46681739 Armada International Compendium Urban Warfare 4 2010

Urban Warfare

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1armada Compendium Urban Warfare 2010

While most current peacekeeping missions take place in wide areas that aresparsely populated Iraqi and Afghanistan population densities are respec-tively 62 and 49 inhabitants/metre2 compared to the 115 and 277 of Franceand Great Britain most contacts with insurgents still take place in urban areas.Although in Afghanistan urban does not necessarily mean highly built-upareas, the typical mud-built compounds of that nation are intricate enough togenerate problems to allied troops, as an adequate level of situational aware-ness is certainly more difficult to achieve there than on open ground.

Elbit Systems Skylark I, here launched by a Canadiansoldier, is in use by more than ten countries

Paolo Valpolini, inputs from Eric H. Biass

T he denser the urban scenario, theweaker the level of communications,not to mention that of automaticlocation systems. Opening breaches toavoid booby traps often installed byinsurgents on the most obvious entrancepoints is another problem, and identify-ing enemy firing positions adds to theburden. Own movement also becomes aproblem in urban areas, especially whenmore densely populated, and the fact thatarmed elements can easily merge withinthe population renders the situation evenmore hazardous. The irony is that whileurban terrain is certainly one of the worstplaces in which to engage insurgents, italso is where they are most likely to befound and this alone commands thedevelopment and acquisition of ad hocequipment.

Vertical AwarenessWhat is better than having a top view ofthe area in which one is called to operate?An image taken from an adequate heightcan provide a map that evolves in realtime, provided the troops on the ground

have the right equipment to receive thatimagery. Generically this is known as theRover, the latest version of which theRover 5 is no bigger than a Playstation.Any top observation used to co-ordinatemovement on the ground must be avail-able in strict real time. What happened inOctober 1993 in Mogadishu is still ascorching experience, as a good share ofthe tragedy was imputable to the delaythat occurred between the observationmade by the aircraft overflying the areaand the reception of the message by thetroops on the ground.

The use of large and persistent dronesystems over an area of operation is alsoquestionable in this respect. To start with,their numbers are limited, and the amountof tasks they are assigned leaves just a leanportion of their flight time to supportground troops. These valuable systems arenormally deployed when major operationsare being planned or underway, mainly toprovide intelligence before the action andallow upper-echelon commanders to mon-itor operations in real time. However,when small units are engaged in dailypatrols these are not available.

Many armies have acquired muchsmaller and cheaper systems that allowthem to survey their next area of opera-tion themselves before sending in troops.

In Afghanistan, platoon or company-level operations are often carried out inisolated villages where troops operatetogether with Afghan security forces toguarantee security and provide assis-tance. We normally deploy at night closeto the village, and at first light of dawn welaunch a Raven before sending the com-mander of the Afghan forces detachmentto talk to the village elders, an Italianofficer told Armada.

The Aerovironment Raven is operat-ed by Italy (and many other countries),with each company of its 41st Regimentrunning its own systems. However, organ-isational plans for future mediuminfantry regiments have provision fordeployment of three vertilift systemswithin the regiment itself, leaving theoperation of tactical drones and otherhigher-end assets to specialists.

The current 1.9-kilo RQ-11B modelprovides endurance between 80 and 110minutes with single-use batteries. Hand-launched, its operational range is aboutten km, which provides a wide-enough

The ability tosee throughwalls, as illus-trated by thismontage showinga Camero systemat work, is gaininggrowing interestin the urban war-fare fighter com-munity not onlyto detect, but also to map the positionof people in a building.

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Urban Warfare

2 armada Compendium Urban Warfare 2010

radius, as areas to be investigated underthose circumstances are usually muchcloser, and the drone provides more thanone hour of over-target time. With two airvehicles overlapping their missions, sur-veillance time can be stretched, but with-in limits. The US Armed Forces haverecently signed a contract to upgrade theRavens to full digital configuration,which will provide greater communica-tion security and better performance.

Aerovironment's ruggedised groundcontrol station is also Playstation-sizedand weighs 3.37 kg. Not only does it allowone to store multiple pre-planned mis-sions and follow the video images in realtime, it also provides for the capture andstorage of up to 80 still images taken fromthe video stream. The station is commonto all Aerovironment mini and microdrones and is thus also deployed by theUS Marine Corps to operate the Raven,Wasp III and Dragon Eye drones.

Even smaller than the Raven, the 430-gram Wasp III has a 72-cm wingspan anda 45-minute endurance, while the twin-engine 2.7-kilo Dragon Eye has a 1.1-metre wingspan and an endurance of 45to 60 minutes.

British forces are using the LockheedMartin Desert Hawk III that wasacquired under an urgent operationalrequirement. It can be equipped withthree different payloads, namely a day-light stabilised turret, a thermal or low-light side-looking camera and a low-lightilluminator. Tipping the scales at fourkilos, the 1.37-metre wingspan DesertHawk III has a 90-minute endurance anda 15-km operational range.

Another battle-proven mini drone isthe Israeli Elbit Systems Skylark I, whichis also operated by at least ten othercountries. Amongst these, Australia, theNetherlands and Canada have deployedthem in Afghanistan and in Iraq. Weigh-ing 4.5 kg with daylight sensors and 4.8 kgwith night sensors, the Skylark I has a 90-minute endurance, a wingspan of twometres and is carried in a backpacktogether with the PC-based control sta-tion. A larger and longer-endurance ver-sion of the Skylark appropriately suffixedLE was launched in late 2008 and canremain aloft for three hours.

for close-up viewing), while the fourth iscanted sideways for circling observationmode. Two forward-looking cameras, onethermal and one colour daylight, consti-tute the night package.

This pretty much rounds up the list offixed-wing micro and mini drones mostwidely used in the sub-Asian continent,although the range is widening. Hand-launched, with control stations averagingfrom compact and light to relatively lightwith the latter offering a longer range andthus a more powerful datalink, these sys-tems allow troops to work out their ownrisk assessment from real-time imagingbefore entering a built-up area. Plug-and-play payloads allow to easily switch fromnight to day sensors, adapting the airvehicle to the situation, particularly whenthe urban configuration consists of low,three-level buildings, such as those typi-cal of current theatres of operation.

What these systems cannot provide,because their aerodynamic lift requiresthem to fly at a certain speed, is continuoustarget observation, and are thus more to beconsidered small-area surveillance toolsrather than target surveillance systems.Although target surveillance could partial-ly be achieved by circling around the point

The L-3CommunicationsRover 5 allowsfrontline soldiers toreceive the imageryproduced by dronesensors, to givethem a real-timetop-down view oftheir area ofoperation.(Armada/PV)

An Italian soldierprepares anAerovironmentRaven B before arecce flight. Microdrones are alsoused in urbantheatres.(Armada/PV)

of interest, endurance limitations wouldsoon cut in, not to mention that an urbanconfiguration can easily deny viewing thetarget under some angles given the drone'srelatively low height above the ground andthat while electric motors are relativelyquiet the presence of a continuously cir-cling drone would certainly not remainunnoticed for long by the locals.

Not yet used in large numbers, vertiliftmicro and mini drones are certainly thosethat can best fill that type of operationalrequirement. The typical drawback ofrotary-wing aircraft is their limitedendurance, especially when they arerequired to hover for long periods oftime. In addition, while their noise signa-ture still makes them easier to spot, theyare also easy targets when they fly at lowspeeds or hover. However, where a ver-tilift system has an edge over its fixed-winged counterpart because of the factthat it can land on a vantage viewing spot,slow down (and even shut down) itsengine and remain in position as long asits power source allows, then whoop upthe engine, take off to reach anotherobservation position or return to launch-

The Bundeswehr and the Dutch forcesfield the Aladin built by EMT in Ger-many. With a take-off weight of less thanfour kilos and a wingspan of 1.46 metres,it offers a one-hour endurance and boastsfour daylight cameras: one is used forpilot purposes, two are pointed down-wards (one for wide angle and the other

A US Marine operating an Aerovironment Dragon Eye. In spite of the advent of thevertilift drones, their fixed-wing counterparts still remain very useful tools in urbanscenarios. (US Marine Corps)


ing point. What it will do once landed in atechnique known as perching is up to itspayload and to its operator's needs.

A typical payload package will includeimagery sensors in the form of day ornight television cameras to provide real-time footage to the ground control sta-tion; power guzzlers here are more thedatalink than the sensors themselves, butchange-detection software may well helpin the quest to save energy by allowingthe system to broadcast the imagery backto base only when something is movingwithin the scene being observed by thecamera, although this will require an on-board image processing system thatcould certainly add weight to the sensorpackage. If and when costs are no longeran issue, one could also envisage usingthe vertilift drone to place a sensor at theright location and then leave it on its own,the air vehicle then becoming the air sys-tem used to deploy a series of sensors,possibly networked together.

The drone's payload, whether fixed ordroppable, is not limited to imaging sys-tems. They can include radio relays toensure better coverage of the urban sce-nario (a typical snag encountered bytroops), electronic warfare packages tostop mobile phone communications on

the enemy side (often the most widelyused system among insurgents) and,while other applications may be found,two punishing factors should never beleft unconsidered weight and powerconsumption as they directly take theirtoll on range and endurance.

Sound of Silence......and passing presence of a ghost are twoimpossible dreams that both fixed-wingand rotary-wing drone manufacturerswant to get as close as possible to. Thequest for sonic and visual discretion isexemplified by the contract assigned inmid-May 2010 by the US Air ForceResearch Laboratory to Aurora FlightSciences to develop a new design soft-ware code for propellers that combineacoustic, aerodynamic and stress codesinto a single unit with a view to generat-ing configurations of open or ducted orother geometry propellers that best opti-mise the aero-acoustic parameter.

lighter ones. Starting from micro-leveldrones, the EMT Penzberg Fancopterwas acquired by the Bundeswehr,although it is not clear if it has yet beendeployed to Afghanistan. A typical sys-tem designed for perching operations, itfeatures two payloads, namely a down-wards-looking camera for both landingand reconnaissance, and a sensor pack-age mounted on top of the air vehicle. Thelatter can be tilted on two axes andincludes either two daylight CCD cam-eras (one with wide-angle and one withtelephoto lenses) or an uncooled thermalcamera and a near-IR CCD camera fornight operations.

The very light structure, with a wirefence around the rotors to reduce risk tothe operator, ensures an unobstructedview when looking at negative elevationangles. At 1.5 kg, the Fancopters lift isprovided by two electrically poweredcounter-rotating rotors. While flightendurance is limited to 25 minutes, perch-ing missions can extend the surveillance

M icro UAVs are not solely used for surveillance. In late 2009 Aerovironmentconducted an end-to-end demonstration of its Switchblade lethal minidrone. The Switchblade is battery-powered, backpackable, tube-launchedand weighs about one kilo. Upon launch it unfolds its tandem wings and starts return-ing streaming video from an electro-optical sensor. Once a target is detected theoperator designates it and the Switchblade folds its wings back under the fuselage toturn itself into a weapon that is autonomously guided on target by its video tracker,its small warhead exploding on impact.

Drones With a Sting I

While hand-launchedaircraft like the Drac,deployed in Afghan istansince June 2010, aredifficult to operate from abuilt-up area due to theirshallow take-off andlanding flight paths, theyprove useful to relay over -head information onnearby urban areas.(Armada/EHB)

Produced by EMT, the Aladin is inservice in Afghanistan with theGerman contingent. (EMT)

The same company was also awardeda contract to develop an integrated sys-tem for guiding micro drones in environ-ments over cluttered by audio and soundsensors. Known as Panoptis (PanoramicAvoidance and Navigation using OPTIcsintegrated with Sonar) the system willallow small air vehicles to continue tooperate during datalink outages or whenthe warfighter loses the vehicles situa-tional context, with a view to makingthem less dependable on the pilotingfunction and as a straight consequence more reliable.

The weight range of available verticallift systems starts from a few grams to cul-minate well into four-figure kilos, as is thecase of some full-blown helicopter-sizeddrones although it is clear that for urbanoperations the systems that should beemployed by front-line units are the

time up to three hours, knowing thatdatalink sets maximum range to aboutone kilometre.

The Air Robot AR100B micro dronealso has a one-metre-diameter circularprotection around its four rotors, the lat-ter lifting the one-kilo apparatus and its200-gram payload within a radius of 500metres under analogue datalink, whichexpands to 1500 metres radius in digitalcontrol.

One of the latest entries in this littlevertilift drone club is the Utri Draco, a2.5-kg quad-rotor system with a one-kilopayload capacity quite a feat if one con-siders that this represents 40% of thecoleopters all-up weight. With a range oftwelve km and a maximum speed oftwelve metres/sec, it has an endurance ofover 30 minutes and carries a stabilisedelectro-optical day/night colour camerawith a x10 optical zoom and a 70 panand +70/-40 tilt movement. Anuncooled infrared camera with a x2 digi-tal zoom is offered as option. The Dracodoes not have a safety ring around itsrotors, but it is equipped with an obstacleavoidance system that ensures that theair vehicle does not come closer than twometres from any obstacle.

The club has other members like theGerman Rheinmetall Pearl and theAmerican Draganflyer X6, which isbased on similar concepts and offered forboth the security and military markets and even civilian in some cases. To our


knowledge, the latest member is theDatron Scout, unveiled at the Eurosatorydefence equipment exhibition near Parisin June 2010. The smartest part of theScout probably resides in its operation,which couldnt have been made simpler,since one does not actually control theaircraft, but merely tell it where to go bymarking waypoints on the control screenwith a stylus. The same method is used toindicate a no-fly zone. Just a sample toillustrate this simplicity: upon launching amission, the quad-chopper raises to aheight of one metre and stays there untila required altitude is tapped on screenwith the stylus. The rest is a childs game.

awaiting the heavy fuel engine that willfree it from its battlefield-dreaded gaso-line addiction.

To the best of our knowledge this isthe only mini drone of its kind to havemade it out to the battlefield, while oth-ers are standing in line to hop on the mar-ket. Among them is the Italian Asio,developed and manufactured by Utri andmarketed by Selex Galileo. All-up at sixkilos including its one-kilo total pay-load(s), it is powered by electric motorsand has the peculiarity of being able tocarry two payloads, one under the bodyfor reconnaissance flights, and one over itfor perching missions. In perspective, theprevious sensor might be replaced by areleasable autonomous unit to be locatedon top of a building to provide continu-ous surveillance as long as the batteryprovides power.

The Singapore Technologies Fantail isanother perching-capable system in theducted-fan mini category, while AuroraFlight Sciences Golden Eye 50 is a flyingreconnaissance system, its sensor packageis located underneath the air vehicle.

L oitering weapons have been around for a while. Although principally intendedas radar terminators. Mutatis mutandis, a new breed of attack drones is emerg-ing for more tactical situations. While the Switchblade, mentioned in anotherboxed section in these columns, represents the bottom end of the scale (thus far), anew larger system also tube-launched will soon be deployed by the British Armyin the form of the Fire Shadow. Brought from plan to first flight reality in a mere 15months by MBDA, theFire Shadow is flown viawaypoints only. Pow-ered by a heavy fuelUEL rotary pistonengine that is fired upbefore booster launchfrom its vehicle-mounted canister, it carries a Selex nose-mounted gimballed elec-tro-optical package, can be sent out to a range of 100 km (basically its data-linklimit), loiter for ten hours and dive at a speed of 400 km/h to home in its eight-kiloblast warhead. Obviously a man-in-the-loop system, it can receive targeting infor-mation from a forward observer on the ground located in or near a built-up area. TheBritish Army plans on an initial operational capability in Afghanistan in 2011.

Drones With a Sting II

Controps payloads grace many dronesystems some drone programmeshave even been designed around aControp payload (literally: Use thissensor, now go design the airframe).The newest member of the companysStamp family is the T-Stamp seen here,which debuted in 2009 in uncooledguise. The Triple-sensor-STAbilizedMiniature Payload has since been soldto UAV Navigation and one otherSpanish customer, as well as anunnamed customer in Israel. Unique inmany ways, the >3.5-kg (cooled oruncooled versions) T-Stamp featuresControps proprietary continuousoptical zoom lens, which allows smalldrones to maintain track on a targetduring zooming, as opposed toswitching fields of view which is thenorm for most small gimballed sensorpayloads. (Armada/JK)

A host of helicopter-like systems areavailable on the market, in differentdimensions. These are obviously apt tocarry out reconnaissance missions but, astheir rotors are not protected, flying inurban canyons can prove dangerous.

Rotary-wing CarriersThe development of lighter attackweapons, in the form of guided rockets,may open new opportunities to rotary-wing drones belonging to the upper tierof the light and tactical category.

Potential weapon candidates includethe Lockheed Martin Dagr system(quad-launcher weighing 81.6 kg), theThales LMM (Light-weight MultiroleMissile) shown at Farnborough 2008under a Schiebel Camcopter and theATK/Elbit Systems Gatr. These weaponscan endow such category of aircraft witha precision-attack capability and thereby

weight, a seven-kilo verti-lifter can carryaround one kilo.

Just shy of eight kilos, the HoneywellT-Hawk is being tested by the US forcesin Afghanistan and Iraq, while six sys-tems have been acquired by the BritishArmy. Powered by a petrol (gasoline)engine, its main drawback, apart from itsuse of non-standard fuel, is its noise emis-sion which, coupled to its size, does notexactly qualify it as a stealthy platform now a prerequisite for observation andreconnaissance missions.

British forces are currently using theirT-Hawks as part of a roadside bombclearing package known as the Talisman.This includes specialised vehicles, a rolein which stealthiness is not as critical as inother missions such as reconnaissance.Based on the ducted fan principle, the T-Hawk was developed as part of theFuture Combat Systems requirementsand is currently in an evolutionary phase

Small vertilift drones such as EMT Fancopter can be used in the perching mode, whichconsiderably increases the duration of their mission. (EMT)

The Scout has been flown in winds of 60km/h (quite a feat), and is able to performperching missions.

According to the current categorisa-tion, a mini drone has a take-off weightbetween two and 20 kg. If one considersthat the typical payload capacity current-ly represents about 15% of the all-up

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replace conventional helicopters, particu-larly over urban areas that are dreadedby pilots and crews. Mention was made ofthe Camcopter, which has a payloadcapacity of 50 kg, but the Saab Skeldar V-200 with its 40-kg payload may also bea potential weapon platform.

That little nest has just been joined byanother bird, by the way, in the form ofthe Spanish Pelicano presented atEurosatory by Indra and based on thesame Cybaero backbone as the Skeldar.Indra is currently developing its ownautomatic take-off and landing electron-ics for ship operations, for which the com-pany is receiving Spanish Governmentsupport, in view of that nations six Bamvessel acquisition programme.

Bigger and WeirderA peculiar vertilift air vehicle is beingdeveloped that could bring a totally newdimension to urban warfare. Under devel-opment in Israel by Urban Aeronautics, theAir Mule flight principle is based on a vanecontrol system that allows to vector itsrotors downwash and thus provide superi-or manoeuvrability while considerablyreducing risks to bystanders, since none ofits rotary components are directly exposed.The Air Mule is 6.2 metres long, 2.15 wideand weighs 560 kg including fuel, but itsmaximum take-off weight reaches a mighty1.2 tonnes for pure vertical take-off andlanding operations and even 1.5 tonnes ifshort take-off and landing profiles areused. A 730-hp Ariel 1 turbine drives thefront and rear 1.8-metre diameter rotorsthat enable the aircraft to reach a dashspeed of 180 km/h. Typical flight endurance

is given as eight hours for a range of 1080km and a ceiling of 12,000 feet.

The Air Mule is big, but with a pur-pose, since it is proposed for resupply,casevac and other support missions incritical areas urban of course beingamong them. The first phase of flight test-ing was completed in January 2010 andwas used to verify the fly-by-wire controlsystem that provides three-axis auto-sta-bilisation. In that testing phase the airvehicle was tethered, but these attach-ments were partially removed for the sec-

Horizontal AwarenessOne of the characteristics of urban sce-narios is they call for vehicles to operatein a secluded environment where threatscan appear at very short distance andnotice. In that respect, armoured vehiclecrews are de facto short sighted, as theirsighting systems are designed to observeand identify targets at a distance. Even ifcrewmembers accept to take the risk ofoperating with open hatches they mightstill miss an opponent that gets uncom-fortably close to their vehicle. This situa-tion is less critical for armoured vehiclesequipped with armoured glass windows,although even those have numerous deadangles, particularly in the rear arc.

Vehicles are thus more and moreequipped with viewing systems allowingtheir crews to watch their close surround-ings. These can be based on off-the-shelfsolutions, with one or more cameras, oron dedicated hardened solutions that arespecifically designed for military applica-tion. Some systems provide 360 cover-age while others cover only the rear arc.The advantage of an array of fixed cam-eras is that it gives an observing enemy noclue as to where in particular the occu-

The Draco is a four-rotor micro-aircraftdeveloped by Utriof Italy; it isequipped with acollision-avoidancesystem. (Utri)

I t will not be long before a full range of suicide attack drones, from mini to medi-um size, becomes available. Mention has been made elsewhere in these pages ofthe Switchblade and the Fire Shadow, but here comes an interesting combinationfrom Rheinmetall. The idea is to use the estab-lished KZO recce drone in conjunction with thenew IAI Harop in a tandem known as Wapeb.Unlike the Harpy it is intended to replace, theloitering Harop photographed here on Rhein-metalls stand at the recent ILA air show inBerlin, is not relegated to the sole role of radardestruction, and positively calls upon a man-in-the-loop function. The three-metre wingspanattack drone carries a 23-kg warhead. The canard nose section carries a gimballedinfrared and a CCD camera while the man-in-the-loop facility enables the operatorto call off the attack in case of collateral damage risk and initiate another loiteringsequence, since the bird has an endurance of six hours.

Drones With a Sting III

The Rheinmetall Pearl is only one of the many examples of vertilift systems developedin recent years. (Armada/PV)

ond phase that began last March to veri-fy the integration of new position holdsensors, the optimisation of flight controllaws, the proper running of all mechani-cal systems and exploration of the vanesystem utilisation.

pants of the vehicle are concentratingtheir staring effort.

A recent example is the BAE SystemsCheck-6, a rear-view infrared camera sys-tem moulded into the ground vehiclestaillight housing that gives the driver asafe backing-up capability and providesthe infantrymen in the rear withincreased situational awareness beforedebussing. It consists of an uncooledinfrared camera fitted into an LED tail-light assembly, the latter replacing theoriginal conventional taillight unit. Thecamera operates in the 7-14 m band, hasa horizontal and vertical field of view of54 and 40 respectively and is focusedfrom five metres to infinity; the controlbox feeds the image to three screens. It iscurrently in service with US Army unitsfollowing a contract awarded in Novem-ber 2009, which included several modifi-cations to Bradley IFVs, MLRS andM113A3 Ambulances. BAE Systems

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expects the potential market for itsCheck-6 system to reach 12,000 units inthe coming years.

Elbit Systems of Israel was among thefirst companies to offer a panoramicobservation system. Known as SeeThrough Armour (STA), it is based on aseries of video cameras installed aroundthe vehicle. The image processing softwarethen combines all the images into a 360real-time video panoramic strip. This canbe shown on the vehicle computer screensor can be injected into helmet-mounteddisplays, each user being able to select hisarea of interest. This all-round visionoffers an elevation of between -20 and+60, which is optimal for enhancing situ-ational awareness and improving fightingcapabilities in an urban environment.

Optsys of France, part of the NexterGroup, is launching its Viper (a contrac-tion of Vision Primtrique), which isbased on an array of cameras placedalong the vehicle periphery in order toprovide 360 coverage from very shortdistances to 200 metres. The installationof such a system is of course more com-plex in terms of cabling, compared to top-view single cameras, but the advantage isthat dead areas are basically nil. The sys-tem can use dedicated hardened camerasthat feed digital signals to the man-machine interface. The latter comes in theform of a 10.4-inch touch-screen tabletpersonal computer and can be augment-ed by a second terminal for the infantryhoused in the rear compartment. Imagescan be replayed on two further screensprovided as options. The standard suite is

based on seven or eight digital 640 x 480daylight colour cameras with x2 digitalzoom. Digital cameras can be replaced byuncooled thermal cameras with a resolu-tion of 384 x 288 or 640 x 480 to providenight vision. The Viper can record theimages provided by all eight cameras forup to six hours.

is able to process the huge amounts ofdata necessary to instantaneously moni-tor the complete surroundings.

The video processing engine is scala-ble and can thus easily support changesand upgrades to the system, in both num-ber of sensors, sensor formats and sensortypes. Due to its full solid-state digital sta-bilisation with inertial measurement unitand embedded processing functions, thesystem can be used to slew other electro-optical sensors and remote weapon sys-tems (it is, for example, fully integratedwith Kongsbergs family of remotely-operated weapon stations). Its displayfunction generates three windows: onefor the 360 view, another for the high-resolution image of a selected area andthe third that may be configured to dis-play data from other sensors, weaponinterface or navigation imagery.

Interestingly, Kollmorgen has recentlyintegrated a gunshot detection systemthat feeds the relevant data to the One360, which in turn instantly opens a win-dow on the source of the shot, offering

All elements of theDatron Scout battery, sensor andeven rotor arms are clip-on affairs.It has a three-kilometre link, andthe ability to flyback home in casedata-link isinterrupted.Operation via thetouch screen issimplicity itself.(Armada/EHB)

The Honeywell T-Hawk is deployeddownrange, but itsmajor drawback isthe current gasolineengine, somethingthat has much to dowith its battlefieldpioneering status.No doubt adieselisedalternative willfollow sooner orlater. (Honeywell)

Italys Utrideveloped a seriesof light, electricallypowered drones. Itsperching-capablesystem is the Asio,on the right in thisphoto. (Armada/PV)

the crew visual and acoustic referencepoints. The gunner can continue toengage targets, evaluate the full situationand direct the remote weapon station tothe region of interest. A single sensorhead system, the One 360 offers theadvantage of simplified installation onexisting vehicles and does not have tocope with parallax issues.

Another US company that is now fullyinvolved in 360 observation systems isRemote Reality. Its systems use a singlecamera that looks vertically into speciallydesigned optics on top of which a parabolicmirror followed by a telecentric lens pro-vides the 360 view. The proprietary lenssystem ensures minimal optical aberrations.The circular image obtained is then digital-ly unwrapped by specific software that pro-vides the panoramic image as well as pan,tilt and zoom views, which can be seen inde-pendently by different users such as thedriver, vehicle commander and infantrysection commander. As it is often impossi-ble to cover 360 on a vehicle with a singlesystem due to physical obstacles such as tur-rets, aerials and so forth, Remote Realityprovides two- or four-sensor systems toovercome this problem and give overlap-ping arcs that also provide some redundan-cy should one of the systems take a hit.

Kollmorgen Electro-Optical, for itspart, introduced its One 360 in 2009, toprovide soldiers inside a vehicle with anall-round capability to Observe, Navigate,and Engage (hence the name of the sys-tem). As can be expected from such new-generation systems, the One 360 offershigh-resolution images. A no-moving-part system with day and night sensors,the One 360 provides full-rate video, low-latency images. It uses a dedicated hard-ware processor based on the latest field-programmable gate array technology that


In addition to the 360SA (for Situa-tional Awareness) camera, the companyalso developed the Eagle 360, based oncameras with a 190 horizontal field ofview over -60/+7 vertical, obviouslywith special attention to roadside bomband close threat detection. Each camerais 18-cm high and has a diameter of tencm, for a weight of less than 2.3 kg, with aresolution of 2.1 megapixels and a framerate of up to 60/sec to ensure very lowlatency.

For night vision, Remote Reality pro-vides the Thermalvision360, a 360 hori-zontal FoV system based on BAE Sys-tems PMC300 camera with an uncooledVox microbolometer detector with a 640x 480-pixel array and a 30-Hz frame rate.The system has a vertical field of view of-50/+5, a weight of 8.2 kg and is over 31cm high with a diameter of 18 cm. Allthose systems are supported by softwarepackages allowing movement and targetdetection, such as the Omnialert360,while the Omniserver was designed forthe storage and retrieval of videos cap-tured by the system.

Remote Reality systems were tested bythe US Army, the US Marine Corps andthe Australian Army, the system was thentransitioned to the Stryker Fsep (FullSpectrum Effects Platform) programme aswell as onboard the Cougar as part of theWolfpack AE2 enhancement programmeand was integrated with the Crows turret.The company also has very-high-resolu-

tion omni-directional camera systems,including a 21-megapixel visible-light sys-tem and a four-megapixel medium-wave-length infrared thermal system.

Remote Reality is providing its sys-tems to numerous prime contractors ofnew vehicles or upgrading programmesfor US services, but has also raised inter-est in many other countries, among whichAustralia and Italy. The company is work-ing on a new generation of systems thatwill be smaller and lighter and that areexpected to be introduced later in 2010.This not only will allow an even easierintegration in existing vehicles, but alsowill further expand their potential use onboard robotic vehicles, a field on whichthe Massachusetts-based company iskeeping (probably like many others) asharp eye.

Based in New Jersey, Sarnoff proposesa field-ready 360 visualisation systemwith six fixed cameras to provide all-round view and a moving top pan-tilt-zoom camera. In February 2009 Sarnoffwas awarded a contract from the USMarine Corps War Fighting Laboratoryto demonstrate an advanced 360 modu-lar camera array prototype. Known asComputer-Vision Assisted CombatCapability (CVAC2), it includes a 640 x480-pixel thermal imager, a 680 x 500-pixel 0.00005-lux day/night zoom camera,two GPS receivers, twelve 752 x 582-pixel0.00001-lux night vision cameras, twelve720 x 540-pixel 0.5-lux daylight cameras,

a pan-tilt platform and a laser rangefind-er. Moreover, on the CVAC2 screen theoperator can observe Boomerangacoustic cues, streaming video fromdrones, as well as messages.

This modular, stand-alone system,which can be mounted on military vehi-cles and tripods, comes with proprietarytouch-screen controls, power source andmonitor. The heart of the system isSarnoffs Acadia I Asic vision accelera-tor, which gives the system the imagefusion and processing power required tointegrate the outputs of 29 different sen-sors, including visual, acoustic, infraredand laser sensors into a single interactivedisplay, all in real time. In April 2009Sarnoff announced its Acadia II, which itclaims to be the worlds most powerfulsystem-on-a-chip for real-time, portableand low-power processing of multiplevision sensors. Acadia II was developedas part of the Darpa Multispectral Adap-

The LMM guided rocket system developed by Thales has been exhibited on one of thelateral hardpoints of a Schiebel Camcopter S-100. Undoubtedly the most advanceddrone of its kind, the night-flight capable Austrian device has an over six-hourendurance with a 34-kg payload. (Armada/PV)

The Singapore Technologies Fantailhas a good payload capacity togetherwith perching capability. (STK)

Lockheed Martindeveloped theDagr, a laser-guided version ofthe 70-mm FFR,which can packfour missiles in lessthan 90 kg.(Armada/PV)

tive Networked Tactical Imaging System(Mantis) programme.

ODF Optronics of Israel also propos-es two systems based on a single sensorunit, one for heavy vehicles, the other forlight vehicles, known respectively asODR-HV and ODR-LV, where ODRstands for omni-directional reconnais-sance. The HV is based on a central polemounted on the top of the vehicle andcontains five cameras able to zoom in onspecific areas for 360 situational aware-ness, and a single high-resolution pan, tiltand zoom camera to allow for closerinvestigation of suspected threats. Thefive panoramic cameras located in thepole provide a 360 view with a verticalfield of view of 64, while the pan-tiltcamera, mounted on the top of the poleand able to rotate, has a horizontal fieldof view of 32 and a vertical FoV of 24.An infrared camera for night vision canalso be included in the pole. The image istransmitted to a 10.4-inch display where

Kollmorgen Electro-Opticals O.N.E 360 integration with Kongsbergs Protector Family of Remote Weapon Stations has solved the operational capability gap of reduced situational awareness. Combining 360 degree real-time imaging and slew to cue capability with the dominating force of the Kongsbergs weapon station allows the Warfighter to observe the 360 degree battlefield and engage targets while under armor within the protection of the vehicles hull.

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software reconstitutes the 360 panoram-ic view and uses a 1 through 12 oclockpattern to indicate orientation.

When the vehicle is stationary the HVcan provide automatic alarms via a pro-prietary video motion-detection algo-rithm that can trigger alerts in a region ofinterest. Images can be recorded and thesystem can be integrated into the vehiclebattlefield management system.Although developed mostly for paramil-itary applications, the LV has an addi-tional feature in that its pan-tilt cameracan be titled upwards to 90 a boon forurban operations.

Wall See-throughLooking through a wall or at least know-ing what one can expect behind a wallwithout having to enter a room wouldcertainly be a major advantage for anysoldier engaged in urban warfare. In a USArmy document the Approved Acquisi-tion Objective was of 8415 man-portableSense Thru The Wall (SttW) systems witha specified distribution of one system perinfantry squad, two per special forcesteam, one per military police squad andone per engineer platoon. Key perform-ance objective requirements were over95% probability of moving target detec-tion (85% threshold), same figures forstationary targets, a weight of less than1.36 kg (3.2 kg threshold), a false alarmreport of less than 5% (10% threshold)and a sensing range of over 100 metres(20 metres threshold). Such systems arenot solely aimed at military use but alsofind useful applications within spe-cialised police units and hostage rescueteams. Most of the systems developed sofar use millimetric waves, the challenge

being to deal with through-wall propaga-tion, as well as wall transmission andreflection inside the building.

L-3 Cyterra has developed the Emm-dar (ElectroMagnetic Motion DetectionAnd Ranging). Known within the Serviceas AN/PPS-26, this hand-held systemleverages the AN/PSS-14 mine detector

microsecond off time, the whole cycle isrepeated 54 times/sec. According to L-3Cyterra, the number and spacing of fre-quency steps greatly improves the relia-bility and precision of target location. Ofcourse, the emitted pulses bounce off therooms multiple surfaces, but the systemsoftware sifts the echoes at different fre-quencies in order to let echoes from sta-tionary objects fade into the background,allowing those from moving objects tostand out. The system sensitivity is suffi-cient to detect the motion of a personsbreathing or the imperceptible move-ments of a person tying to stand still.

According to open sources, two modelsare available, the Emmdar and the Emm-dar II. They apparently have identicaltransmission characteristics, but differ intheir circuitry and user interfaces, the pre-vious being able to locate one target at atime indicating its range but not its direc-tion, while the latter locates multiple tar-gets and can indicate both their rangesand directions. The production of theEmmdar has been discontinued (but was

The UrbanAeronautics AirMule may be usedfor carrying suppliesto front line troops inurban areas and, assuggested by thisartists work, forcasevac missions.(Urban Aeronautics)

The Air Mule iscurrently undergoingtest flights in Israel.It will be able tocarry one woundedsoldier. (UrbanAeronautics)

Bearing a certain resemblance with the Saab Skeldar, which is not too surprising sincethey both share the same Cybaero backbone, the Indra Pelcano will soon be poweredby a 55 horsepower JP5-running Hirth engine and incorporates all-Indra electronics,including IFF, datalink, stabilised sensor package and autopilot. (Indra)

technology, which combines metal detec-tion with ground penetrating radar tech-nique. It is powered by six AA batteriesand can be used through exterior andinterior walls, floors or ceilings, its displayindicating where possible moving or sta-tionary targets are located. This smallhandheld radar device operates in the3100 to 3500 MHz band and can pene-trate up to 20 cm of concrete, operatingeither in local or standoff mode.

Rather than operating on a single fre-quency, as do most radars, the Emmdarsteps through two hundred frequencies,spaced two MHz apart from 3101 to 3499MHz. It transmits on one frequency for75 microseconds followed by a 17.5-

turned into a commercial variant), whileno further details have been unveiled onthe Emmdar II. Interestingly, L-3 Cyterrahad to obtain a waiver to use the Emmdarin the United States as the 3100 to 3500MHz frequency band is allocated to theFederal Government Radiolocation serv-ice. The very low power output of the sys-tem, which peaks at only of 31.6 milliwatts,allowed L-3 to overcome the problem.

Camero controls two companies,Camero Tech in Israel, which ensuresR&D and Camero US, which is in chargeof marketing; it developed two systemsbased on a multi-channel ultra-widebandsensor operating between three and tenGHz. The Xaver 800 is mostly aimed atpolice and rescue units; it has four anten-nas and can display 3D and 2D views aswell as an odd 1.5D the latter meaningthat it provides the range of the personswho are behind the wall with time history.Its field of view is of 80 both in azimuthand elevation and its detection ranges are4, 8 and 20 metres. The system is able tosee through most materials such ascement, plaster, bricks, concrete, rein-forced concrete, adobe, stucco and drywall.Its resolution is 20 cm at a range of eightmetres. Deployed, its dimensions are 0.84 x0.84 x 0.15 metres, width and height being


reduced to 47 cm when the antennas arefolded. Its main drawback for tactical useis its weight, 15 kg with batteries, whichprovide an endurance of 2.5 hours.

Following the success of the system,Camero developed a second product, thistime aimed at tactical units, trading per-formance for reduced weight and dimen-sions. This should not impact on effec-tiveness, since in most cases military unitsdo not need the same accuracy as hostagerescue teams, their main interest is tohave an idea of how many subjects arebehind a wall and a general idea of wherethey are located. The Xaver 400 hastherefore only two aerials, which meansthat it can only provide 2D and 1.5Dviews with a resolution of one metre atthe end of the range, which remains thesame. The Xaver 400 is 37 cm wide, 22.5high and 12 cm thick, its weight with bat-teries is 2.95 kilos while its endurance is4.5 hours with primary batteries and 2.5hours with rechargeables.

In addition the tactical version ofCamero sensors, the 400 features a built-in wireless transmitter that allows imagesrelay of whats seen on the small screen ofthe sensor out along the command chainup to a range of 100 metres. The systemreceived Federal Communications Com-mission approval and certification inDecember 2009. Currently about 30Xaver 400s are used in Afghanistan by

American forces half with special forcesand half with the 82nd Airborne Division while some 50 more units are used bytwo other undisclosed countries. Numer-ous Xaver systems have also been sold toAsian countries.

Camero is bidding for a major US con-tract, the Army intends to acquire some11,000 systems; the company is proposing

In Britain, Cambridge Consultantsdeveloped the Prism 200, also based onmillimetric wave, which is aimed at bothparamilitary and military use. At 5.7 kgincluding battery and measuring 35 x 45 x21 cm, it is equipped with a small 680 x480-resolution colour display to provide2 or 3D imagery; its software allows rotat-

Optsys, a Nextercompany, hasdeveloped theViper, which givesgood peripheralvision to a vehiclecrew. (Armada/PV)

ing the scene in order to look at the roomfrom different entry points. Operating inthe 1.6 to 2.2-GHz band, it provides a res-olution of 30 cm and can detect personnelat a range of up to 20 metres. It has a 120x 90 field of view and is able to performthrough different types of materiel, suchas 23-cm-thick brick wall, reinforced con-crete, timber, concrete block, cinderblock, as well as brick blocks separatedby a cavity. Battery powered, itsendurance is 4.5 hours for continuous useand it can operate at temperatures of -20 C to +55 C. A laptop applicationkeeps the sensor along the wall whilemonitoring and recording images on acomputer from a safe distance. Accordingto Cambridge Consultants, the system isin use in all continents with the exceptionof South America, although no details oncustomers are available.

Darpa is already looking ahead and haslaunched the Comprehensive InteriorReconnaissance (Cir) programme, with aview to providing the warfighter with allpossible information that will allow him toconfidently manoeuvre inside a building.Among Darpas requirements is subsur-face urban situational awareness (that isfinding the building basement layout andunderground connections, as well asunderstanding possible opponents direc-tions of approach knowing in advance thebuilding layout, including stairwell andwall layout). This info must be collectedwithout any contact with the building ordeployment inside it, and can be obtainedboth with passive or active sensing,although radar sensing is discouraged.

According to programme metrics thesystem is to be considered high-tierequipment and certainly not to be dis-tributed to tactical units time to achievebuilding metrics being within three days

a special version of its Xaver 400 tailoredto US Army requirements. ShouldCamero succeed, the systems would beproduced by General Dynamics, whichwould also provide logistic support incountry and in theatre. Raytheon and L-3 Cyterra are the other two known bid-ders. Camero is also eyeing other marketssuch as India and Singapore, where astrong interest for such sensors is emerg-ing. Camero is in the final stage of devel-opment of the Xaver 100, a small hand-held system the size of a GPS receiverand weighing less than one kilo, whichwill only have a detection capability (butno positioning). The new product shouldbe available in the fall of 2010.

Currently French Army Aravis vehiclesare equipped with a cots 360 system.In the future they will get the OptsysViper. (Armada/PV)

The Kollmorgen One 360 is anintegrated 360 no-moving-part visionsystem which provides different viewsto different users. (Kollmorgen)

Sagems End Reception Station-RemoteVideo Terminal is now used by Frenchforces in Afghanistan. In additiondisplaying the tactical information andgeo-referenced images that one wouldexpect from a terminal of this kind including drone-gathered pictures theunit can be used to ask, via VHF, aground control station to move theflight path of a drone to a particulararea of interest. (Armada/EHB)


from sensors deployment. Buildings to bereconnoitred can be up to ten floors highwith two-level basements and can belocated in high-density urban blocks.Those figures alone indicate that the sys-tem would only be used in very criticaloperations. Nevertheless, one may justifi-ably wonder whether some of the tech-nologies that might emerge from this pro-gramme would not eventually spin out totactical applications.

In that field the California-basedEureka Aerospace is developing a high-resolution impulse synthetic aperture

radar (Impsar) that is able to detect andidentify in near real-time various targetsbehind different types of walls. It can alsobe used to locate and map undergroundstructures, bunkers and caves that possi-bly contain hostile subjects. EurekaAerospace is also actively developing thecapability to generate 3D stereometricimages with the Impsar. The aim is toobtain a system that is sufficiently com-pact and lightweight to allow its integra-tion into a light armoured vehicle or adrone to provide its 3D inside mappingfrom a range of a few hundred metres ofa building.

Currently Eureka Aerospace is work-ing with a demonstrator mounted in a vanand one that is mostly built from cotscomponents. The final objective is toobtain a sensor with a weight of less thanfive kilos able to operate at a standoffrange of between 1000 and 2000 metres,depending on the type of construction.The company hopes to reach this stage intwo years time to allow the system to beinstalled into a small drone.

the lack of signal caused by the FaradayCage effect results from reinforced con-crete buildings and metallic objects in thevicinity of the receiver.

A partial solution comes from theadoption of high-sensitivity GPSreceivers. The higher sensitivity of suchsystems is not owed to different hardwarebut rather to different signal processing.What it basically does is integrate theweak incoming signals originated by GPSsatellites for a longer period of time inorder to extract the data needed to trian-gulate the receiver position. A specificstudy was also made regarding multi-pathing and signal attenuation throughconstruction materials. All this gave birthto GPS receivers with around 30 dB sen-sitivity, which means they can cope with a

Sarnoff proposes a series of 360viewing systems for increasing vehiclesituational awareness. (Sarnoff)

In 2009 Sarnoff obtained a contractfrom the US Marine Corps todemonstrate a situational awarenesssystem known as CVCA2 that canoperate either on a vehicle or from atripod, as seen here. (Sarnoff)

Remote Reality is providing to USservices its 360SA and Thermalvisionsystems; some of these are beinginstalled on the Stryker vehicles.(Remote Reality)

Ultrafine Technology has developedthe portable Ultraview PR-1, which canvisualise the structure of a wall andeven see objects that are immediatelybeyond it. It enables soldiers todetermine the best place for placing awall-breaching charge. (Ultrafine)

signal that is 1000 times weaker com-pared with other receivers.

An example of such receivers is theQinetiq Q20 HS (High Sensitivity) mod-ule, the receiver of which hosts twelveparallel channels with an RF acquisitionsensitivity of -174dBW unassisted or185dBW hot or assisted, and a trackingsensitivity of -189dBW, which is 30 morethan the benchmark of -159 for standardGPS modules. According to the companythe Q20 HS level data demodulationcapability allows it to provide sustainedoperation indoors without network assis-tance. Indoor accuracy is obviously affect-ed and location precision is decreased byone figure of magnitude.

An aggravating factor is that weakGPS signals cannot be received in placeswhere, for example, mobile phone signalsare still available, as they are stronger.Thus they can be exploited to hybridisethe navigation system, providing a secondpositioning system besides the GPS. Thesystems exploiting these features are nor-mally defined as A-GPS (Assisted-GPS),however such a solution appears to bedifficult to exploit in the military domainfor various reasons. The first are techni-cal, as receivers would have to be opti-mised for exploiting such a network,while others are more general in nature,

Blue Force TrackingBlue force tracking is now a sine qua nonto reduce blue-on-blue incidents. Know-ing where friendly personnel operateobviously reduces the risk of friendly fire,and this is something that current battlemanagement systems installed on boardmost vehicles are able to do, as theyreceive signals from GPS-equippedradios. The same applies to soldiers whocarry state-of-the-art equipment, sincemost soldier upgrade programmesinclude such facilities. However, manyfactors can reduce GPS accuracy or evendeny its availability; these range fromjamming, intentional or unintentional, toenvironmental and meteorologicalissues. As far as environment is con-cerned, forests or deep valleys can reflectthe signals generating what is normallyknown as signal multi-pathing which inturn generates a reduction in accuracy this happens even more sharply in urbanareas where the GPS receiver is sur-rounded by reflective surfaces and where

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although a noteworthy snag is thereliance on a network that is not underfriendly control.

Another addition to positioning sys-tems can be provided by wireless net-works, particularly Wi-Fi. However, Wi-Fi

ings. The lower frequency ensures optimalwall penetration while the higher one pro-vides location accuracy. The system wasaimed at tracking soldiers during training,using four transmitters located around abuilding, however a quickly deployableversion could be developed for use in cer-tain combat situations.

Thales Communications is working onan ultra-wideband system, exploitingpulse technology as defined in the IEEE802.15.4a standard to measure distanceswith a very high accuracy, down to 30cm. The application foreseen by Thales isindoor localisation that provides seam-less positioning with GNSS used out-doors. This requires a link distancebetween users of around 150 metres innon-line-of-sight conditions indoors. The

main limitation to achieve this range inthe presence of obstacles is the powerlevel imposed by the generic regulationin Europe, which is a maximum power of-41.3dBm/MHz in the 3.1 to 4.8 GHz fre-quency range.

The system developed by Thales, asintended for military applications as wellas for emergency teams (fire brigades,police and so forth), would need a 20dBpower increase over the current autho-rised limit. The proposed system canwork in two different modes, AnchorBased Localisation (ABL) and AnchorFree Localisation (AFL). In the latter thesystem works by measuring all the dis-tances between the radios that are in thepropagation range. Data are exchangedin real time and the various positions

A close-up of theCamero Xaver 400,which is alreadydeployeddownrange and isbeing proposed tothe US Army for amajor contract.(Camero)

The Xaver 800 has four antennas andcan provide 3D images of the situationbehind a wall, which makes it thesystem of choice for special units.(Camero)

While the Xaver 400 is the systemproposed by Camero for tacticalsituations and provides a 2D view, asmaller system, the Xaver 100 seenhere, is under development and willonly tell the soldier if somebody isbehind the wall. (Camero)

The Thales F@stnet Twin hand-heldradio is a dual-band SDR that operatesthe St@rmille waveform on UHF andthe PR4G waveform on VHFwavebands. (Armada/JK)

networks are short-range and wide-areapositioning support would thus need a lotof Wi-Fi networks not to mention the factthat such a hybrid positioning systemwould require a database of all Wi-Fi trans-mitters and their exact locations via theirIP addresses to be able to triangulate aposition. The use of existing networks istherefore theoretical, although such a sys-tem may be used to create ad hoc Wi-Finetworks, via portable systems distributedon the ground and in buildings.

The Georgia Tech Research Institutehas developed a wideband local positioningsystem based on transmitters operating ontwo different wavelengths 915 MHz and5.49 GHz that track soldiers inside build-

form a matrix. If the matrix has sufficientvalues it can be inverted to obtain the rel-ative 3D positions of the nodes. This tech-nique can be used for deep indoor oper-ations (underground) and requires atleast five or six elements to be able towork. The company is currently workingto solve the problem of providing anabsolute reference like GNSS using AFLlocalisation in order to situate the userson a map.

The ABL technique requires deploy-ing fixed installations (at least threereceivers), which get, for instance, theirsynchronisation from a GPS. With thistechnique, the distances are calculatedonly with these fixed nodes and a trian-gulation is done for the positioning. Thistechnique is possible in a light indoorenvironment, as the nodes have to bewithin the range of the fixed nodes to cal-culate their position. Hybridisation withmicro-electromechanical inertial sensorsis also considered as an extension to the

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ranging measurements to provide com-plementary information.

Dead reckoning systems based oninertial sensors as well as on other sys-tems are also being considered, although3D remains a problem. Numerous soldiermodernisation programmes include nav-igation systems that do not rely only onsatellite navigation receivers. Dead reck-oning is thus usually employed, but someresearch centres and companies are inte-grating various systems into a single nav-igation unit to overcome the shortcom-ings of each single system.

Numerous companies are providingdead-reckoning modules, such as Honey-well with its 25-gram DRM 4000. This canbe directly interfaced with many GPSreceivers and manpack computers anddoes not require any extra sensors. Typi-cal accuracy is two per cent of the dis-tance travelled with an azimuth accuracyof under 1. Sensors include three com-mercial grade gyros, three accelerome-ters, three magnetometers and a baro-metric altimeter.

Man motion is one of the most chal-lenging applications for a navigation sys-

tem. Integrating satellite navigationtogether with inertial sensors, magne-tometers and barometric altimeters is oneof the most common approaches. Differ-ences can be found in the number andquality of inertial sensors, in their location(in the shoes or on the body), in the typeof inertial navigation algorithm, whetherusing standard algorithms supported byzero velocity updates or pedestrian deadreckoning (or both) each with differentprecision, drift and noise latitudes.

A personal dead-reckoning systemnormally uses a six degree of freedominertial measurement unit that generatesthe rate-of-rotation, and accelerationmeasurements are used in real time toestimate the location of the user relativeto a known starting point. To reduce themost significant errors caused by the biasdrift of the accelerometers, a techniqueknown as zero velocity update was imple-mented, which offers a considerablereduction in positioning errors.

As an example, Qinetiq developed aman-motion navigation system based onits Q20 High Sensitivity GPS ReceiverModule, the BAE Systems micro electro-

mechanical inertial measurement unit,combined with Qinetiq inertial naviga-tion equations, a PNI TCM-5 3 axis mag-netometer and a Druck RPT 350-055Bbarometric altimeter. A multi-sensorintegration algorithm is used to combinethe outputs of the various sensors to pro-duce an optimum navigation solution.

CommunicationsUrban canyons and buildings are certain-ly not the preferred environment forgood RF propagation. Some of the previ-ous solutions exploiting ultra-wide bandscan obviously carry not only positioninginformation but also voice and data.

The Prism 200 byCambridgeConsultants is awall-penetratingradar that providesinformation on thepresence of humanson the other side.(Armada/PV)

A Tactical Mesh Router, part of theCoco Communications Mobile Ad-hocNetwork. This system is known to beused by the US Coast Guard boardingteams, but could also be in use byother US services and possiblydeployed downrange. (CocoCommunications)

Released in May2010, the newestmember to theNovatel GNSS/INSSpan product familyis the IMU-LCI atactical-grade IMUwith fibre-optic gyrosand micro-mechanicalaccelerometers. TheSynchronous Position,Attitude andNavigation (Span)range provideaccurate inertialmeasurements.(Novatel)

Coco Communications developed aseries of hardware and software itemsthat can create instant, secure networksin tactical situations where traditionalnetworks may be hindered, as in shipsand buildings. The firms Mobile Ad-HocNetwork (Manet) routing allows net-work traffic to be quickly routed in rap-idly changing mobile environments.While software items can be used whenexisting networks are available, tacticalmesh routers recreate a network insidebuildings or underground structures.Cocos systems have been tested in inter-operability communications exercisesand are being used by the US CoastGuard, Army and Navy. Weighing 0.73grams, the Coco Tactical Mesh Router isbattery operated with an eight-hourendurance. It is put into operation bypushing a single button, a series of colourdiodes instructs the operator where tolocate other similar systems to providecoverage. For security reasons theserouters cannot be turned off without apassword entered on a PDA or laptop.They provide secure voice, video anddata communications and feature an


internal antenna, although external aeri-als can be used to extend range for spe-cial uses.

The network based on these routers iswholly scalable with no limitation to thesize or location of the network. The indi-vidual communication terminal can be anyIP-enabled device and since many soldiermodernisation programmes include suchruggedised personal digital assistants, load-ing Coco Node software to become part ofthe Manet is not an issue. Currently Coco isdistributing Node Version 4.6, which canoperate on systems running Windows XPSP2, SP3, Windows Server 2003 SP1, SP2,Windows Mobile 5.0 & 6.0 or Linux. PDAsloaded with Coco Node become them-selves a node of the network.

Another software tool provided byCoco is a communicator voice, video anddata softphone application, which allowscreation of any number of tactical voicenetworks, integrating video monitoringinto conference calls using cameraslinked on the network. All those systems

legacy systems. It supports Ethernet,Packets, ATM and TDM transport oversingle, dual or four SHDSL channels.SHDSL interfaces can provide data ratesup to 5.69 Mbps with a single pair con-nection and 11.38 Mbps with two. Nor-mally linked to a power source, it canoperate on batteries for up to 20 hours. Ifnetwork services are lost, it is able tomaintain the voice and data services inrestricted operation mode.

The Network Extender is a self-heal-ing and self-configuring unit, which auto-matically and transparently adapts to theavailable network services. It can belinked to a radio and thus allows the com-

Closely integratedwith the SoldierRadio Waveform,the Rifleman Radiofrom GeneralDynamics C4Systems is expectedto soon enter low-rate initialproduction.(General DynamicsC4 Systems)

The Tactical Radio Gateway links the Manet developed by Coco Communications withexisting tactical networks. (Coco Communications)

Seen here mounted on the companys20-Watt A-320 amplifier, UltralifesDual Port Adapter allows two separateRF antennas to be connected to theamplifier. The DPA also functions as alow-noise amplifier for UHF satcomoperations. (Ultralife)

The Coco Communicator software cantransform any PDA into a systemcapable of linking to Coco ad hocnetworks, and making itself a networknode. (Coco Communications)

support end-to-end as well as link cryp-tography. Manets are used by the USCoast Guard boarding teams, which onceused up to 40 Tactical Mesh Routerswhen operating onboard a large ship, butother customers are still undisclosed.Through the Coco Tactical Radio Gate-way the ad hoc network can be linked toany type of radio. The case containing thesystem weighs ten kg.

When the need arises to establish acommand post at battalion or companylevel in an urban strongpoint, communi-cations are the first thing to be estab-lished. If the unit plans to spend sometime in the same location, it may be quiteuseful, in an era of networking, to link thevarious cells of the command post thatwill probably deploy at least oneruggedised laptop each.

Where the use of a radio-based net-work could be challenged by a building orinterception by the opponent, Elektrobitof Finland has developed what might beseen as the modern version of the oldfield telephone. Known as Tough VoIPNetwork Extender, it has the advantageof working with the same old two-wire orfour-wire connection, but is a hybridisa-tion of a Voice over Internet protocol ter-minal, Ethernet switch, multi-portSHDSL modem and gateway to analogue

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mand post to run on a single VHF or HFradio, possibly located at some distance inorder to avoid precise location by anopponent. The Network Extender has aweight of 8.9 kg, and Elektrobit providesits Tough VoIP terminal for the system, afully integrated wireline IP phone thatcan be either operated as part of EBTough VoIP solution or as IP terminaltogether with third party equipment. Adynamic real-time phonebook is availablewith the simple push of a button. ToughVoIP is able to maintain voice comms inrestricted operation mode where networkservices have been lost, and it is self-heal-ing and self-configuring.

three or four-men-strong fighting cellsincluding an RPG gunner, a sniper, amachine gunner and an ammunitionbearer. Deployed at ground level, inupper stories and in basements, five to sixcells could be in charge of attacking a sin-gle vehicle, mostly from the top, while dis-mounted infantry was used by the Russ-ian troops to protect the vehicles.

Israels new armoured personnel carri-ers are based on main battle tank chassis,thus providing as much armour protectionas possible. The Namer, which is currentlyentering service, is based on the MerkavaMk 4 and is equipped with the RafaelAspro-A active defence system (also

Soldier comms in the urban junglerequires a soldier-proof solution. TheITT Spearnet UHF radio is for frontlinesquadmember comms, providing multi-hop routing, wideband ad hoc networkvoice, GPS with situational awarenessreporting and up to 1500 kbps datatransfer out to six km. The unit includesSip/VoIP for connecting to telephonenetworks. (Armada/JK)

General Dynamics C4 Systems hasupdated its URC-200 to V2 status. Themulti-band, multi-mode line-of-sightradio operates over the VHF, UHF, AMand FM bands, providing enhancedconnectivity; for example, from groundunits to direct support aircraft.(General Dynamics C4 Systems)

Elektrobit of Finland proposes its digital Tough VoIP Network Extender for the quickestablishment of a Lan at lower level command posts. (Elektrobit)

known as the Trophy), while the Achzarit isbased on the T-54/55 chassis. Israel, howev-er, is in a situation that is not comparablewith that of the other western countries:while the other armies do not know wherethey will deploy for the next operation,which most likely will be another CRO,Israel knows where the next fight will takeplace, knows who its enemy will be andknows that deployment of its heavyweightvehicles will not be a problem, as it willfight alongside its borders.

Things are much different for othernations, which normally must deploy faraway from home, and which have to takeinto consideration many other elementssuch as mobility in terms of road capacityand bridge load limitations, damages toroad systems, psychological impact, etc.Heavyweight vehicles are therefore sel-dom used in such missions, or only as a lastresource. Most vehicles are thus wheeledand medium weight, and armoured, mine-resistant and ambush protected. Apartfrom roadside bombs, the main threatcomes from the ubiquitous rocket-pro-pelled grenades, the hollow charge war-heads of which easily defeat mediumarmoured vehicles. Various solutions havebeen developed to counter this threat, fromslat armour, passive add-on armour to reac-tive armour and active self-protection.

Slat armour was adopted on US ArmyStrykers in mid-2000, as it was a lighteroption compared to the add-on platesused until then to withstand hits from

With a weight of 450 grams, the ToughVoIP features a 2.7-inch diode-illuminat-ed display with a 128 x 64-pixel resolu-tion, an international standard 16-buttonkeypad with numbers, letters and specialcharacters, up and down arrow buttonsfor menu browsing, confirm and cancelbuttons, a push-to-talk button on the sideand keypad lock. Elektrobit provided thesystem to the Finnish Air Force in 2009and last May the Finnish Army started aseries of field tests. Elektrobit aims atworking as a partner with the maindefence communication companies, pro-viding its systems as the final interfacewith tactical command posts.

Armour and FirepowerAs much as situational awareness is ofparamount importance to reduce risks, itwill never enable one to avoid contactwith enemies. Movement within urbanareas with vehicles is always a risky busi-ness, as not only do opponents have manycaches on hand, they also have a much bet-ter knowledge of the area. Armourremains the principal medium of protec-tion for troops, although a series of com-promises have to be made to cope with theurban scenario, especially when engagedin a crisis response operation.

Protecting an armoured vehicle in anurban context is not an easy task;Chechen war returns indicate that thelower level combat group consisted of


shoulder-fired rockets. Indeed, at 2.36tonnes slat weight was 1.36 tonneslighter. The major drawback of this solu-tion is that the standoff distance neededto reduce incoming warhead effective-ness translates into a 45-cm increase invehicle overall width, which in turnreduces mobility. BAE Systems Lrodcage has been fitted to US Army and USMarine Corps Mraps. The British Armyalso adopted this solution for many typesof vehicles it deployed to Afghanistan.Ruag of Switzerland developed the Side-pro-Lasso (Light Armour System againstShaped Ordnance), a 3D structure thatoffers multi-hit protection with a specificweight of less than 15 kg/metre2 which,according to Ruag, is 50% less than itscompetitors.

Instead of a bar armour Ruag adopteda mesh screen made of special four-mil-limetre-thick high-tensile steel, the meshgauge was established following theoret-ical and practical tests in order to opti-mise the chances of stopping the two-kiloround flying at 300 metres/sec before itreaches the vehicle armour, while possi-bly avoiding detonating it. The Lasso hasbeen adopted by the Danish Army for itsM113s deployed in Afghanistan.

IBD Deisenroth of Germany added toits Amap system the Amap-P, a modularscreen system with a weight of 15kg/metre2 that can be folded against theoriginal armour when not in use, to facil-itate vehicle storage and transportation.According to IBD, the Amap-P is able todestroy or short-circuit the warhead ignition system, and thereby prevent itstriggering.

IBD also offers the Amap-SC (ShapedCharge) passive armour in various con-figurations to match the required level ofprotection, for a weight that is eight to tentimes less than the equivalent rolledhomogeneous armour protection.

In March 2009 Ruag acquired themajority of Geke in Germany and creat-ed Geke Schutztechnik (GST), whichcontributed to the development of newproducts. The first is Sidepro-RPG, whichaccording to the company can withstandmultiple hits from RPG-7V, VM and VL.

The system weighs less than 45 kg/metre2and is 250 mm thick with minimised inci-dence on vehicles mobility at any ratemuch less than that of conventional reac-tive armour, which weighs an estimatedten times more. Further developmentsaim to ensure protection against kineticenergy weapons and roadside bombs. TheSidepro-RPG can be used in conjunctionwith the aforementioned Lasso.

General Dynamics ATP is replacingUS Army Strykers slat armour withRafaels new reactive armour based on

The Danish Army installed slat armour even on its Leopard 2 deployed in Afghanistanin order to improve their resistance against RPGs. (Danish Army)

The IBD Amap-ADS active system has been thoroughly tested and should soon start tobe produced. (Armada/PV)

low burning rate explosive, whichremains inert if hit by small arms fire orduring transport and maintenance phas-es, but develops its full energy when hitby a shaped charge. According to Rafael,the collateral danger from possible frag-ments is only 1.3% higher than that of avehicle equipped with passive armour,since fragments are mostly propelledupwards and downwards, and only veryfew are propelled horizontally. Deliveriesbegan in mid-2010. Similar materiel hasalso been used to provide skirt armour toBradleys.

Active armour systems can also consid-erably improve vehicle safety. However, tobe effective in an urban scenario they needto feature extremely short reaction times ifthey want to defeat rocket grenades fired

This diagram shows the deployment of Coco TMRs and PDAs during ship boarding and inspection. The system can also be used insidebuildings. (Coco Communications)

data about urban environments. The con-cept proposes to improve geospatialintelligence collection and processing byfusing light detection and ranging andgeographic information systems datasources used to detect and classify urbangeospatial features, in order to automati-cally characterise object attributes andfunction. The design concept wouldenable the capture of analyst expertiseusing advanced machine learningapproaches. a

Compendium Urban Warfare 2010Supplement to issue 4/2010

Volume 34, Issue No.4, June/July 2010

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Compendium Urban Warfare 2010Supplement to issue 4/2010

ABC

Index to Advertisers

ATK C4Ceradyne 7Curtiss-Wright 21Elbit Systems 7ITT 15Kollmorgen Electro-Optical 11Meprolight 11

Raytheon BBN Technologies 19Recon Robotics 5Remington 9RUAG Land Systems 21Rubb Buildings 17Textron Marine & Land C3Ultralife C2

intelligence gathering known as Urgent(Urban Reasoning and GeospatialExploitation Technology), in otherwords, a tool that will help its users betterunderstand the nature of locations, iden-tify shapes and provide classification ofobjects for a broad range of pressingurban mission planning analyses. It willalso provide automated time-sensitivesituation analysis, such as warning ofvehicles found on a road shoulder afterdark, or estimating damage to a buildingexterior after an explosion.

A contract worth seven million USdollars was assigned to BAE SystemsNational Security Solutions to providesupport to Darpa for Phase II of the pro-gramme. BAE is currently developing adesign concept that promises to speed thecollection and processing of geospatial

from a few tens of metres. Currently themost promising solution seems to emanatefrom IBD Deisenroth. Known as the ADS(Active Defense System), it has an inter-cept range of under two metres and a min-imum defeat distance of ten metres, whilethe latter figure for most other systems isevaluated to at least 50 metres, whichmight prove too much to defeat a nearpoint-blank shot.

Turning to other means of close-rangeprotection like remote-controlled roof-mounted weapons, urban environmentscommand a wide elevation arc, from atleast -30 to +70. We shall not dwell onthis subject here since it is examined indetailed in an ad hoc article published inthe magazine with which this Compendi-um has been despatched.

Urgent Intelligence NeededRecognising threats in an urban environ-ment is much more difficult than doing itin a symmetrical warfare on an open bat-tlefield. Rubbish bins containing bombs,snipers concealed in doorways and win-dows, flat surfaces that could be potentiallanding zones the analysis of an urbanscenario is all but easy.

To achieve this goal the US militarylaunched a programme aimed at urban

Combining its Sidepro-Lasso mesh protection and the Sidepro-RPG passive protectionRuag can provide comprehensive solutions for different types of vehicles. (Ruag)

An APC M113 equipped with RuagSidepro-RPG and Sidepro-Lasso.Clearly visible is the 250-mm-thickcompact design that does not obstructthe mobility of the vehicle. (Ruag)

armada Compendium Urban Warfare 201024

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46681739 Armada International Compendium Urban Warfare 4 2010

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