on the lessons learned in our approach.

Q: What are the most significant changes and advancements in SO/LIC during the quarter-century since SOCOM was formed?

A: I have had a front-row seat in observing some of the changes to SO/LIC; I first joined SO/LIC as a U.S. Army Special Forces captain shortly after it was established in 1987. Its first accomplishment was its very establishment amid significant controversy within the Department of Defense. Since then, SO/LIC has provided oversight to a diverse range of issues, including irregular warfare, peacekeeping operations, humanitarian affairs, counter-narcotics and other global threats such as countering transnational criminal organizations.

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, SO/LIC’s mission evolved and has assumed a more promi-nent place in our nation’s strategy. The last decade of war has improved how the department thinks about irregular warfare and security force assistance. It’s clearly a better, more sophisti-cated approach. To support these changes, I provide oversight to departmental authorities to train and equip foreign partner forces for counterterrorism and stability operations missions. Today, while I remain concerned with the structure, posture, training and equipping of our special operations forces, I focus most of my time on integrating the unique training and capabilities of our special operators with the changing demands of national security and the new defense strategy.

Q: How well have U.S. special operations capabilities met the challenge posed by asymmetric warfare and the emergence of the non-state enemy?

A: It’s always been in our DNA, particularly U.S. Army Special Forces, to meet and defeat threats that are irregular and asym-metric. Our special operators are central to the president’s strategy to disrupt, degrade, dismantle and ultimately defeat al-Qaida, its affiliates and its adherents. When direct action is taken, every effort is made to avoid civilian casualties. But an increas-ingly important part of the strategy is supporting our foreign partners on a case-by-case basis, which requires competence in areas such as security force assistance, counterinsurgency and unconventional warfare relying on deep familiarity with a region, interpersonal capabilities and linguistic skills. While there’s still much to do, these efforts have resulted in the loss of four of al-Qaida’s top five leaders over the past two and a half years, and reduced safe havens for al-Qaida and its affiliates.

Q: Some posit that a rising China and a resurgent Russia mean that U.S. forces such as Big Army must become more significant. What role will special operations play in the coming decade where near-peer nations assume greater significance in the global theater?

A: The U.S. has a range of national security priorities, some of which focus on the services’ capabilities. Over the next decade, there is likely to be increased need for SOF capabilities via smaller-footprint engagements. The strategy ensures that the United States will be a more engaged partner in assuring the stability and security of the region. SOF operates across the spectrum of war, and executing core missions such as direct action, special recon-naissance, foreign internal defense, etc. will be instrumental to success. The competence of our special operators in security force assistance and irregular warfare will continue to improve military professionalism and facilitate access with partner countries.

Q: Special operations organizations have been high-demand/low-density assets during the past decade of conflict. Do you see this continuing for another decade?

A: Before September 11, 2001, we had 35,000 personnel across SOCOM and its components, with an average deployed force of 3,000. Decisions made over the past several years doubled the special operations force to about 71,500, and our average deployed force now exceeds 12,000. While previous decisions have solved many capacity problems, special operators are likely to remain in demand because of their unique skill sets. Our nation’s strategy of returning to a regional geographic focus will also send a demand signal to the SOF community, not just for our people, but for our ability to operate in remote, austere locations where we can truly speak our partners’ languages.

Q: What is your assessment of the “fraying of the force” seen by SOCOM commanders, Admiral Bill H. McRaven and his prede-cessor, Admiral Eric T. Olson? Do you see effective steps being taken to address stress on special operators and their families?

A: Preserving the mental and physical well-being of the special operations force and its families is one of Admiral McRaven’s and [Command Sergeant Major Chris] Farris’ top priorities. They have taken a number of steps to realign funding to improve psychologi-cal and spiritual counseling for both returning warriors and their families, developed a joint human readiness system to target per-sonnel tempo, and improved proactive prevention strategies and nutrition programs for special operations warriors. The SOCOM Care Coalition has also been a model throughout the department for the recovery, rehabilitation and reintegration of our wounded special operations warriors, and has done some extraordinary things in support of our wounded warriors. In 2011, for example, SOCOM fielded a team at the inaugural Warrior Games, which allowed wounded warriors from across the joint force to partici-pate in Paralympic-type games at the U.S. Olympic Training Cen-ter. It’s obvious to me that SOCOM’s top leaders are very serious about supporting special operators and their families—their stake in it is truly personal.

Q: Do you see sufficient availability of aerial assets needed by special operators for their missions, or would you like to see an increase in helicopters, CV-22s and other platforms?

A: The collective advantage that we have in close air support, mobility and ISR is a tremendous overmatch asset that we abso-lutely must continue to leverage. Close air support is something


I am very interested in, and aviation modernization remains a key priority for SOCOM. On the fixed wing side, the C-130 fleet is aging, and I think we need to accelerate the modernization program to take advantage of some of the savings we would see by upgrading to the C-130J aircraft. On the rotary wing side, SOCOM will continue its MH-60 modernization and planned MH-47G expansion through fiscal year 2015, while looking to ensure suf-ficient capability for the future. Our Chinooks average about 44 years of use, so we will need to begin thinking about replacement airframes. Finally, USSOCOM is expanding its CV-22 inventory to 50 by FY16.

Q: How do you assess the ground mobility vehicle program?

A: The ground mobility vehicle program has provided a great capability to our special operators. Recently, USSOCOM decided it needed a lighter vehicle [GMV 1.1] able to fit into MH-47s to facili-tate transportability and improve tactical capabilities in irregular warfare environments. The mix of heavy and light GMVs will provide a broader menu of capabilities for our special operators.

Q: What advancements would you like to see in special operations capabilities?

A: We are about to enter an era of reduced resources for the Department of Defense. As this happens, we need to ensure

that we are investing in cutting-edge science and technology to maintain our technological edge in special operations. Our nation has provided us with dramatic technological advantages on the battlefield. SOF’s technological prowess in areas such as intelligence, medicine and aviation won’t endure unless we continue to improve current platforms and develop new ones. At the same time, we need to invest in our people to ensure a complementary relationship between technology and skills. We also need to continue to invest in language, regional and cultural expertise, which are essential to our irregular warfare capabilities.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts about SOCOM, its com-ponent commands, and the singular warriors called special operators?

A: We have exceptional men and women serving across the spe-cial operations community—the majority of whom have been at it for the past decade in the major theaters of Afghanistan and Iraq. In the years ahead, many of those same operators will need to apply what they’ve learned to much smaller places, with per-haps less of a supporting architecture. It will test all of us and it will provide an opportunity to showcase SOF’s very unique skill-set. Our special operators are up to it; I’ve seen the work that our special operators do every day to secure our nation and it makes me proud to serve them. O


While public interest has focused on the surveillance and weap-onry of unmanned aerial systems or drones, a quiet revolution in robotic warfare has been going on much closer to the earth. The imaging and other capabilities of unattended ground sensors (UGSs) have been expanding dramatically.

Better sensors, both electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR), have been developed, made more compact and capable and added to UGS toolsets. UGSs can be triggered by other devices, for example seismic sensors for detecting movement, so power is saved until needed and UGSs remain on station for a long time. UGSs can be tied together in networks to provide comprehensive coverage of wide areas of possible infiltration. Or individual UGSs can be located around the perimeter of forward operating bases (FOBs) to provide more immediate alerts.

Sophisticated interface and interpretation systems have been developed to bring together, or fuse, all the images and data from many sensors to provide a comprehensive view of an area or con-flict. One simple sensor spotting movement may trigger another more sophisticated sensor to picture a moving vehicle or person, which in turn can trigger a response by weapons or teams of warf-ighters.

So the smarter eyes on the ground are really systems of sensors, communications, weapons and other tools, plus trained specialists, that can obtain, interpret and use all the information available when human eyes cannot be present. It’s the brains of the whole system, as well as the sharpness of sensor vision, that are making these devices so effective.

Innovative Wireless Technologies is a communications company that makes both UGS platforms and sensors, explained Eric Hansen, president and CEO. IWT’s Coyote UGS began use about four years ago, primarily for border surveillance by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). “We built the system with long battery life for persistent monitoring of large areas,” Hansen said.

Coyote uses primarily seismic sensors to alert other sensors to take pictures. It uses an ad-hoc wireless network that can communicate over rug-ged terrain of both mountains and canyons where line-of-sight radio frequency communication would not work. “Legacy systems were point-to-point and could not get signals out in deserts or mountains,” Hansen said. “We are a communication company, so we viewed it primarily as a data problem.”

Coyote has a two-year mission life, four times longer than typical sensors. It spots animal, vehicle or human movements and is a bur-ied detector, with no cables and only an antenna sticking up above ground.

“The Army has couple systems for testing and development,” Hansen said. “And we are making inroads in the Special Operations Command [SOCOM] community.”

Coyote can be used to monitor borders, for detection in rugged areas and for force protection, for example on outer perimeters of FOBs. Navy SEALs have considered Coyote for village protection where, the SEALs said, an old siren system was not effective.

Seismic is the core detection technology of Coyote, but mag-netic, passive IR and trip wires can also be used. Coyote has a thermal imager that is triggered as people walk near it.

Hansen emphasized Coyote’s non-line-of-sight communication capability and its long battery life. “It is also good at not falsely identi-fying a target,” he said. “We have good algorithms for differentiating humans, animals and vehicles.”

Seraphim Optronics makes the mini unattended ground imaging system (MUGI), which is an EOIR UGS, and the new Chameleon, a smaller EOIR UGS, noted Gadi Bar-Ner, vice president for marketing and business development.

The MUGI has high-resolution day and IR cameras that recog-nize moving persons at 2.5 kilometers in daylight and 1.5 kilometers in complete darkness. It is designed for camouflage and can operate for up to two years in its power-saving mode. MUGI can be remote controlled by either WiFi or a cellular network, providing wide area coverage, integrating with radar surveillance and offering an open architecture that is easy to integrate in a multi-sensor array. It weighs 6 to 36 kilograms, depending on the battery pack used.

MUGI can be a data hub for seismic and acoustic sensors. It has built-in WiFi and is easy to integrate with 3G and satellite communications. It can be acti-vated by radar, UGS, a scheduler or manually.

Bar-Ner said MUGI users include special forces and border protection forces that require an auto-matic system to close gaps in surveillance that occur between fixed surveillance towers or in difficult topog-raphy. MUGI provides coverage of 80 to 90 degrees horizontally and 10 to 20 degrees vertically.

Seraphim’s Chameleon is similar to MUGI but designed for urban surveillance. It can be buried in the ground or almost anywhere in an urban

sIlently watchIng, these unseen sentInels never sleep, savIng lIves.

Pete Kuzdeba

[email protected]

by henry canaday



environment nearly invisibly, with only a tiny aperture above ground. It operates silently with no external movements. It is easily hidden in the ground, under snow, behind branches or under trash. Chameleon monitors hostile movements and transmits full-motion video of threats. One observer can control up to 32 Chameleons. It is essentially a shorter-range version of MUGI, especially suited for close-in monitoring, for example on the perimeters of FOBs.

Qual-Tron manufactures a full range of sen-sors to include passive IR, magnetic, seismic, active break beam, acoustic, break wire, magnetic proximity switches and hydrophone sensors. Dan Chambers, vice president sales and marketing, said branches of the U.S. military and agencies of the U.S. government use these sensors in various configurations.

Qual-Tron’s many sensors are all compatible with the company’s three intrusion detection systems. The mini intrusion detection system is a single-channel, fixed-frequency system capable of monitoring 32 sensors. Qual-Tron’s mini intrusion detection sys-tem modified (MMIDS) is a single-channel, fixed-frequency system capable of monitoring up to 999 sensors. MMIDS also provides additional data, including directional information, sensor faults, transmitter tests and low battery power for transmis-sion. Finally, Qual-Tron’s enhanced mini intrusion detection system is a multi-channel system that monitors up to 999 sensors and provides the same additional data as the MMIDS.

Alarms from all these detection systems are digitally coded messages transmitted by radio frequency to handheld receivers or base stations. Both very high frequency and satellite relays are available for long-haul transmission. All Qual-Tron detection systems are portable and can be operated from four to 24 months on standard alkaline or lithium 9-volt DC batteries.

“All branches of the U.S. military use our UGS or intru-sion detection systems,” Chambers stressed. This includes the Air Force Tactical Automated Security System and the Marines’ Tactical Remote Sensor System. SOCOM also uses Qual-Tron equipment for various applications and operations. Qual-Tron products were part of the Marine and Army Cerberus and Ground-Based Operational Surveil-lance System. “They are also used by government agencies that are involved in law enforcement,” he added.

The Qual-Tron systems are small, lightweight, portable and battery-operated. And they can be deployed anywhere in the world. “They are simple

and easy to set up and use and easily camouflaged for covert operations,” Chambers said. “They transmit a 20- to 29-bit digitally encoded message that can be integrated into higher level networks with a minimum of effort. In addition, they can be inte-grated with camera systems. That enables extended deployment of camera systems through longer battery life.”

Michael Roberts

WWW.OGARASENSORSYSTEMS.COM


New from Qual-Tron is a multi-channel base station (MCBS) receiver that is potted and sealed, allowing it to be mounted out-side in the elements. MCBS uses an RS-485 connection that allows hundreds of feet of extension from the computer so antennas can be mounted on towers or buildings. Also new is an MCIR-2 satel-lite relay using a short-burst data module that transmits short data messages via an Iridium satellite. “This allows very remote communications links with low operating costs,” Chambers noted.

Qual-Tron has a new RCS-CAM camera system (RCS) that is triggered by either internal camera motion detection or RF alarms from UGS sensors. Images are stored on a secure digital memory card. “We will be releasing a new camera system in 2013 that is a digital camera system,” Chamber said. “It will have a quarter-second wake-up time and will transmit images by cell phone or 900 megahertz radio. We are also working on the next-generation intrusion detection system and UGS sensors that will allow adjust-ing sensor sensitivity and turning equipment on or off remotely.”

Some new equipment emphasizes integrating and interpreting sensor information as well as collecting it. For example, L-3 KEO’s One 360 is a real-time, high-definition, 360-degree staring imag-ing system. The system provides instantaneous and continuous coverage of the entire battlefield, both day and night, with full-motion video and an intuitive operator interface.

One 360 incorporates color and IR digital-imaging sensors, electronic stabilization, real-time image processing and high-resolution displays. Its user interface provides both a 360-degree panoramic view and a user-selectable zoom region. Open archi-tecture allows integration with other capabilities such as radar and contact management systems for a complete situational understanding.

One 360 includes high-resolution, color and IR sensors with digital image stabilization. Its intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) allows customization of displays, and GUI options include image recording, storage and playback and queuing regions of interest for weapons or long-range sensors.

Pete Kuzdeba, director of advanced technologies business development for L-3 KEO, said that the One 360 is the system designated for integration with the Common Remotely Operated Weapons System (CROWS) with various spin-off and upgraded versions in the works. Originally started as a product for Navy Virginia Class submarines, the 360 situational awareness system has expanded to various platforms and stand-alone uses for other maritime and land applications, including vehicles.

One 360 is capable of being back-fitted to any CROWS on any vehicle. With the ability to bolt-on directly to the CROWS or to stand alone on an independent mast, One 360 enhances the over-all situational awareness and safety of operators inside vehicles. “SOCOM likes to have our system on a mast, independent of a weapon or long-range sensor, and it still has the capability of slew-ing the system to a region of interest,” Kuzdeba said.

Open architecture allows One 360 to exploit other sensors, for example acoustic shot detection sensors. “The goal is to get real-time images to the operator,” Kuzdeba explained. “By taking that sensed information and fusing visual, IR, acoustic shot detection and radar, a full understanding of the battlefield is created, enabling operators to take quick and decisive action as needed.”

The L-3 director said the device is most distinctive due to its real-time full-motion video, low latency, open architecture for

multiple sensors and centralized display. Yet all these capabilities are easy to exploit. “The operator can learn it in as little as 15 minutes,” Kuzdeba noted.

L-3 is working on evolving the One 360 with SOCOM. Enhancements will be made by spiral insertion. Visual and IR are the base sensors of the equipment, but short-wave infrared and full recording capability, along with some other enhancements, are being added. Available as a kit, One 360 is easily installable on any platform, vehicle or fixed site. “We may also pursue small maritime craft implementation,” Kuzdeba predicted.

Millennium Sensor makes tactical UGSs. Mike Roberts, chief technology officer and CEO, said the company is now introducing new extended-duration and extended-range versions of these sen-sors that will operate for 90 to 120 days at ranges up to 2.5 miles.

Millenium’s UGSs do not use passive IR, but do have active IR, microwave and seismic sensors and optical trip wires. These devices can trigger thermal cameras and low-light color cameras and can be integrated with any kind of video cameras. “They are all interoperable,” Roberts stressed. “They can trigger other people’s sensors or they can be triggered from other people’s sensors.” Mil-lennium UGSs have been compatible with almost all legacy devices for 12 years, and Roberts plans to continue this compatibility.

Millennium UGSs have been used by SOCOM for 12 years, and other long-time customers include DHS, NATO militaries and organizations in the Middle East and Pacific Rim.

“We have no direct competitors,” Roberts said. “All our gear is small and self-contained so you don’t have to interconnect with other pieces.” O



This L-3 sensor provides an unblinking eye to instantly see an approaching enemy. [Photo courtesy of L-3 Communications]


SOtech reSOUrce center

advErtisErs indEx

Aegis Defense . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . C2www.aegisdefense.netAR Modular RF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11www.arworld.us/ar50John Deere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7www.johndeere.com/militaryPersistent Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19www.persistentsystems.com

Revision Military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16www.revisionmilitary.com/batlskinSpecial Operations Summit West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10www.specialoperationswest.comThe O’Gara Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21www.ogarasensorsystems.comUSGIF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3www.geoint2013.com

CalEndar

February 17-21, 2013IDEXAbu Dhabi, UAEwww.idexuae.ae

February 20-22, 2013AUSA Winter Exposition & SymposiumFort Lauderdale, Fla.www.ausa.org

April 30-May 1, 2013AUSA Braxton Bragg SymposiumFort Bragg, N.C.www.suggsgroup.com

May 7-9, 2013Special Ops West Warfighter ExpoJoint Base Lewis McChord, Wash.http://defensetradeshows.com/specops-west-warfighter-expo-2010/

March 2013volume 11, Issue 2next ISSUE

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

DirectorForce Structure, Requirements, Resources and Strategic AssessmentsSpecial Operations Command

Maj. Gen. Thomas J. Trask

InsertIon orDer DeaDlIne: FebRuARy 12, 2013 | aD MaterIals DeaDlIne: FebRuARy 19, 2013

Special SectionGlobal SOF Network

At a time of constrained resources and fraying at the edges, it makes sense to coordinate operations with SOF in allied and partner nations. While no command and control would be involved, network nodes could link special ops forces of many nations to create an effective whole greater than its parts.

■ Position, Navigation and Timing ■ bandwidth Challenges ■ Shelter Systems

Features

Bonus Distribution:Special Operations Summit West


Dennis Ho, who co-founded Aegis Defense, is recognized for implementing complex programs. He holds degrees from the University of California Riverside and Stanford University.

Q: Please give our readers a little back-ground on Aegis Defense.

A: Aegis Defense LLC is an innovative com-pany with extensive expertise in government programs, prototyping, manufacturing and project management. Aegis strives to remain at the forefront of new and emerging tech-nologies and marry them to our customer’s needs. We’ll often adopt new technologies, incorporate them into our R&D efforts, then quickly transition through prototype to full manufacture. This enables us to often meet or exceed our customer’s expectations, and ultimately provide them with a cutting-edge product at a reasonable price. Aegis relies on decades of experience, carefully chosen strategic partnerships, subsidiaries and life-long relationships. Aegis’ core competencies stretch into multiple market segments to include defense, aerospace, maritime, trans-portation and security.

We thrive on creating partnerships, and it is these partnerships which have allowed us to quickly become a leader in unique prod-uct developments as well as product place-ment. Some of our partners include Horizon Energy for fuel cell development, Superfabric for fabric applications, Savox for portable communication applications and Zentreks for tactical backpacks.

Aegis is proud to take products from design to prototype to manufacture. Poised with unique designers, program managers and associates, Aegis is also staffed with a crew of highly qualified specialists in metal work, machining, composites and soft goods.

Q: Please tell us about the technologies that make up the Endura Mobile Backpack.

A: The Endura Backpack Power System will give commanders and warfighters the nec-essary flexibility to transverse global ter-rains and spectrums. This is accomplished by

allowing front-line units to stay in the field without the limits of power consumption. We have designed the backpack to be able to charge all of your tactical mobile field equip-ment through our patented controller power storage system, which can provide multiple voltage outputs for various devices.

Having mobility and expeditionary capa-bilities balanced with unlimited portable power generation and performance require-ments is key for operational flexibility to the individual warfighter. For the production of our line of sustainable equipment, we are utilizing the most advanced technologies in solar power generation, nano-engineered smart fabrics and hydrogen technology. Together this has formed the most advanced backpack system in the market today.

Q: Does Aegis have additional products in the pipeline that will enhance the capabilities of the warfighter?

A: We and our corporate partners will con-tinue to strive in creating the very next [step] in technology, equipment and gear with the warfighter in mind. We have been actively working on a new combat shirt, concentrat-ing on fabric technology that excels in all ave-nues of performance. Our new combat shirt will incorporate new temperature regulating technology as well as new abrasion and shock absorption technology, thereby presenting the most advanced in combat wear for the warfighter. There are other programs we are also working on which include new ballistics material to make body armor lighter and more functional and new stretch fabrics for abrasion-[resistant] tactical gloves.

Q: Please tell our readers about your com-munications systems and how you see those benefiting the SOF community.

A: Teamtalk represents the cutting edge in military-grade communications technology. Teamtalk Communications System offers full, duplex team communications for both audio and data, including live audio and video recording through an integrated camera and wireless streaming [capability].

Powered by Open Embedded Linux OS, the radio system also has third party applica-tion integration capability. Capable of ad-hoc mesh networking, audio routing is based on an enhanced classical flooding algorithm design by Savox Communications as well as the original classical flooding algorithm for multicast router.

With the advanced group creation and device pairing capable through secure NFC technology, mobile teams can customize chain-of-command communications to fit the mission’s needs using unique multicast addresses.

Q: What new technologies will Aegis Defense be developing over the next five to 10 years that will advance the mission of SOF?

A: The next five to 10 years should be both chal-lenging and exciting. A tighter defense budget means companies have to find more innovative ways to design and develop new technologies. We have partnered with some of the nation’s top universities to research and develop new technologies for the future. We take advantage of the unrestricted out-of-the-box thinking of new creative minds to solve real world issues. For example, our new portable biosensors will be able to detect pathogens and compounds for biological and chemical warfare at a portable level, and our battery technology will be able to reduce battery weight that the warfighter has to carry by 75 percent and increase bat-tery performance by 80 percent. From future ballistics to communications to soft goods, we as a team will always look at improving the warfighter’s form, fit and function through advancements in research and development and technology. O

inDUStry interVieW Special Operations technology

Dennis HoVice President, Product Development

Aegis Defense


Rear Admiral Gary W. Rosholt, the son of a career U.S. Air Force officer, was commissioned through the Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Cham-paign with a degree in electrical engi-neering. He completed Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training with Class 106 in February 1980.

Tours in Naval Special Warfare include operational assignments with Underwater Demolition Team 12, SEAL Team One, and Special Boat Unit 20. Rosholt’s shore duty assignment was with the chief of Naval Technical Training, where he also completed his Master of Science degree in operations management from the Univer-sity of Arkansas.

In the Reserve component, Rosholt served in staff positions with the Naval Surface Warfare Center, White Oak; OPNAV (N851); and, as a Navy emergency preparedness liaison officer with the direc-tor of Military Support and the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense. He commanded five Navy Reserve units: Shore Intermediate Maintenance Activity Norfolk Detachment 406; Special Boat Unit 20; Naval Special Warfare Unit Four; U.S Special Operations Command Detachment 108; and Naval Special Warfare Command headquarters.

Promoted to rear admiral in October 2008 and returning to active duty, Rosholt served as the deputy commanding general for Special Operations Command, Central Command, and is currently assigned as the senior defense official with the U.S. Embassy in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emir-ates.

In his earlier civilian career, Rosholt was a consultant focusing on special oper-ations-particular research, development, and acquisition programs. He is licensed as a professional engineer by the Common-wealth of Virginia.

Special Operations Technology recently had the opportunity to talk with Admiral Rosholt about international partnerships, the special relationship between U.S. and UAE special forces, the U.S. defense industry in the region, and IDEX.

Q: How would you characterize the level of cooperation, partnership and training between the U.S. military and the UAE Armed Forces?

A: The most important thing to note in our cooperation with the UAE is that they pro-vide a fantastic working environment. The level of cooperation and partnership can best be described as one of mutual respect between two highly capable and profes-sional militaries bound by mutual security interests.

A major driver of cooperation between our two countries is our common equip-ment. UAE is one of the leading customers of U.S. military hardware through foreign military sales [FMS], with more than 80 open cases totaling about $19 billion. Much of the equipment is being delivered or has been delivered recently. The increase of equipment is the result of a combined vision of regional threats leading to an increase in partnered training and exercises.

The United States and UAE have a strong training relationship that sends

more than 1,000 UAE soldiers and officers to U.S. schools from initial entry-level training through senior leader education at war colleges and executive development seminars. Our combined military exercises feature efforts dealing with defending UAE airspace; counter-piracy and protecting the free passage of shipping into, through, and out of the Arabian Gulf; protecting against IEDs; and counter terrorism.

Q: How do you see the two militaries strengthening their relation in the com-ing year?

A: The relationship between the U.S. and UAE seems to strengthen each year, and 2013 is shaping up to be no different. U.S. Central Command and the UAE military are planning several exercises in 2013 that will continue to galvanize our strong spirit of partnership.

2013 also features two of the world’s most important military and security tradeshows hosted in the UAE—IDEX and the Dubai Air Show. The U.S. is already deep in planning for large-scale partici-pation in IDEX. These are important venues to demonstrate our commitment and capability to this important region. I anticipate that we will continue to grow and deepen our mutual relationships as the U.S. continues the transition from fighting two wars in this region to a greater emphasis on engagement and building partnerships.

Q: How would you say your special opera-tions background formed the groundwork of your role today at the embassy?

leaDerShip inSight

rear admIral gary w. rosholt

senIor defense offIcIal

abu dhabI, unIted arab emIrates

Reaching Outto Allies

amerIcan, uae cooperatIon deepens.


A: My 32 years spent in the special opera-tions community has taught me the value and importance of working as a team to accomplish shared objectives. The U.S./UAE combined team is powerful. Special operations also focus on functioning in a resource-constrained environment—you have a few people to do a big job. Work-ing in an embassy is similar, in that we have a relatively small staff to coordinate a growing relationship with a significant and valuable partner nation across all levels of engagement and cooperation. The embassy country-team blends the capabilities and cooperation of nearly every department of the U.S. government to develop and improve our relationships.

In my career I have also learned the value of reaching out to all aspects of military capability, and with the UAE, I work with all parts of the host nation and the U.S. military. I have had the pleasure of speaking to Air Force officers about integrated air defense, naval officers about defending sea lines of communication, Army officers on artillery, and Marines on training and readiness. I regularly work with all parts of the U.S. and UAE military and at all levels of U.S. and UAE govern-ment. My early training as a SEAL taught me to be adaptive and I have certainly used that lesson in this job.

Q: We spoke earlier about the cooperation between the militaries of the U.S. and UAE in general. Drilling down a little, how important is the close relationship between the special operations forces of the two?

A: Our special operations forces relation-ship is extremely important as we learn from one another to improve our ability to function as partners. This relationship spills over into a broader arena which includes all military branches of our two governments.

UAE special operations forces represent a critical capability. We learn from the UAE special operations community in how to better deal with other cultures. We train side by side with the UAE regularly.

Q: Where are the opportunities for forging closer ties with between U.S. and UAE spe-cial forces—and perhaps with other SOF in the region?

A: Multiple opportunities exist for those who have the vision to see them. Both the UAE and the U.S. envision a stable region enabled by a ready, relevant and reliable force. Our focus is continued coordination and a drive toward interop-erability with our coalition and partner nations. As the U.S. draws down forces in Afghanistan, I expect that the spe-cial operations community will devote a greater percentage of time to working with coalition partner special operations forces and to improve our capabilities.

U.S. operations are more and more integrated with coalition partners. Our experience over the past 10 years has taught us all that special operations forces will play a critical and substantial role in those coalitions. We fully expect to con-tinue our strong cooperative relationship with them and to do the same with other like-minded countries in the region.

Q: What role does your office have in assisting U.S.-based defense companies in managing the protocols to have their products considered for procurement by the UAE Armed Forces?

A: As I previously mentioned, the UAE is one of the largest U.S. FMS customers in the world. It is important to note that U.S. sales of security-related equipment and gear consist of multiple routes and not simply through the formal government-to-government FMS process. In the UAE there is a robust and growing market for direct commercial sales and hybrids of direct commercial sales and FMS. There has been a 104 percent increase of U.S. sales of security-related hardware and services to the UAE in 2012. This is a remarkable success for U.S. industry and demonstrates the well-tested quality and desirability of U.S. gear.

It is important for your readers to understand that the UAE is an intelli-gent and sophisticated market. They are wise with their money and companies who come here must be prepared for a competitive and demanding marketplace. Price and value matter. We coordinate with U.S. Embassy staff—through Department of Commerce’s Foreign Commercial Ser-vice, for example—and directly with U.S. industry and the UAE to ensure their

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nation’s requirements are properly articu-lated so the right products can be pro-cured.

The U.S. ambassador to the UAE has emphasized the importance of support-ing U.S. business opportunities in the UAE. I take this role seriously and make significant time available to assist U.S. companies as they engage with the UAE. I’m also active with the Abu Dhabi Ameri-can Chamber of Commerce in their efforts to promote and assist American business success.

U.S. companies, large and small, make the best equipment and gear in the world. They may not always be the lowest cost, but they bring great value in terms of corporate social responsibility, training, mentoring and best practices. It is a plea-sure to encourage and support this quality to the world and especially to our Emirati partners.

Q: Has the Middle East historically been a strong market for U.S. FMS? What are the near-term prospects for enhanced FMS opportunities in the region?

A: Absolutely. There is no question the Middle East represents the most active market for security-related goods and ser-vices and the greatest expansion of mili-tary equipment in the world today. The recent events in this region demonstrate that regional challenges remain that will keep national security as a high priority for some time.

As I look at this region, I believe that the greatest interest is and will be in the near term unmanned aerial systems/vehicles, air and missile defense, space sys-tems, and cyber-related issues. The region has unfortunately been the laboratory of modern conflict. The increase of IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan was the transforma-tive technique in the first decade of this century. Cyberwarfare is becoming the transformative technique of conflict for this decade.

As I mentioned the dominant tech-niques with respect to shaping conflict and future security and military systems, I think it is also important to maintain focus on other aspects of military equip-ment development and sales. Our current export control laws and regulations are

still based on a Cold War conflict context. The world today is significantly more dynamic, and the need to assist partners with new equipment and capabilities to better operate in coalitions is vital.

I would also suggest that in this new environment of greater international cooperation and reliance on coalition operations, industry needs to look at how they make military equipment. Inter-national sales and the attendant release authorities need to be a major consider-ation in the development of new systems. Creating systems that have a modularity that quickly allows for transition from domestic to export versions would be important to rapidly working through release and quicker and more responsive sales.

Q: IDEX has been a strong defense exhibition venue for many years now. How would you character-ize events like IDEX as a way to see emerging and innovative technologies from countries around the world as well as for U.S. companies to showcase their capabilities?

A: The UAE is taking a leadership role in this industry. IDEX is the largest land force-focused exhibition in the Middle East and easily one of the two or three largest in the world. It is attended by dozens of national delegations and every one of those is led by a senior ministry official or land force commander. The delegations come from the Middle East and North Africa, South and Southeast Asia, Europe, and South America. This is an international audience of senior mili-tary leaders.

Events like IDEX and the Dubai Air Show provide outstanding opportunities to present the latest technological inno-vations to the world. This is also where smaller companies can get the visibility that is usually difficult to get when they have to compete with larger organizations. The U.S. typically sends senior leaders from the operational and the acquisitions and foreign military sales sectors of the U.S. Department of Defense and Depart-ment of State.

We look forward to great U.S. par-ticipation and support of this critical UAE event. O

The United arab Emirates obtains important military systems from the United States, such as the F-16 Desert Fox. [Photo courtesy of DoD]


leaDerShip inSight

amerIcan, uae cooperatIon deepens.


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SOTECH 11-1 (Feb. 2013)

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Transcript of SOTECH 11-1 (Feb. 2013)