Sotech 11 9 final

ARSOF Resource Manager

Richard Holcomb

Deputy to the Commanding GeneralU.S. Army Special Operations Command

Comms at the Tactical Edge O TransportationNontraditional ISR

October 2013 Volume 11, Issue 9

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Cover / Q&AFeatures

RichaRd holcombDeputy to the Commanding

GeneralUSASOC

16

October 2013Volume 11, Issue 9Special OperatiOnS technOlOgy

Departments Industry Interview2 EditoR’s PERsPEctivE3 WhisPERs/PEoPlE14 black Watch27 REsouRcE cEntER

adRiEn RobEnhymERVice PresidentBusiness Development and MarketingPersistent Systems

4moRE caPablE commsClear communications provide the information edge for SOF teams, giving them lifesaving intel on enemy locations and movements. New devices in development by SOCOM will help elite troops communicate more effectively. We look at comms gear the operator at the tactical edge cannot do without.By Marc Selinger

8soF on thE movEThrough more than a decade of sustained conflict, transporters have learned how to supply SOF teams more efficiently than ever. A treasure trove of lessons learned will push the sustainment of future operations. When the supply chain is broken by unforeseen circumstances, suppliers have more methods to sustain lifelines to the tactical edge.By Jeff caMpBell

24bluRREd linEsThere are standards and there are rules. Traditional ISR methods are effective for a reason, but the enemy isn’t always reasonable. That’s when it’s time to step outside of the box with unconventional ISR tactics. When the lines between traditional and nontraditional blur, innovation is sparked.By Jeff caMpBell

28

“USASOC is committed to developing the right

individuals, structure,

doctrine and capabilities

that tie tactical action to

the desired strategic effect, while ensuring the health and well-being of all members

of the ARSOF family.”

—Richard Holcomb

PoWERFul PossibilitiEsWhen power is essential to mission success, SOF teams require portable power systems to ensure their systems have all the juice needed when it is most critical. Hybrid, solar, all-weather, these handy systems keep man-portable gear fully charged. We examine several offerings, along with the excitement brimming for a possible new battery technology.By Henry canaday

20Special Section: Portable Power

SOCOM scored another victory in overseas contingency operations this month with targeted operations in Libya and Somalia. How fitting that these victories came 20 years after the Battle of Mogadishu. The Libya operation resulted in the capture of one of the world’s most wanted terror-ists, sought for his alleged role in the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa, reminding those who seek to cause terror that U.S. forces do not have a short attention span.

News reports have stated that the Somali operation involved U.S. military personnel against the leader of al Shabaab, which has claimed responsibility for the terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping mall, during which dozens were killed in Nairobi, Kenya.

“These operations in Libya and Somalia send a strong message to the world that the United States will spare no effort to hold terrorists accountable, no matter where they hide or how long they evade justice,” stated Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. “We will continue to maintain relentless pressure on terrorist groups that threaten our people or our interests, and we will conduct direct action against them, if necessary, that is consistent with our laws and our values.”

House Armed Services Committee Chairman Buck McKeon congratulated the troops on the heroic capture of Abu Anas al-Libi, and pointed out that the terrorist leader’s vast intelligence value could be key to saving lives in the future. “I urge the administration to fully exploit this potential before moving al-Libi on to prosecution, rather than follow an arbitrary timeline,” McKeon said. “This can be done safely and humanely, but it must be done thoroughly.”

In this month’s SOTECH, we have a conversation with U.S. Army Special Operations Command Deputy to the Commanding General Richard Holcomb and learn about how the Army’s surgical strike capability is supported. We delve deeper in “SOF on the Move,” learning how the 528th Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) and industry partners support ARSOF in AFRICOM, and around the globe. Please feel free to reach out to me with your comments on this issue, hooah!

Jeff Campbelleditor

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

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SOCOM Property Management Officer Chief Warrant Officer 5 Billy Grazier Jr. was honored by his previous command, which named him to an elite group of members who have contributed to the unit’s presti-gious history. During a ceremony at Fort Benning, Ga., Grazier was named a distin-guished member of the 75th Ranger Regiment as part of the Ranger Rendezvous.

More than 44 years after their A-26 was shot down, Major James E. Sizemore and Major Howard V. Andre were laid to rest. The air commandos were assigned to the 609th Special Operations Squadron under the 56th Special Operations Wing in Thailand during the Southeast Asia war.

Raytheon Company has appointed John D. Harris II vice president of business development and chief executive officer of Raytheon International Inc. Harris, who joined Raytheon in 1983, will be responsible for worldwide sales and marketing, Raytheon’s international business and its government

relations operations functions.

Iris Technology has appointed Michael J. Barthlow as its execu-tive vice president and chief strategy officer. As a Marine Corps officer, Barthlow served as chief of joint theater data networks for U.S. Central Command and as communications and information systems officer of an artillery battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif.

96th CA BN (A) Executes Command, Staff Functions During Operation Mountain Divide Training Exercise

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Billy Grazier, Jr.

Michael J. Barthlow

compiled by KMi Media group staffpeOple

The 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) conducted a battalion-level battle staff and planning exercise demonstrating their capability to organize and deploy in support of a Combined Joint Task Force during the recent Operation Mountain Divide training exercise. The command and staff exercised their ability to battle track for their regional civil military support elements and test their reach back support mechanism. As part of their exercise, the 96th CA BN (A) also conducted a detailed mission planning in support of a contingency operation involving replicated joint, interagency, intergovern-mental and multinational interaction.

The training exercise was integrated with the 20th Special Forces Group (Airborne), and 1st 20th SFG(A) command and staffs annual training exercise conducted in Montana via the distributed

training concept used by the Mission Command Exercise Division. The 96th CA BN (A) executed the Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) 2022 vision of multiplying potential partnerships within the Army, creating an integrated and distributed training environment to improve the unit’s ability to provide trained and ready SOF civil affairs soldiers to combatant commanders worldwide.

The training exercise was supported by the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School special operations mission training center (SOMTC) from Fort Bragg, N.C. The SOMTC inte-grated approach to training provides an effective, low-cost training solution for multiple staffs and to support ARSOF integration. This organization provided a realistic objective based and tailored training scenario while demonstrating its capability

to provide a cost-effective distributed training option to U.S. Army Special Operations Command, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, Navy SEALs and reserve components.

“The SOMTC is the perfect venue to meet our training objectives,” said Major Patrick D. Blankenship, executive officer for the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion. “The interactive nature of this type of training enhances the capabilities of the battalion and satisfies their training objectives related to command and control of CA forces in the field.”

The 96th Civil Affairs Battalion (Airborne) is one of the regional battalions in the 95th Civil Affairs Brigade (Airborne). The 91st, 92nd, 96th, 97th and 98th battalions organize, train, equip and deploy forces worldwide to conduct civil affairs operations.

Harris Corporation, an international communications and information technology company, will provide the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) with a correspon-dence tracking software (CTS) system that will improve communications between the VA and the veterans it serves. The three-year, $8 million contract was awarded under the VA’s transformation twenty-one total technology contract vehicle.

Harris will integrate MicroPact’s entellitrak business process management (BPM) system throughout the VA to manage correspondence among department agencies, veterans and other stakeholders. MicroPact is a provider of enterprise case management and BPM software. The contract includes software licenses, maintenance, help-desk support, installation, testing and training.

The CTS solution will be used by the VA central office, Veterans Health Administration, Veterans Benefits Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration.

“Harris is working with the Department of Veterans Affairs to ensure the agency has the tools to serve our veterans in a timely and effective manner,” said Vishal Agrawal, M.D., president, Harris Healthcare Solutions. “The software solution will help create a modern workflow management system that increase effi-ciency in its communications with veterans, their families, and other stakeholders.”

Communications Between Veterans and U.S.

Department of Veterans Affairs to Improve

www.SOTECH-kmi.com SOTECH 11.9 | 3

U.S. Special Operations Com-mand is developing and fielding a host of new devices and technolo-gies to help its elite troops com-municate more effectively on the battlefield. Handheld radios are getting much of SOCOM’s atten-tion, but the agency is also pursu-ing advances in communications equipment for ground vehicles, ships and unmanned aircraft. Finding what it needs is no easy task because its forces per-form unique missions, including operating in small numbers and in remote, dangerous areas.

“We follow development in industry and joint and ser-vice programs closely, but, in general, have requirements for more security, more waveforms and more different fre-quency sets than are delivered to conventional forces,” said

Anthony Davis, SOCOM’s C4 pro-gram executive officer.

Through its SOF Tactical Communications (STC) pro-gram, the command is replac-ing aging radios with Falcon III AN/PRC-117G manpack and AN/PRC-152A handheld radios, which are made by Harris Corp. to provide data, messaging, video and voice.

“The wideband capabilities of the AN/PRC-117G and AN/PRC-152A allow operators to stay connected to the SOF infor-mation enterprise even while circulating on the battlefield,” said Joe Adams, senior sales manager at Harris RF Com-munications. “Previously, network connectivity was limited to fixed installations, such as a tactical operations center or safe house.”

U.S. Special operationS forceS Seek improvementS in radioS and other commUnicationS gear.

By marc Selinger

Sotech correSpondent

Anthony Davis Joe Adams

www.SOTECH-kmi.com4 | SOTECH 11.9

General Dynamics C4 Systems is under contract with the U.S. Army to provide 22,000 handheld AN/PRC-154 Rifle-man radios, 1,400 of which are going to SOCOM. The radios allow SOF operators to communicate securely, on the move and when connected to a smart phone, giving them the abil-ity to see each other’s location and share information.

At press time, SOCOM was completing an evaluation of the Thales AN/PRC-148B two-channel handheld radio, “which we believe will offer significant additional capability to our forces,” Davis told Special Operations Technology. The AN/PRC-148B, also known as the next-generation Multiband Inter/Intra Team Radio (MBITR2), combines technology from two Thales radios—the nar-rowband AN/PRC-148 JEM and the wideband AN/PRC-154 Rifleman radio—and is “the first tactical handheld radio to provide simulta-neous two-channel communications,” said Verna Wright, director of SOCOM business development at Thales Communications.

“Thales expects that the MBITR2 will benefit troops who currently have to carry two radios—one to connect to legacy net-works and the other for high-speed, net-worked data—thereby, lightening their load and providing more capability,” Wright said.

Another advantage of MBITR2 is that it has a com-mon look and feel to the AN/PRC-148, which is already widely used by SOF, she added. This feature is expected to minimize user training, provide for common logistics sup-port and retain compatibility with existing AN/PRC-148 ancillary equipment.

The STC program plans to conduct several new com-petitions in late 2014 and early 2015. To prepare for those competitions, it recently evaluated responses to requests for information (RFIs) for next-generation radio capabilities, and will be conducting market research through the end of calendar year 2013. STC has also released an RFI and conducted market research and a limited user evalua-tion of radios that can form an infrastructure-less Mobile Ad hoc Network (MANET).

Through its mobile communications initiative (MCI), SOCOM is using a BlackBerry-based architecture to upgrade the secure but unclassified (SBU) capabilities on its smart-phones. MCI provides mapping, geo-tagging, data collection, secure messaging and video chat on an existing commercial smartphone, and additional development of warfighter-specific applications will be conducted in the next calendar year, Davis said. The SBU upgrade has been underway on a pilot basis for almost a year and is now being expanded “in earnest across our component commands,” he said.

Several companies indicated they are helping SOF improve radio communications in other ways. In Octo-ber 2010, SOF troops began fielding rapidly deployable, rucksack-transportable tactical SATCOM terminals made by Thales subsidiary Tampa Microwave. The terminals provide command-and-control connectivity and extend the reach of handheld radios to distant networks, Wright said.

Thales, along with L-3, has developed the full motion video (FMV) mission module, an add-on to the AN/PRC-148 JEM handheld radio that could allow SOF to receive full-motion video from intelligence-gathering aircraft. The FMV mission module “concept can leverage the AN/PRC-148 radios currently fielded with our special operations Forces and eliminates the need to introduce a separate and dedi-cated FMV ground terminal receiver,” Wright said.

Adams said the new Harris RF-330E-TR wideband team radio, developed for the Army’s Rifleman Radio program, could provide SOF with improvements in usability, size,

weight, power and logistics. SOF could also benefit from Harris’ efforts to make various platforms compatible with the Navy’s new Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) high-capacity communications satellites.

BAE Systems, Rockwell Collins and Thales are jointly developing technologies for a handheld radio that would use the widely fielded, jamming-resistant Link 16 datalink and be no larger than the fielded AN/PRC-148 MBITR radio. This capability should be available to SOF within a few

years, said BAE spokesman Paul Roberts.Northrop Grumman has briefed sev-

eral SOCOM program managers on its new SoldierLink System, a MANET-like network that could support SOF’s growing demand for voice, data, sensor and video applications and do so at about a third of the cost of new radios, said Bill Cling-empeel, director of strategy and tactical network solutions for the company’s battle management business.

SoldierLink, which Northrop Grum-man developed with Rajant Corp., “can be quickly deployed because any device, piece of equipment or platform on the [network] can serve as a node for accessing informa-tion,” Clingempeel said.

air, land, Sea

SOCOM is aiming to improve the agen-cy’s satellite-based comms on the move (COTM) capabilities for ground vehicles and ships.

“Because of the nature of our opera-tions, we provide a relatively large satellite pipe even to our smallest, most tactical teams,” Davis said.

To meet its COTM-ground vehicle requirements, SOCOM is working with service laboratories and industry to develop “non-invasive, minimal profile antennas,” Davis told Special Operations Technology. To address its COTM-Afloat

Bill Clingempeel

Thales’ FMV mission module is an add-on to the AN/PRC-148 JEM handheld radio that could allow SOF to receive full-motion video from intelligence-gathering aircraft. [Photo courtesy of Thales Communications]

SOTECH 11.9 | 5 www.SOTECH-kmi.com

needs, the agency is evaluating both roll-on/roll-off and fixed equipment. SOCOM hopes to take delivery of new COTM-afloat and COTM-ground capabilities in fiscal year 2015 and FY 2016, respectively.

SOCOM’s communication goals include faster transmis-sions, increased automation and smaller, “lower-profile” sat-ellite dishes, said Kevin Merrigan, vice president of business development for DoD programs at General Dynamics C4 Sys-tems. SOCOM is also looking for more reliable connections “so you can be bouncing across any kind of terrain, or in the water, or in flight, and not lose connectivity with the satellite communications system.”

SOCOM is considering upgrading its radio integration system (RIS), which is used in tactical headquarters to con-nect units’ tactical radio networks to allow monitoring and command and control. The agency issued the “SOF tactical communications base station” RFI in July to learn about industry capabilities in radio integration.

“RIS has had a relatively stable design for the last four or five years, and our current focus is reducing size,

weight and power requirements while increasing the system’s flexibility and capability,” Davis said.

“Depending on the state of technology, a competi-tion effort may be considered late

in 2014.”Aviation is also playing a

role in enhancing SOF com-munications. SOF operators have been flying Boeing’s tacti-cal compact communications relay (TCCR) on unmanned air-craft since 2011 to extend the reach of thousands of handheld communications radios operat-ing under the UAVs.

The 1-pound, narrowband TCCR can increase a radio’s range by up to 200 miles and is especially useful in sending and receiv-ing voice and data in tough terrain, such as mountains with deep crevices, Boeing spokes-man Richard Esposito said. SOF operators use it on the Boeing-Insitu ScanEagle UAV.

“When installed on a small UAV, it allows the UAV to act as a tactical range-extending communications repeater,” Esposito said. “It is a simple ‘bent pipe,’ which allows for encrypted communication to pass through it.”

Boeing is developing a wideband commu-nications relay to extend the range of data and voice transmissions. The relay is undergoing ground tests and is expected to become avail-able to customers in late 2014.

Boeing is not alone in this area. In 2012, Northrop Grumman completed a series of flight tests in which an optionally piloted Firebird aircraft equipped with the smart node pod demonstrated the ability to relay digital

data, imagery, video and voice communications to mobile ground units and command centers. The pod is based on the company’s deployed battlefield airborne communica-tions node, which exchanges real-time information among disparate military and commercial radios and data-link

systems. Northrop Grumman is now under a low-rate initial production contract to build the smart node pod for SOCOM.

Last but not least, SOCOM is looking to incorporate communications improvements into SOF suits. As part of a September 4 broad agency announcement for the tactical assault light operator suit effort, SOCOM seeks ideas for several potential communi-cations-related innovations, including “tech-nology supporting comfortable and wearable antennae and wearable computers,” and

situational awareness “technology that promotes timely, relevant and accurate assessment of friendly, enemy and other operations within the battlespace in order to facilitate decision-making.”

international Sof

SOCOM is not the only entity that companies are look-ing to for SOF-related business. For example, Datron World Communications, based in San Diego, focuses on providing tactical radios to the “emerging world.” It recently launched the HH2100V handheld radio to meet “the needs of all levels of command within these markets, including special forces,” Datron spokesman Orion Linekin said.

“The HH2100V offers a number of features that apply to these types of operators, including GPS location, encryption and short-message functions that allow short text messages to be sent between radios,” Linekin said. O

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

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

Kevin Merrigan

Until the wideband capabilities of the AN/PRC-117G and AN/PRC-152A arrived, network connectivity was limited to fixed installations, such as a tactical operations center or safe house. [Photo courtesy of Harris]

The optionally piloted Firebird is equipped with a smart node pod based on Northrop Grumman’s deployed battlefield airborne communications node. [Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman]

6 | SOTECH 11.9 www.SOTECH-kmi.com

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Throughout the past 12 years, logistical require-ments to support SOF in Afghanistan have trans-formed in concert with operations. Now as some of those teams move to small-scale operations across the globe, the Army SOF (ARSOF) logisticians at the 528th Sustainment Brigade (Special Operations) (Airborne) are laying the ground work to sustain the next fight, wherever it may be.

When the 528th’s operations officer, Captain Cristoffer Honan, thinks about supporting SOF in regional, low-scale engagements, the first thing that comes to mind is that most special operations require assistance from the conventional force. “We must realize that Afghanistan is a very mature theater,” Honan said. “In the future, most regional and low-scale engagements will take place in areas that are austere and lacking logistical support lines of com-munication that are common in conventional force theaters of operation.”

To the parts unknown where SOF teams travel now and in the future, that logistics tail will likely be non-existent, but the logisticians with the 528th are prepared to support the SOF operator at any time and in any place.

“With more than 160 sustainers deployed to 16 countries across the globe, creativity and ingenuity are two elements we must consider, along with anticipation and predictive analysis,” he said. “The future is uncertain. Wherever SOF forces go, logistics planners will work diligently to ensure they have the necessary sup-port to accomplish their mission.”

When transporters move SOF units, they face unique challenges. Just before Lieutenant General Brooks Bash began his present assignment as vice commander, Air Mobility Command, while still serving as J4, Director for Logistics, Joint Staff, he said that one of the greatest challenges is anti-access and anti-access mitigation. Alion Science and Technology Senior Vice President Major General Charlie Fletcher, USA (Ret.), believes achieving that access is the key to mission success. “Our enemies now understand that you have to deny us the ability to get into the area of operations because if you don’t, we will defeat you once we’re there,” he said.

Fletcher’s service includes moving big Army as the commander of Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command, but for present-day SOF team transportation, he recalls his time as the director of the operations center at United States Transportation Command (TCJ3). “During the year that I did that [1988], we supported the response activities to the bombings in Kinshasa, Nairobi,” Fletcher said. “We had several SOF support missions, predominantly in Africa but also in other places.” Other SOCOM sup-port during that period included a non-combatant evacuation in the Democratic Republic of Congo led by Special Operations Command Europe, and a number of other classified issues. While these more well-known news items were taking place, the TCJ3 also supported operations in South America, as well as the expansion of operations into the Philippines.

SOF support to all these locations brings chal-lenges with distances and infrastructure. “As we were supporting AFRICOM [United States Africa Com-mand], identifying the best aircraft and infrastructure to move people around the continent is a significant task,” Fletcher said. “You can contrast that to South-west Asia, where Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman and the U.A.E. have spent hundreds of millions, if not billions

of dollars, over the last 30 years ensuring that the infrastructure of airfields and ports and roads were there so they could rapidly support an expansion of capabilities.”

Back in Africa, the lack of capabilities including sea and aerial ports makes cooperation with coalition partners that much more important. That coupled with the lack of petroleum made allied bases such as Ascension Island an essential base for Africa operations. “The French colonial linkages were always important because they had the long-standing relationships, and the deep understanding of the capabilities within many of the countries,” Fletcher noted. “Special operations has the advantage that they generally have language pro-ficiency in the places they are going, which helps a lot, but once you get there, oftentimes there is not a lot of local support.”

According to Fletcher, AFRICOM has been working for years to get basing rights to use some of the airfields on the continent,

By Jeff campBell, Sotech editor

Charlie Fletcher

[email protected]

Capt. Cristoffer Honan

moving Sof into new areaS iS eaSier with groUndwork laid ahead of time.


but often lower profile and more nontraditional approaches used by special operations provides more immediate and responsive results. “The special operations forces have been some of the leaders in local contracting, putting dollars into the hands of people, which then enhances our relationship with them and their desire to work with us,” he said. “But you still have tremendous distances that you have to operate in, and you have such a variety of tribal groups and other players there.”

know and grow

As SOCOM looks to insert their small footprint into new countries, the first step for the transporters who move SOF is to become familiar with the country’s requirements. “That includes understanding the country’s regulatory/customs procedures, cul-tural awareness and local business practices,” said FedEx Services Man-aging Director Kirstin Knott. “Trans-portation and logistics companies offer international resources on their websites such as ‘FedEx Know and Grow: Grow Your International Business through Export Education Events,’ or support from the U.S. commercial service that customers can use to increase their international expertise.”

To FedEx, the key to providing on-time delivery to areas not previously served is working with their customer to understand the requirements and develop solutions. They start by contacting the shipper and consignee to ensure both parties are aware of the ship-ping requirements. “To help ensure the shipment clears customs in a timely manner, we proactively review the shipment’s documentation and help the shipper correct any issues,” Knott said. “By reviewing the documentation, we are able to identify whether the consignee needs additional permits or import licenses, which they can then secure before tendering the shipment.”

When teams at the origin, in-transit and destination work together, they can commit to meeting the required delivery date. “The key is to any successful logistics movement is advanced plan-ning,” Knott said. “When all parties are aware of the requirements and the meet deadlines, the shipment is a success.”

Long before SOF teams reach the tactical edge, their equipment may make moves across North America en route to departure from the United States. Boyle Transportation, a Billerica, Mass., transpor-tation protective services (TPS) company, handles security-sensitive cargo throughout the contiguous U.S. and eastern Canada. Boyle’s tractor fleet is equipped with collision avoidance systems, web-based tracking systems, and dromedary boxes for hazmat segregation. “The dromedary boxes simply provide us a way to provide security for smaller loads and avoids compatibility issues that can arise when shipping munitions,” said Rod Mallette, vice president of business development at Boyle.

More than half of the TPS provider’s workforce is comprised of military veterans who understand the urgency of a military mission, Mallette pointed out, himself a retired Army transporter. For the SOF community, Boyle is also able to provide a direct professional team driver service. “This means items are secure throughout transit and they get to the correct location in the fastest way possible,”

modular rfOther ar divisions: rf/microwave instrumentation • receiver systems • ar europeThe Battle Tested logo is Reg. U.S. Pat. & TM. Off. # 3,821,099.

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This battle-tested, 50-wattRF amplifier covers the 30 – 512 MHzfrequency band supporting the Harris AN/PRC-117F,Harris AN/PRC-117G*, Harris AN/PRC-152A,Thales MBITR AN/ PRC-148 Raytheon AN/PSC-5D*,Rockwell Collins AN/ARC-210 tactical radios plus others.With protection against antenna mismatch, over-temperatureand accidental polarity reversal, the AR-50 has proven to bedurable and dependable in the toughest battle conditions.

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SOTECH_Sky's the Limit:Layout 1 10/3/13 3:17 PM Page 1

Kirstin Knott

[email protected]


Mallette said. “When SOF units need an item, it may be produced at an inland production facility and need to be moved to the correct airbase for shipment to the unit.”

Securely and safely moving that sensitive cargo is where Mallette said Boyle excels. “In addition, we provide state of the art in-transit visibility so that the SOF community [with a need to know] can view the load’s location while in transit.”

Along with ground transportation solutions, SOF sustainers are looking to develop several aviation capabilities. “In addition to the low-cost, low-altitude air drop operations, we also need to build on small aircraft that provide a short take-off and landing capabil-ity for transport of personnel, equipment, and supplies throughout the operational area,” Honan said. “The rotary and fixed wing support provided by aviation contractors has become essential for SOF operators.

Branching oUt

As the global SOF network continues to spread like a spider web, logisticians engage in a lot of non-military network support, much more in fact than for conventional forces, where the requirements are much larger. “With SOF, their requirements are not as large, but they are dispersed across a much broader area of operations,” Fletcher said. “Maersk, APL and several of the shipping lines have come on line to provide their infrastructure and their knowledge of capabilities across Africa in particular, and Southeast Asia, which

is a form of expanding the network of infrastructure that DoD has traditionally used.”

It takes teamwork like that to keep SOF on the move, especially when the supply chain encounters a road block like the one it hit during OEF with the Pakistan ground lines of communication (PAK GLOC). That situation, in which cargo en route to Afghanistan was blocked for the first half of last year, is a lesson logisticians don’t want to repeat as SOF spreads across the globe. “The PAK GLOC is prob-ably representative of many of the other parts of the world in which we do not have long-standing relationships,” Fletcher said.

The northern GLOC also has military equipment restrictions and can be just as tough to get through. Add the fact that the countries in Central Asia are not necessarily disposed to work closely with one another, and the potential for a broken supply chain returns. “Trib-ally, many of them have long-standing disputes, so although it might be financially beneficial to them, their long-standing animosities may stand in the way of what would otherwise be an efficient trans-portation network,” Fletcher said.

With everyone pulling out of Afghanistan, competition for transportation services to new countries is growing among Allies, and Fletcher warns that these moves must be made as a coali-tion decision, “lest we find other countries contracting for limited capabilities that are best done as a coalition addressing the highest multinational priority.”

The fragile nature of host nation agreements seen in the PAK GLOC are also found in many other countries across the region, and


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many countries around the world in which we do not have long-standing relationships. “In addition to the PAK GLOC, one could draw an analogy to Manas in Kyrgyzstan, equally important to us from the air side of support to Afghanistan operations,” Fletcher said. “Operations at Manas were interrupted for various periods of time because of disagreements between nations impacting the lines of communication, you have interdiction by criminal elements, terror-ist elements, and slow downs due to local corruption all impacting the flow of essential supplies into and out of Afghanistan.”

The amount of truck capability through Pakistan is certainly not endless, and each moment equipment sits at a roadblock, the potential of pilferage rises, so flow management to the real capabili-ties along these ground lines of communications is crucial. “Probably the greatest concern is our total dependence on third-party support, because U.S. military uniformed personnel are not allowed in to Pakistan or many other countries in the region—so we essentially become a manager for someone managing people who are doing our business there,” Fletcher said. “You’ve got to make sure you’ve got the right contractual relationships there if you’re going to be successful.”

Logically, since special operations teams are small, their require-ments are generally smaller. SOF can carry some of their own capa-bility, but their staying power oftentimes becomes more traditional in terms of the food, water and other classes of supplies they need. “At some point, you’ve got to transition them to a more traditional form of logistics sustainment,” Fletcher said. “That’s where under-standing the capabilities of the local economy, and understanding

the capabilities of the U.S. global network and the capabilities of our coalition partners, becomes that much more important.”

ten-plUS yearS of caSe StUdieS

While the sustainers supported SOF through OEF, they gained valuable experience in doing more with less, and over greater dis-tances. “At the height of the dispersion of SOF forces in Afghanistan, we learned how to conduct aerial resupply at new levels of profi-ciency,” Honan said. “It was a cutting-edge, non-standard way of doing business and it was extremely innovative and necessary.”

To solve problems on many different levels, they learned to uti-lize all available resources. “Our logisticians are competent problem solvers who always find a way to make it happen for the SOF opera-tor,” Honan said. “They are the men behind the ‘quiet professionals’ who are always working to ensure they are successful.”

While in Afghanistan, the 528th wasn’t just supporting AFSOF, they were integrated across the services. “Building efficient logis-tical systems and tactical capabilities that provide commanders operational flexibility is paramount,” Honan said. “Knowing how to conduct business as a joint warfighter is essential. SOF in Afghani-stan was truly joint, and fortunately, this provides logisticians with more options.”

Another case study for the transporters moving SOF into new territory is in the Philippines. Fletcher recalls the need to make significant adjustments to existing strategic lift infrastructure in


order to support the new special operations task force. “It required a traditional strategic lift adjustment to do continuous support for that operation, and for subsequent operations which have now been ongoing for more than 10 years,” he said. “As TRANSCOM Com-mander General William Fraser said recently, when we went into Mali, the French asked us to come in, but the French had no air refueling capability, which was required to put forces into Mali at the speed that they wanted.”

Once again, a customer request called for expansion of the trans-portation network. “The special operations are the first ones in, so you’ve got to be able to support them going in, and then have that continuous network of support to provide them whatever they need,” Fletcher said.

Once they are in country, keeping a small footprint is critical, and Fletcher finds special operations forces to be among the most innovative at figuring out alternative ways to reduce their footprint. “Alion supports them with agile manufacturing with significant reach back,” he said. “This is a way of reducing the amount you have to carry forward, and yet you have the ability to repair water pumps in remote villages and do other village support operations. This elimination of mountains of supplies while maintaining operational flexibility is a game changing capability with implications beyond special operations,” he said.

SOF teams’ language proficiency adds to their ability to procure supplies that an English-speaking-only group would not have. “That language proficiency is capability that we in Alion have provided

over time, identifying people with language skills to supplement military formations,” Fletcher said. “Alion’s agile manufacturing and diverse set of capabilities in science, engineering and manufac-turing, in a company with empowered managers, allows us to be very responsive.”

Alion also actively seeks people with experience in the special operations community to stay current and relevant with SOF requirements. “We stay constantly in contact with elements within SOCOM to ensure that we are working on their hardest problems,” Fletcher said. “We see SOCOM as a community that represents, in terms of its requirements, a lot of what we represent in terms of capabilities, so we see it as a good fit as a critical customer that we are dedicated to supporting today and into the future.”

As SOF teams make dangerous moves into new places, they’ve got the support of both industry partners and military logisti-cians like the ARSOF soldiers of the 528th Sustainment Brigade. “As operations and logistics are intertwined, it is imperative that there are supporters who will always be there to ensure operators have what they need to be successful in any part of the world,” Honan said. “The future will obviously present challenges, but com-petent, tried and tested logisticians supporting SOF operators will be there, too.” O




BlacK Watch

There’s an app fOr MaInTenanCeBoeing

Boeing has made performing routine maintenance and diagnosing aircraft issues

faster and easier for airline technicians with a suite of new mobile applications for iPad.

With the apps, technicians will have immediate access to manuals, part numbers and

other critical information to resolve maintenance issues plane-side and collaborate with

co-workers located elsewhere. As a result, airlines can enhance real-time regulatory

compliance, reduce flight delays and reduce operational costs.

Boeing worked with several airlines for more than a year on the prototype,

incorporating their input to optimize the user interface and maximize utility for line

mechanics. Technicians will have instant access to critical information, including the

maintenance history of an aircraft, when they need it most. The application suite

includes toolbox mobile library, toolbox mobile parts and maintenance turn time.

“Mobile technology is an important aspect of our digital airline strategy, which is

to harness the power of information, technology and analytics to create insights that

give our customers the Boeing edge—a competitive advantage in the marketplace,”

said John Maggiore, director of fleet and maintenance solutions, Boeing Digital

Aviation. “Data-driven optimization across flight operations, airspace and maintenance

operations is saving aircraft operators millions of dollars in operating costs today. This

is an exciting new chapter of that journey.”

The toolbox mobile library will provide technicians access to maintenance

documents for instant reference and use, wherever and whenever needed. The app will

also feature hyperlinks between multiple manuals and airline-created content that will

expedite access to critical documents so that users can easily search for documents

and information about parts and fault histories.

The toolbox mobile parts app enables technicians to instantly retrieve information

about part availability, including the airline’s most current inventory information.

The maintenance turn time feature gives technicians a secure connection to

collaborate with their colleagues when troubleshooting a maintenance issue. A

technician can take a photo of a damaged part, upload it for others to see and

annotate, and then share information about maintenance issues with peers in real time.

Maintenance turn time is available for the iPad, iPhone and a web browser.

Users will also have the ability to update reference manuals with one tap on the

iPad screen. Alaska Airlines technicians estimate that using the apps on a 0.69-pound

iPad mini to access critical information will save 4,000 pieces of paper a day.

“We are very excited about the launch of these new products,” said Maggiore.

“They are a great addition to the Boeing portfolio and will deliver even more value to

our customers when used in conjunction with capabilities such as electronic logbook,

airplane health management and maintenance performance toolbox.”

eleCTrOnIC sysTeMs TO IMprOVe VehICle ManeuVerabIlITyMeritor Inc.

Two new electronic systems from Meritor Inc.

are keeping military vehicles rolling through various

terrains and extreme conditions with traction

and mobility.

Building on Meritor’s heritage of advanced

engineering, SmartFlow central tire inflation system

(CTIS) and DriveCommand drivetrain control

(DTC) deliver customized tire pressure and

drivetrain management through mud, sand and

snow, on highways and cross-country, and in

emergency situations.

“Both systems improve vehicle performance

for warfighters in extreme conditions because

drivers can easily control tire pressure, differential

locking and transfer case positioning,” said Tim

Burns, vice president, North America, Meritor. “Our

engineering investment in developing these two

electronic systems extends our defense product

line to include wheel valves and electronics. The

systems can potentially cross over into other

segments, including commercial vehicle.”

These lightweight systems are controlled

independently by a single human machine interface

(HMI) unit and mount easily in the cab or on the

chassis of high-mobility multipurpose wheeled

vehicles and joint light tactical vehicles. The

U.S. Army and Marine Corps are expected to

be first-time users of the systems, which can be

integrated into any military vehicle with an onboard

air compressor.

SmartFlow CTIS automatically monitors and

adjusts tire inflation as needed with a single

pneumatic control unit (PCU), whether the vehicle

is in motion or stationary. Tire pressure can be

altered to tires independently or through all

four tires simultaneously. The system detects

when the tire is leaking and will determine if it

should continue inflating with air. This functionality

extends tire and wheel component life and reduces

maintenance costs.

Meritor Defense, which has been offering front

and rear locking differentials and transfer cases,

will now extend the package with the addition of

the DriveCommand DTC drivetrain management

system. A single PCU actively monitors and

controls locking the differentials and positions the

transfer case for maximized traction to deliver

superior performance over a wide range of terrain.

DriveCommand DTC engages automatically when

the driver selects a mobility mode on the HMI panel.


compiled by KMi Media group staff

Computer networking researchers at Rice University have a

new idea for how to handle the mountains of data piling up in the

labs of their fellow scientists around campus: create a customized,

energy-efficient optical network that can feed rivers of data to

Rice’s supercomputers.

The new network is called BOLD—short for big data and optical

lightpaths-driven networked systems research infrastructure—and it’s

about to become a reality, thanks to a new grant from the National

Science Foundation (NSF).

“Advances in computing and sensing technologies have led to a

similar problem across many disciplines in science and engineering

today,” said BOLD principal investigator T.S. Eugene Ng, associate

professor of computer science and of electrical and computer

engineering at Rice. “Experiments produce mountains of data,

and there is often no efficient way to process that data to make

discoveries and solve problems,” Ng said. “From a computing

infrastructure perspective, the challenge goes beyond just moving

data. We also need to develop transformative ideas in the network

control software, operating systems and applications so that they

can keep up with a faster network. Above all, for this network design

to be appealing to industry, it has to be energy-efficient, scalable and

nonintrusive to the end user.”

BOLD will take advantage of optical data-networking switches,

which have much higher capacity than typical electronic switches

that are used mostly in Internet data centers. Optical switches

are nothing new, but because of subtle differences in the way

electronic and optical switches operate, the two technologies are

not interchangeable.

“There’s a trade-off,” Ng said. “Optical networking devices

consume very little power and can support enormous data

rates, but they must first be configured, for example, by moving

microelectromechanical mirrors into position, to establish a circuit.

Electronic switches don’t have moving parts, so they don’t have that

pesky delay.”

BOLD will be a hybrid network that combines both electronic and

optical switches. It will also contain something new: a type of optical

switch without the moving parts—and the delays—of traditional

switches. These new silicon-photonic switches will be built in the

laboratory of co-principal investigator (co-PI) Qianfan Xu, assistant

professor of electrical and computer engineering at Rice, who

specializes in creating ultra compact optical devices on chips.

“To make use of these three types of technology, we need an

intelligent layer that can analyze data flow and demand, all the way up

to the application layer, and dynamically allocate network resources in

the most efficient way,” Ng said.

The task of optimizing network design and performance will

fall to Ng and co-PIs Alan Cox and Christopher Jermaine, both

associate professors of computer science at Rice. Computational

mathematician Bill Symes, also a co-PI, will help with both algorithm

design and with testing how much BOLD can improve performance

on “big data” problems.

Symes, the Noah Harding professor of computational and

applied mathematics and professor of Earth science, directs the Rice

inversion project, an industry-funded consortium that solves complex

seismic data processing challenges.

The NSF grant runs for three years, but Ng said he hopes BOLD

will improve the performance of computationally intensive research at

Rice for years to come.

Rice’s Ken Kennedy Institute for Information Technology helped

facilitate the BOLD collaboration as part of its efforts to address

ongoing challenges in computational science. Rice Information

Technology’s networking, telecommunications and data center group

and the Rice IT research computing support group will help develop

and support the BOLD network.

Mission First Tactical has designed has designed the lightest

butt stock of its kind ever produced at 5.8 ounces with the new,

patent pending Battlelink minimalist stock based upon input from

operators around the world. The stock is developed to eliminate

weight; provide better target acquisition, shot accuracy, operator

comfort and ease of use; and still offer all the functionality, such as

custom accessory mounts and optimized sling configurations.

The Battlelink minimalist stock is a slide-on replacement for

any original collapsible butt stock. Made from a specially developed,

reinforced polyamide from DuPont’s military plastic division, the

lightweight stock delivers on function, comfort and durability. The

upper section features an enhanced cheek weld and the angled,

non-slip rubberized buttpad allows for faster presentations, even with

body armor. The quick detach sling mounting point is also positioned

for optimum use even with ambidextrous shooters.

MInIMalIsT sTOCkMission First Tactical

CusTOMIzed OpTICal neTwOrk fOr bIg daTaRice University


Richard Holcomb is the deputy to the commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). In this position, Holcomb integrates diverse resource and research programs—such as science and technology, force develop-ment, combat development, resourcing, contracting and acqui-sition, and military construction—with a single vision of future Army special operations force requirements, capabilities and readiness.

Holcomb was commissioned as an infantry officer through the Western Illinois University Army ROTC program in 1978. During his first 16 years of service, Holcomb served in staff and command positions with the 25th Infantry Division, 82d Airborne Division, 2d Infantry Division, and 101st Airborne Divi-sion (Air Assault). He transitioned to Army Comptrollership in 1994 and served as the comptroller for the 101st Airborne Divi-sion (Air Assault), the resource manager for Fort Campbell, Ky., and the resource manager for XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. His final active duty assignment was in the Pentagon as the chief of current operations, Army Budget Office, Directorate of Operations and Support. Holcomb retired from the Army in November 2003 after 25 and a half years of service.

He began his federal service career as the deputy director of resource management, Department of Energy, Office of Security from November 2003 to September 2004. He then served as the chief financial officer, American Battle Monuments Commis-sion, from September 2004 to December 2005. Holcomb was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in December 2005 and assigned as the deputy chief financial officer for the U.S. Treasury Department, where he served until January 2008. He assumed duties as the deputy chief of staff, G-8, U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM), the Army largest command, until October 2012.

Holcomb has vast experience as a practitioner and coach of quality programs and processes such as activity-based costing, activity-based management, and business process reengineer-ing. He has served as an examiner for the Army’s Communities of Excellence Team and the Presidential Quality Award Team.

He was born in Chicago, Ill., and raised in the southern suburb of Chicago Heights. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science from Western Illinois University and a master’s degree in systems management from the University of Southern California.

Holcomb was interviewed by SOTECH Editor Jeff Campbell.

Q: Mr. Holcomb, thank you for taking the time to speak with us and for your more than three and a half decades of service to our country. You’ve managed resources at a wide variety of assignments, including the legendary 101st Airborne and FORSCOM. Can you tell us a little bit about the role of U.S. Army Special Operations Command, the command’s mission and current priorities in meeting the ARSOF 2022 vision—your command’s strategy document—to set USASOC up for success in the future?

A: U.S. Army Special Operations Command’s vision is to provide our nation with the world’s premier special operations units, capable of carrying out the most sensitive special warfare cam-paigns and executing the most difficult surgical strike opera-tions, while providing seamless and persistent special operations support to joint-force commanders and ambassadors worldwide. Both forms of special operations—surgical strike and special warfare—are different, but mutually supportive.

The Army’s special warfare capability resides in special forces, military information support operations, and civil affairs forces designed to accomplish their mission by, with and

Providing Surgical Strike Capability Anywhere and Under Any Conditions

ARSOF Resource Manager

Richard HolcombDeputy to the Commanding General

U.S. Army Special Operations Command

Q&AQ&A


through indigenous partners. These regionally expert forces provide the nation with its only dedicated military capability to conduct unconventional warfare and execute foreign internal defense or small unit combat advisory programs, psychologi-cal and influence warfare, and civil military operations. Their unique skills are required to enhance the survivability of a force able to operate and prevail in complex and uncertain situations over extended periods of time in austere, denied and hostile environments.

The Army’s surgical strike capability ensures our nation can project precise ground combat power anywhere in the world and under any conditions. These forces reside in the 75th Ranger Regiment and special missions unit and are scalable from indi-vidual operators to regimental size strike forces. Enabled by robust intelligence fusion and the management of a deliberate and disciplined targeting cycle, these forces mitigate uncertainty in order to successfully find, fix and finish enemy high-value targets with unprecedented and absolute precision.

Supporting USASOC’s special warfare and surgical strike capabilities are the world’s finest special operations aviators and sustainers, found resident in the U.S. Army Special Operations Aviation Command [USASOAC] and 528th Sustainment Brigade. USASOAC recruits the Army’s best aviators, crews and main-tainers in order to support the complex and high-risk require-ments of USASOC’s maneuver elements—the Special Forces groups, the 75th Ranger Regiment, and the Special Missions Unit.

Similarly, the 528th Sustainment Brigade provides expert logis-ticians that can operate in any environment and are capable of supporting sensitive missions around the globe.

The synergy of all of these unique and integrated capabilities is what makes Army SOF stand out. But that doesn’t mean we are satisfied, and we can never afford to become complacent. We have to work toward the future. We must constantly seek better ways to defend our country. To do that, we must build on the lessons learned over the past 12 years of war fighting along-side our conventional force and interagency partners. Over the last decade, special operations forces have forged unparalleled relationships with conventional forces, enabling exceptional synergy and effectiveness. This interdependence is clearly one of USASOC’s priorities. We want to continue the work with our conventional force and interagency counterparts to clearly identify where the capability gaps are and, together, develop the most feasible solutions to providing seamless combat power and capabilities in defense of the nation.

Q: What are some of the other priorities in meeting the commander’s ARSOF 2022 vision and what restructuring may be necessary in force development as missions shift from an OEF focus to SOF teams spread globally?

A: USASOC’s first priority is to win the current fight, wherever that may be. As a matter of fact, we have thousands of ARSOF soldiers involved in missions worldwide. Our central priority—the one from which all our other priorities flow—is to invest in human capital. This includes recruiting the right caliber of soldier and civilian, providing them the best training and then giving them the resources they need to keep them and their families strong. Additional priorities include strengthening the global SOF network, furthering the Army special operations forces and conventional force interdependency, and preserving the force.

The future operating environment requires us to be flexible, adaptable and scalable to any mission around the world. Future threats will range from standing conventional and unconven-tional forces to irregular militias and paramilitaries to terrorist groups, criminal elements and any number of hybrid threats. As a force, we are uniquely prepared to succeed in the most uncer-tain conditions and offer solutions to the nation’s most difficult and sensitive problems. What will enable us to succeed in this future environment is being better, not bigger, and ultimately providing a better way to defend the country.

As we transition out of Afghanistan, SOF elements will refocus efforts on regional engagements in low-scale, smaller footprints to strengthen our alliances and build our partner capabilities to quickly resolve regional conflicts. These region-ally expert forces will provide the nation with its only dedicated military capability to conduct unconventional warfare and execute foreign internal defense or small unit combat advi-sory programs, psychological and influence warfare, and civil military operations. These forces are scalable from individual operators to regimental-sized strike forces. USASOC’s special warfare and surgical strike capabilities complement the Army’s regionally aligned forces and its unmatched combined arms capability to provide America the necessary suite of tools to prevent, shape and win and be better postured to provide the

Special Operations Forces Symposium and Exposition

November 5-6, 2013Fort Bragg Club, Fort Bragg, NC

www.sofex.org 910-483-2221

[email protected]


seamless application of combat power across the spectrum of conflict. Army brigade combat teams and SOF have partnered to train host nation security forces, building host nation internal defense capability that fosters long-term stability in these the-aters and regions.

Q: Speaking of not getting bigger, in this constrained fiscal environment, what are some of the most difficult choices you’ve had to make while planning for future Army special operations force requirements, capabilities and readiness?

A: Our resourcing process is designed to maximize total readiness while being good stewards of taxpayer dollars. We are clearly in the early stages of an era of declining resources. Our philosophy in this kind of environment is to focus on get-ting better at what we do, not growing or spending more. Our resource strategy must be focused to train and equip units con-sistent with our command vision to be capable of carrying out the ‘most sensitive special warfare campaigns and execute the most difficult surgical strike operations.’

There is no one-size-fits-all approach, but rather we need to train and equip our units according to the specific needs of the mission and area of operations.

Q: You said people are one of your priorities, including providing them the right training. What impresses you most about the soldiers coming out of the U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School?

A: The U.S. Army John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School is the Army’s special operations center of excellence, pro-ponent for ARSOF doctrine. Today’s special operations soldiers are the most well-trained and educated soldiers in the world. Success in the future operating environment depends on this continued exceptional training. The school produces special operations problem-solvers who have been specially selected based on their character, commitment and intellect. These oper-ators are able to earn the respect of combatant commanders, ambassadors and our partner forces because they are aggressive, competent and effective warrior-diplomats. They are adap-tive leaders and critical thinkers—trained for known missions around the world and educated for the unknown.

The school is responsible for accessing, training, educating, developing and managing world-class Army special operations force operators for special forces, psychological operations and civil affairs. The school ensures that every troop that comes through the school is provided the most relevant and current education and training, in modern training facilities and lever-aging the latest technologies in order to fully prepare them for the battlefields of today and the uncertain future. Our people are our comparative advantage. To ensure that ARSOF operators can succeed in the future operating environment, the school contin-ues to recruit, assess, select and train only those personnel with the requisite character, attributes and mindset to thrive in the most demanding conditions.

In addition to the Special Warfare Center and School, the 75th Ranger Regiment produces its own world-class SOF assaulters and trains them at the U.S. Army Ranger School. The regiment assesses and selects about 600 Rangers each year

to sustain the force across 59 military occupational special-ties and 14 branches through the demanding Ranger assess-ment and selection program. The 160th Special Operations Aviation Battalion, or SOAR, has its own training program as well. Soldiers initially joining the 160th SOAR train at the special operations aviation training battalion, the first step in becoming a “night stalker.” The training battalion conducts basic Army special operations aviation individual training and to produce aviation crew members and support personnel. The unit averages 235 training days per year for about 80 offi-cers and about 325 enlisted soldiers, logging in about 10,500 flight hours.

Q: Do you have any closing thoughts for the personnel of USASOC?

A: Thousands of ARSOF warriors are involved in missions throughout the world today. At home, we have a tremendous team—a family, if you will—of soldiers, civilians and their family members to support them. Looking toward the future, USASOC is committed to developing the right individuals, structure, doctrine and capabilities that tie tactical action to the desired strategic effect, while ensuring the health and well-being of all members of the ARSOF family. I’m inspired and tremendously proud to be part of this great team! O

The New Syntonics FORAX-LS(Line of Sight for a Single Channel)

Operators Ask, We Listened...NOW we are accepting orders for the FORAX-LS

We redesigned the FORAX-SC2 resulting in the LS. The LS can be used to support VHF and UHF LOS operations utilizing frequencies from 30-512 MHz. The LS like its predecessor can still be used to support military UHF DAMA SATCOM. Syntonics has already developed a preplanned product improvement (P3I) plan that will allow the LS to be used with MUOS.

Introducing the LS

Optical Fiber Cable

SyntOnicS LLc410-884-0500 ext [email protected]

The FORAX-LS can be used to connect a single radio, a single amplifier and a single antenna. Operates across the full 30-512 MHz frequency range.

The LS will continue to support UHF DAMA SATCOM operations, but unlike the SC2 can be used to support any VHF and UHF frequencies from 30-512 MHz

Syntonics has a preplanned product improvement (P3I) plan developed to modify the LS to operate with the MUOS waveform.


By henry canaday

Sotech correSpondent

UniverSal BatterieS are on the horizon to keep SoldierS and marineS powered SUn Up and down.



Providing electric power for individual soldiers and Marines, small units and tactical bases is one of the biggest technical chal-lenges of the new combat methods. The ground services continue to attack this challenge vigorously along several dimensions: short and long term; improving power sources, power-consuming devices and management of power; and addressing individual, small-unit and facility power.

Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) explores many ways to generate power more efficiently. The Marines will begin fielding Advanced Medium Mobile Power Sources genera-tors, developed by the Army, in fiscal year 2014 to save an expected 21 percent of fuel. The Corps is also developing requirements for hybrid power, mobile electric hybrid power sources (MEHPS), and expects to begin acquisition in calendar year 2015.

Marines pioneered use of renewable energy on the battlefield with the ground renewable expeditionary energy system (GREENS) and solar power alternative for communications and electronics systems (SPACES), both fielded in response to an urgent universal needs statement from Iraq and Afghanistan. The original approved acquisition objective has increased to 600 GREENS and 4,950 SPACES. MARCORSYSCOM now seeks to increase efficiency by 20 percent and reduce footprint by 20 percent for the solar panels of both systems.

Efficient energy use is also important. The Marines are replac-ing environmental control units (ECU) with ECUs that are 15 to 25 percent more efficient. For soft-walled living space and command centers, the Marines have a fielded a radiant barrier, in effect a reflective insulating layer that doubles shelter efficiency, retains conditioned air inside and reduces electric demand.

Vehicles too consume power. The medium tactical vehicle replacement (MTVR) spends considerable time idling. MARCOR-SYSCOM, Program Executive Officer Land Systems, Marine Corps war fighting lab and the Office of Naval Research (ONR) are devel-oping an auxiliary power unit (APU) to power MTVR electrical load during idling with a 39 percent gain in fuel efficiency. This APU may be adapted for other tactical vehicles.

Further, MARCORSYSCOM continues to research more efficient sources and uses of power, including ruggedized solar panels, hybrid technologies, LED lighting, fuel cells, advanced batteries and intel-ligent power distribution.

The Army’s goal is to make individual soldiers independent of battery re-supply and battery logistics by 2020, summarized Steve Mapes, product lead for Soldier Power under Soldier Warrior. “We want to give the soldier the means to hybridize a variety of har-vested energy and technologies to remain indefinitely on the battle-field, autonomously without re-supply of energy. He might have a power pack or battery, but he will not be tethered to ground or aerial re-supply.”

To achieve that goal, Soldier Power partners with Research, Development and Engineering Command, Natick Soldier Systems Center and Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC).

One path is better batteries. Mapes hopes that by 2020 there will be a “revolutionary, order-of-magnitude advance in battery chem-istry over lithium-ion.” Revolutionary battery technologies are not now at low technology readiness levels. “But some chemistries in the labs have promise.”

Another path is development of smart textiles, so data and power may be passed to soldier devices without wires, cables and connec-tors, through the fabric of personal armor and clothing. “Will we have them on every solider by 2020?” Mapes asked. “Probably not. But we should have smart textiles that can go on soldiers.”

Soldier Power is also looking at harvesting body heat to recharge a common battery. And it is considering handheld fuel cells to pro-vide power for extended missions, without adding another fuel type to the logistics chains.

The overall solution will likely be hybrid, possibly involving pho-tovoltaic fabrics, kinetic energy harvesting, solar power and perhaps thermal-electric fabric.

What about soldier devices? “We set the efficiency of peripherals, their key performance indicators,” explained Major Jonathan Allen, chief of Small Unit Power, Operational Energy Branch, Soldier Divi-sion, Maneuver Center of Excellence. “We want devices that last longer without draining batteries,” added MCoE Senior Operations Research Analyst Steven Aviles.

MCoE also looks at interface capability codes for both devices and weapons. Efficiency requirements and codes for radios are set by the Army Signal Center of Excellence. “Interface capability devel-opment will allow for the broadest interoperability possible,” Aviles emphasized. Another key is intelligent management of the power. “The soldier needs to know how much battery life is left and which device he wants to charge.”

Mapes expects to issue a capability document this fall that will allow steady progress in 2016 to 20102. The budget landscape changes almost daily, but so far he is on schedule. “Soldier power is

Earl Energy’s FlexGen retrofit systems add batteries and controls to diesel generators to save fuel and reduce maintenance costs. [Photo courtesy of Earl Energy]

SOTECH 11.9 | 21 www.SOTECH-kmi.com

one of TRADOC’s [Training and Doctrine Command] top 10 priorities,” Mapes noted.

Industry is also moving forward. Protonex makes power-management sys-

tems that enable soldiers to tap power from batteries, generators, vehicles, solar panels or alternating-current grids to feed the devices and batteries that they carry.

Protonex’s Squad Power Manager (SPM) 612 has a screen that shows type and status of each device and power source. It has six ports, each of which can draw or output power, and weighs .85 pounds. Vice President, Defense Power Systems Phil Robinson said 1,000 SPM 612s have been deployed. He believes TRADOC wants to issue them much more widely.

The SPM 622, aimed at Special Operations Command, displays more information on its screen and is fully submersible. It is start-ing field trials.

SPMs come in a power management kit, which includes a specific cable for each device soldiers carry. A chip in each cable identifies the device to SPM so the right kind of power is supplied.

Protonex is developing a Platoon Power Manager (PPM) for Marine Corps vehicles. It is about a year from testing.

Already driven by Marine interest is the vest power manager (VPM) 402, a quarter-pound and with four power ports. This model can either replace or enhance the soldier worn integrated power equipment system, which distributes power. The Marines have taken VPM 402 to field exercise and it may be deployable in six months.

Under development is a helmet-mounted version to power devices and a small battery on the helmet. Protonex is working with Natick on this. Protonex is working with Communications-Elec-tronics Research, Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) on power management for microgrids to “see if there is room for us in this business,” Robinson noted.

Protonex started out in fuel cells, for which there are now two interesting technologies. The company began its work in traditional proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells that use light fuels like hydrogen and methane, but not heavy hydrocarbons. It developed the M300 PEM fuel cell, which “is a niche product, when you need more than a battery and less than a generator,” Robinson explained. “Or for when you can’t have a generator because you need quiet.”

But the military wants to use jet propellant 8 in fuel cells now, so Protonex is working on solid oxide fuel cells, which can use the heavier fuel. Development may take a year or two, Robinson estimates.

The Protonex exec sees a lot more interest in power managers now. Sequestration slowed down funding, he acknowledged. But smart power management not only saves battery weight on soldiers, it saves money by avoiding use of many diverse batteries. With non-rechargeable military batteries costing $70 each, there is an economy motive for moving toward universalized power.

There is a lot of excitement now about a possible new battery technology, mixed oxide, according to Glen Bowling, vice president of sales at Saft SBG. “We are calling it mixed oxide, and it is made

up of a blend of manganese dioxide [MnO2] and carbon mono fluoride [CFx],” Bowling explained.

The aim is to get the performance advantages of MnO2 and CFx, while keeping cost reason-able. Bowling said CERDEC and the Life Cycle Management Command at Communications-Electronics Command are sponsoring a push for this new technology.

Mixed oxide batteries would offer high energy density and low weight, but they

would be expensive. Bowling said they would be aimed at very demanding missions—for exam-ple, special operations missions that need to minimize weight while carrying enough power to sustain communications. The new technol-ogy would probably not be suitable for more

common field uses. Other firms are also working on mixed oxide, but Bowling

emphasized that Saft is financially robust and has long been known for delivering what it promises and meeting specifications for military customers.

Apart from new battery chemistries, Bowling predicts that lithium-ion batteries will continue to get safer, less expensive and better in their capabilities over the coming five years.

WorldWater & Solar Technologies produces a family of portable units that can produce electric power, enable communication and purify water, all by using solar energy. Military units are the preposi-tioned expeditionary assistance kit (PEAK), the solar hybrid expedi-tionary power and purification system and the miniature deployable assistance system (MiDAS).

MiDAS was presented in exercises in the Philippines in April, drawing very positive responses from Philippine defense forces, U.S. Marines and the militaries of several Asia-Pacific nations, including Japan and Australia, said Michael Ingles, vice president of operations. The equipment was then shown at a disaster-relief and humanitarian conference held by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Brunei, where the Sultan of Brunei personally endorsed it.

Pacific Command has ordered three more MiDAS kits, which will be delivered this autumn after display at the National Defense University’s TIDES Fall Field Demonstration. “We will also do a road-show on military bases up and down the East Coast,” Inglis noted.

WorldWater’s PEAK unit was developed under the Joint Capa-bilities Technology Demonstration (JCTD) program of the Office of Secretary of Defense and is still being used very successfully for relief operations in Honduras. It was named a JCTD program of the year for 2012.

Lutron is a leading supplier of automated lighting controls, dimmers and automated shades, explained Andy Wakefield, director of government solutions. Its tools enable individuals and organiza-tions to adjust lighting by zone or even individual location accord-ing to actual requirements, avoiding the waste of the typically 30 to 40 percent of lighting power that is used but not needed.

Lutron tools are used in U.S. fixed bases. Jason Koehler, account supervisor at Lutron and 19-year special operations veteran, thinks


Wireless daylight sensors communicate with controls to increase energy savings by automatically turning off or reducing electric light when daylight is sufficient. [Photo courtesy of Lutron]


they could also benefit expeditionary bases. For example, Lutron controls could keep critical lights on during emergencies with low power, or cut all lights on with one switch during an attack. “I didn’t see that capability on my FOBs,” Koehler said.

Koehler said FOBs also waste a lot of lighting power that could be saved with Lutron’s digital addressable ballast, which dims lights that are best left low—for example, those near a PC screen. The aim would be to have the right amount of lighting for each location and situation, easing loads on generators or other power sources.

Earl Energy makes FlexGen, retrofit systems that add batteries and controls to diesel generators to save fuel and reduce main-tenance costs. FlexGen varies in size from 240 kW to 3 kW man-portable units. In 2012, the company sold its 3kW units to Naval Special Warfare Group 3. “So we had done the Army and Marines, now we had the Navy,” said Earl Energy President Doug Moorehead.

The Army has been successfully operating 60-kW FlexGen units since the fall of 2012 in Afghanistan and testing the technology for performance, safety and environmental qualities at Aberdeen Test Center. Moorehead said FlexGen was featured prominently at a 2013 industry day held by the Marine Corps on MEHPS. “This will serve as the basis for future hybrid-power systems,” he predicted.

In collaboration with DRS Technologies, Earl has produced a 60-kW 2.0 version for microgrids that can automatically turn multiple generators on and off. Moorehead said funding is starting to flow into hybridized power generation and major primes are getting involved, some of whom Earl is talking to. “Ours is the best-in-class technology. In five years every non-tactical vehicle and FOB will be hybrid.” Earl has opened an office near Raleigh, N.C., to recruit more engineering talent and is getting into civilian markets such as oil and gas drilling.

Germany’s SFC Energy makes several portable-power products with military applications, according to CEO Peter Podesser. Recent advances began with the M25 and Jenny portable fuel cells, which finished first and third, respectively, in the Defense Department’s 2008 wearable-power competition.

SFC’s Jenny 600S is a miniaturized, lightweight portable fuel cell generator. “Jenny 600S offers significant weight savings while ensuring 100 percent power availability anywhere, anytime, in any weather and climate situation,” Podesser said. In a 72-hour mission, a soldier can save up to 80 percent of battery weight, due to the 600S’s high energy density. The device weighs 3.5 pounds and can charge 600 Watt-hours per day.

SFC’s new Jenny 1200 has twice the charging power of 600S at almost the same size. It was designed in response to a U.S. Air Force award in December 2012 for a 50-Watt fuel-cell power generator. And SFC makes the Power Manager 3G, which allows soldiers to exploit batteries, solar, vehicles and fuel cells for recharging batter-ies or powering devices in the field.

Podesser stressed that SFC fuel cells have very high energy density because they use pure methanol. The company’s products have been tested or deployed by the U.S. Air Force Research Lab, Special Operations Command, the U.S. Army’s PEO Soldier, Test and Evaluation Command, CERDEC and Natick, in addition to militaries abroad.

DRASH’s Intelligent Power Technology (IPT) is an advanced smart power-management system that enables users to connect several digital trailer-mounted generators together to form a net-

worked power microgrid. Once IPT is activated, each generator is automated to turn on or off based on real-time power demands.

This smart power management reduces fuel use and maintenance requirements significantly, because generators are used only to generate the power actu-ally required, not simply run at capacity. IPT has a user-friendly touchscreen so that soldiers can easily control operations with fingertips. Using connector-ized cables, IPT recognizes additional inputs and self-adjusts as power demand changes. Users can monitor fuel levels, engine temperature, oil pressure, run speeds and other parameters on a remote monitor.

The Army’s Command Post Systems and Integration has purchased IPTs for distribution to active and reserve brigades.

There is more to smart power than innovative batteries. BAE Systems constantly aims for electronic systems that yield more power from fewer batteries of lower mass and volume, noted Paul Wright, international business development lead for soldier systems in BAE’s Electronic Systems. But Wright said industry must also consider battery chemistry in combat environments and the risks imposed on users if batteries are damaged in explosions or fires or toxic battery chemicals are drawn into wounds. “These issues have to be addressed as batteries evolve,” he stressed.

BAE has developed robust relationships with leading battery companies to address these challenges and trade-offs. “New chal-lenges invigorate innovation,” Wright noted. And budget challenges can also be met by partnerships between customers and users save money. Wright said new power products often reduce costs as well as improve mission effectiveness for soldiers. O



Peter Podesser

SFC’s fuel cells use pure methanol for very high energy density. [Photo courtesy of SFC Energy]


There are a hundred definitions of nontraditional ISR (NTISR). Fortunately, there are also hundreds of industry experts with years of experience working for and with SOCOM who can narrow it down ... sort of. Ray Chapman, director of special operations solutions at Elbit Systems of America, feels that of all the definitions out there, none are exactly correct, and all of them are partly correct.

“The way that I see NTISR is anything that resides in the bat-tlespace that can collect ones and zeros is basically an ISR platform,” Chapman said, noting that includes everything from the soldier to the vehicle to the airborne platform. “The question is, how do you take the ones and zeros that all these different platforms are suck-ing up and then pass them to a cell of folks or through some type of processor that can not only process and interpret, but disseminate the intelligence?”

That intelligence needs to come out in a very usable fashion for not only the special operators, but anyone else who operates in that battlespace. When it comes to traditional ISR, Chapman thinks simply of an airplane with a sensor flying over the battlefield, taking pictures and sucking up radio signals. “Nontraditional is more where the Air Force is going when they start looking at multi-role plat-forms,” he said. “I think the ground forces are doing the same thing as they go to multi-role platforms; there are a lot of sensors on the battlefield, a lot of sensors that the operator may use, but it doesn’t necessarily feed into the big picture of ISR.”

When an organization starts an out-of-the-norm event that catches on, it can become the norm. But when it comes to ISR, it’s the other way around. “You’ll get something that is on the battle-field that was not necessarily used for ISR, say a targeting pod, but then becomes part of the ISR enterprise because of the information that is gathered by that sensor or targeting pod,” Chapman said. “I think what’s going to happen in the future is that traditional and nontraditional will be blended together, and everything will become traditional as they figure out how to take all of this information and make it usable for everybody who wants to access it.”

What may be traditional or nontraditional today can be the opposite tomorrow. To Clark Freise, vice president of sensors and fire control solutions at Elbit, the definition of traditional versus nontraditional is exactly the blurring of definitions. “It used to be if it was not a straight EO/IR or SAR imager, it was a non-traditional asset,” Freise said. “A SIGINT system used for cueing was considered nontraditional because it wasn’t a cueing asset, it was an intel asset. A lot of it is where lines are starting to blur.”

A great example is wide area surveillance; just a few years ago, the whole idea was nontraditional. “We used targeting-quality assets to do reconnaissance, and tried to cover larger areas by using more sensors and more observers,” he said. “Argus and a num-ber of other programs broke the mold of what wide area surveillance is, but they required very large, traditional platforms.”

Elbit has been investing in exploring how to take wide area surveillance capabilities and drive them onto platforms and opera-tional levels that would traditionally never have those capabilities or assets available to them directly. “Similarly, designation for fleeting targets has become more a part of the lexicon of the operational community,” Freise said, adding that the question is how to drive designation down into very small platforms that are owned and oper-ated as organic assets at a much lower operational level. “Just take a capability that previously existed, if you drive that into a tactical level that had never been allowed to use that directly, and now, are you nontraditional?” he asked. “Our belief is that is where a lot of the activity is going to go on.”

In some communities, producing nontraditional systems can either fill a niche or enter a growing competitive marketplace. “If you talk to the special operations community, do they really want to go where they have to deploy a full reconnaissance squadron with a very large asset with full dissemination capabilities?” Freise asked. “To them, that just doesn’t exist, that doesn’t work for their needs. So are you now serving a niche community or are you serving a core community?”

In a similar way with designation, Elbit is looking at how to move down to a tactical squad level, where the operators will have a designation capability that they can carry organically with them. One could look at that scenario as a niche market, or actually the core market for special operations.

SUrveillance of all approacheS

In the heart of the French optics valley, Igny, France’s HGH Infrared Systems, has designed and developed for the past seven years, high-performance ISR-gathering systems that can be used in nontraditional ways. Their Spynel-U, and the family of Spynel cameras, currently provide 24/7 surveillance protection for Afghani-

stan FOBs from unexpected threats that can come from all directions. “Spynel alerts the SOF team of any and all perimeter breaches on land, air or sea,” said HGH Infrared Systems North America Sales and Marketing Director Briana Shea. “Data feeds provided by the Spynel are used to allow personnel in theater to quickly and effectively locate targets in the most demanding operational environments and gather forensics intelligence on insurgents or terrorists operating in their surroundings.”

In just a few minutes, operators can deploy Spynel systems, which Shea said are ideal for a tem-

porary camp and can be used on land, on a vehicle, or at sea. Key to enhanced situational awareness is Spynel’s ability to provide a full 360-degree HD image. “By scanning the scene at a rate of up to 1 revolution per second, Spynel ensures responsiveness to movements and asymmetric threts in near real time,” Shea said. “The Spynel are

when nontraditional USeS meet Standard iSr procedUreS, lineS BlUr.

Briana Shea

Blurred LinesBy Jeff campBell, Sotech editor


mid- or long-wave infrared sensor systems and are highly sensitive to thermal energy differences at all times of day and within all weather conditions.”

The Spynel not only stands out, it stands alone as the only commercial off-the-shelf 360-degree high-resolution thermal system on the market with advanced intrusion detection and tracking capabilities. Therefore, it doesn’t compare to standard thermal pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras. “The use of a single PTZ camera creates a “soda straw effect,” limiting the ability to understand surrounding threats,” Shea said. “Using multiple PTZs offers stitched imaging gaps, and they are expensive to maintain. Unlike radars, Spynel cannot be jammed nor detected.”

The system provides intrusion detection and tracking over 360 degrees with added panoramic imagery. The uncooled model has a 2.5-kilometer human detection range and a low maintenance cost. “We can achieve a 6- to 8-kilometer human detection range with our cooled sensor, on a panoramic basis,” Shea said.

In developing the sensors, HGH learned from feedback that soldiers relied heavily on them in the closer perimeter range (1-3 kilometers), where quick reaction matters most. Ease of use and automation of all settings were paramount to users’ adoption. The soldiers took advantage of the ability to quickly assess threats from all angles; they could track possible suspicious activity in multiple directions all while keeping an eye on the whole surroundings. “Operators can spend a lot of precious time trying to figure out on a radar screen what detections are threats and which ones are not, especially in a cluttered environment where animals and vegetation can generate false alarms,” Shea said. “Our system unburdens the operator and provides him with an unmatched ability to prioritize threats, even in total darkness or through fog.”

traditional, with ntiSr potential

One of Elbit Systems’ key customers is the U.S. Army, and they’ve got their eyes on the Army’s active UH-60L cockpit digitization effort. At press time, Robert Waage, director of business development in airborne at Elbit, was expecting the product manager utility shop at PEO Aviation in Huntsville, Ala., to announce a formal RFP by the first week of October. “We expect them to look at the opportunity of around 750 legacy UH-60’s that they would like to digi-tize,” Waage said. In Elbit’s terms, they will give it a “glass cockpit.”

The cockpit digitization is a quick-term proposal; Waage said that all of the competitive industry teams are already working on their offerings. “This digitization is what I would say is current technology being applied to a legacy aircraft,” he said.

As Special Operations Technology went to press, PEO Avia-tion hadn’t issued the RFP, but the Project Office of Utility Heli-copters championed the initiative to modernize 35 percent of the Army’s Black Hawk fleet. “The upgraded UH-60L aircraft will repli-cate the pilot vehicle interface capabilities of the UH-60M, mirror-ing its digital infrastructure,” a spokesperson said. “The UH-60L digital aircraft will include a digital cockpit, bussed avionics, and a flight management system to improve interoperability, sustainabil-ity, and survivability.”

One way to compare this initiative is to look at the history of the Black Hawk helicopter, which goes back to the mid-1980s. Some of those aircraft are still around, and now they’re being either reset or updated with different engines, rotor systems and other advances.

With the UH-60, the Army has a chance to take an analog cockpit and digitize it with items such as flat panel displays and centralized processing. “It is a more traditional digital cockpit,” Waage said. “It could accept some of the networking, but currently it is just to update the analog system to digital displays.”

The ultimate benefit will be dramatically-enhanced situational awareness. According to Waage, with this update, the aircraft could probably continue well into 2030. “It’s a huge benefit to the U.S. Army, U.S. government, and it has been recognized for the cost sav-ings opportunity,” he said. “That’s exactly why they’re looking at this versus buying brand-new UH-60M’s.”

Indeed, the current fiscal situation makes procuring a completely new fleet of aircraft unaffordable, but Project Office of Utility Helicop-ters has found a path to affordable modernization. “The H-60L digital intends to leverage the sunk cost of existing airframes reducing the burden to the Army and ultimately the taxpayer,” the spokesperson said. “Executing the program, in conjunction with an existing depot maintenance program, provides synergy between the programs and keeps organic maintenance facilities which drive savings.”

In its business strategy, Elbit questions traditional versus non-traditional methodologies, and together with its parent company in Israel, Elbit has plenty of military veterans on staff who constantly question where traditional methodologies and technologies and operational realities don’t co-exist. “Repurposing older aircraft and

Elbit Systems calls its enhanced joint terminal attack controller laser target designator the foot mobile solution for terminal guidance munitions, laser hand-off to aircraft, and directions and distance finding for day and night missions. [Photo courtesy of Elbit Systems of America]

Camero Tech’s Xaver is a through-the-wall radar detector that provides information on the presence of life behind walls. [Photo courtesy of Camero Tech]


bringing them up to modern standards does a lot more than anybody realizes, because once you do it, people will find more things they can do with it,” Freise said. “Once you’ve got good digital displays and decent throughput and processing capacity onboard an aircraft, you’ll figure out how to use it.”

ntiSr overwatch

Another platform that has been updated to meet changing mis-sion needs is the MC-130W Dragon Spear, which was renamed the AC-130W Stinger II just over a year ago, with a primary mission of armed overwatch. With this change, Chapman said Air Force Special Operations Command is going in the direction of a strike-ISR plat-form. “They have two hi-def sensors on this aircraft and an ability to insert a team—whether it be an operational detachment alpha team or a national force team—and then reside overhead the inserted team and provide them not only intelligence, but also ground cover and potentially communications relay,” he said. “As you look at where SOF is going, I think they are beginning to realize that having five or six different platforms with very unique missions is inefficient and when you can get one platform that does a lot of different mis-sions, it becomes more affordable.”

Along with improved strike capability, key to SOF mission suc-cess is a very small footprint where they operate. “You don’t want to go down there with an armada of airplanes and vehicles for a very small strike or rescue operation,” Chapman said, pointing out that

a larger footprint increases the chances of infringing on a partner nation’s sovereignty. “The AC-130W—and eventually the AC-130J—is really a platform of the future as you look at nontraditional ISR.”

nontraditional i “See” r

With help from above, analysts can narrow down the location of targets to a small area—inside a building, for example. But the canopy can hide the knowledge of exactly where inside the building the potential threats are located. Central Israel-based Camero Tech has designed a solution that’s already deployed and operated by elite military, paramilitary and police units in around 30 countries.

“Harnessing Camero’s knowledge and expertise in ultra wide-band imaging to provide a unique lifesaving technological solu-tion that did not yet exist for tactical scenarios where situational awareness is critical motivated the development of our Xaver sys-tems,” said Hagay Keller, vice president of sales and marketing at Camero. “The motivation was further emphasized as we began to develop and field the systems with the SOF community, who pro-vided us with invaluable information that helped to form the solu-tion we have today.”

The Xaver is a through-the-wall radar detector that provides information on the presence of life behind walls, saving precious seconds in tactical entry. The Xaver 400 and Xaver 800 may require a one- to two-day training course, but the handheld Xaver 100 is basically a “training free” system, Keller said. “Although there is a lot of technology involved with the systems [about 15 patents], they are highly intuitive and after a short training and practice session with the systems, the users reach a high level of expertise,” he said.

The Xaver family uses ultra, an imaging and detection method based on wideband radar to provide ISR by nontraditional means. “It allows the users to gather critical ISR information in a non-intrusive manner by placing the system on the external wall, or even in stand-off mode—at a distance from the wall,” Keller said.

There are several ways a tactical team could use the system, depending on mission requirements. “In missions where the team is required to quickly clear a large urban area with room to room [or structure to structure] searching, the Xaver 100 provides the basic information on presence of life in the room or structure,” Keller said. “For a more detailed situational awareness picture, the Xaver 800 and Xaver 400 can be used to provide richer informa-tion on the amount of live objects in the structure as well as their exact position.”

All of that valuable information is gathered in real time, allowing SOF to make tactical decisions on the fly. “The Xaver 800 and Xaver 400 also provide information on the static non-living objects, which allows the operators to gain an understanding of the room layout and large infrastructure elements which can assist with planning any breaching efforts,” Keller said.

Today, Camero’s main customers are SOF and police tactical teams, but like many of the other solutions discussed, Keller believes it’s just a matter of time until the use of tactical through-the-wall solutions becomes a standard in daily operations of all troops involved in similar activities. O



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With more than a decade as editor of Military Information Technology, Harrison Donnelly has the background, relationships and understanding to lead MIT, widely considered the “Voice of Military Communications and Computing” and the most effective and trusted way to reach military IT professionals. His continuity of service guarantees the highest quality of editorial coverage, and makes advertisements in MIT all the more valuable. In a time of turmoil and change in both the defense and publishing worlds, “Hank” is someone that people across the community turn to when they want to deliver a message that makes a difference.

has published to serve the military, Congress, and the executive branch for 17 years by the same KMI Media Group management.

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Adrien Robenhymer holds a Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Prior to joining Persistent Systems LLC, Roben-hymer was the technical advisor/technical program manager of numerous advanced wireless systems for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command and the Joint Spe-cial Operations Command.

Q: Can you please tell us a bit about Persistent Systems?

A: Headquartered in New York City since 2007, Persistent Systems LLC is a global communications technology company that develops, manufactures and inte-grates a patented and secure mobile ad hoc networking [MANET] system: Wave Relay. The company’s industry leading R&D team has designed wireless networking proto-cols to support their cutting-edge Wave Relay system and technology. Wave Relay is capable of running data, video, voice and other applications under the most difficult and unpredictable conditions. Their suite of products is field-proven and utilized in commercial, military, government, indus-trial, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, robotics and unmanned system markets.

Please visit www.persistentsystems.com to learn more, and follow Persistent Sys-tems on Twitter to get updates on the lat-est developments at @pswaverelay.

Q: What technologies do you offer that will enhance SOF missions?

A: Wave Relay provides a secure mobile ad hoc network that allows SOF operators to enhance situational awareness by integrat-ing video, voice, data, sensors and devices into a common environment. The system seamlessly connects operators, vehicles, aircraft and unmanned systems for real-time, high-bandwidth communication. It allows for legacy systems and non-networked systems to be brought in and distributed amongst the users enabling faster actions and decisions at every phase of an operation.

Q: This year, Persistent Systems achieved ISO 9001:2008 certification. What does that mean for the growth of the company?

A: It means that we hold ourselves to an internationally recognized level of quality standards when we produce our equipment. This assures our customers that they are getting the best possible quality when they order from Persistent Systems LLC.

Q: What are some advantages Wave Relay delivers for ISR?

A: There are numerous advantages of Wave Relay in ISR. It allows for an encrypted bi-directional link between the air and ground that allow for control, video, voice and data exchange. Users on the ground are able to directly communicate with the ISR platform and share data at any point in the peer-to-peer network topol-ogy. Wave Relay also provides a networked platform for aircraft to aircraft communi-cation and range extension.

Q: What is your vision for the MANET of the future?

A: The MANET of the future provides seamless connectivity to the last tacti-cal mile of operations. It revolutionizes communication by providing a dynamic network that connects people, devices, machines and systems in restrictive envi-ronments without a complex network architecture designed for a single pur-pose. The MANET serves as the mobile

backbone for enhanced applications and capabilities for the SOF operator in a form factor that is transportable to any location and deployed without fixed infrastructure. Its interfaces and networking capabilities allow for operators to integrate existing and non-networked systems into their tactical ecosystem saving time and money.

Q: As the amount of data sets available to analysts grows exponentially, how does Persistent Systems help users sort and attain actionable intel?

A: Persistent Systems enables actionable intel by providing a collaborative net-worked environment for intel analysts and in-the-field operators. Through the Wave Relay Android kit, operators can connect to analysts and share photos, map data, chat messages and biometric data. This speeds the turn-around time for action-able intelligence.

Q: What closing thoughts do you have about your team and the SOF operators who use your solutions?

A: Persistent Systems is dedicated to increasing capability for the people at the tip of the spear. By providing more bandwidth, SOF operators are able to rap-idly communicate and coordinate mission information and incorporate various tools and systems in a common networked bat-tlefield through the Wave Relay MANET. By bringing information into a networked architecture, SOF operators can be unen-cumbered by stove-piped legacy systems and share data, video and voice to all endpoints in the network. As SOF opera-tors are the absolute best in their field, Persistent Systems continues to push the cutting edge of wireless networking. With industry leading experts and optimized algorithms for real-world performance, Persistent Systems is dedicated to push-ing the envelope of technology to provide SOF operators high-bandwidth capabili-ties at the furthest distance from their base locations. O

inDUStry interVieW Special Operations technology

Adrien RobenhymerVice President, Business Development and Marketing

Persistent Systems


Nov/Dec 2013Volume 11, Issue 10nExt ISSUE

Col. Harlan (Hal) WalkerCommand Surgeon SOCOM

FeatureS

Medical Simulation & trainingSimulating surgery on and off the battlefield ahead of time helps medical professionals reduce accidents. We examine the latest training available to assist medics caring for SOF.

Battlefield Surgeryespecially nasty wounds won’t wait for a patient to be transported to a hospital. thanks to modern medicine, operators can receive life-saving treatment in or near an area of combat.

SOF Personal ProtectionBody armor, eye protection, ear protection and more. We take a look at the latest gear keeping operators shielded from harm.

SOF unpluggedOperators have many items in their toolkit that don’t require a power source. combined with ingenuity, SOF teams can be just as lethal whether they are plugged in or completely off the grid.

InsertIon order deadlIne: NOveMBer 8, 2013 | ad MaterIals deadlIne: NOveMBer 15, 2013

BONuS DIStrIButION: Special Operations Summit, tampa Fl

SOMa, tampa, Fl

SPeCIal SeCtION

Game-changing InnovationsMerriam-Webster calls a “game changer” a newly introduced element or factor that changes an existing situation or activity in a significant way. SOF operators simply call them advances that help them achieve mission success more effectively. you’ll be surprised how many have come out recently.

COver aND IN-DePtH INtervIeW WItH:

Agile. innovAtive. on-demAnd.Just like the special Ops we serve.

Not just anyone can keep up with the U.S. Special Operations Forces. Lockheed Martin provides global reach, logistics, and sustainment to support even the most demanding missions. With flexibility to satisfy evolving

requirements. And one-stop service to lower costs and keep them there. For more information, ask your contract officer about Lockheed Martin’s full-scope logistics and sustainment, or visit us online.

www.lockheedmartin.com/sofclss

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Sotech 11 9 final

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