SOTECH 10-1 (Feb. 2012)

SOF Leader

Rear Adm. Thomas L. Brown II

CommanderSpecial Operations Command South

Data Analytics O Rifle Gear O Geo TrackingGround Mobility Vehicle O Satellite Communications

February 2012 Volume 10, Issue 1

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World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

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Editor’s Perspective

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Rear Admiral Thomas L. Brown IICommander

Special Operations Command South

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Data AnalyticsHow well the fight will go often depends on what you know. The e-warrior’s ability to access immense amounts of data on the battlefield is a plus, but what is key is the ability to sift through gigantic gigabits of data to find the essential truths.By Jeff Goldman

20

Geo Tracking and TargetingIt is critical to know just where you are, and even more critical to know where the enemy lies in wait. We look at the latest land navigation technologies and targeting systems.By William Murray

5

Ground Mobility VehicleSpecial operators are few in number, so they must move fast—often over rough terrain—to reach the objective and then disappear before the enemy knows they were there. A new Ground Mobility Vehicle will help them to achieve that goal.By Dave Ahearn

23

Lighter, Better Rifle GearWe examine the wide array of rifle gear from sights to lights, rangefinders to reticles. They often provide the winning edge for warfighters who must combat an elusive and dangerous enemy.By William Murray

10

Satellite CommunicationsFrom the empty deserts of Iraq to the mountains and deep canyons of Afghanistan, warfighters have encountered problems in maintaining communications. Solution: satellites. By Steve Goodman

Special operations organizations—including warriors who executed another stunningly well-executed mission of danger and daring—won’t be whacked in President Obama’s fiscal year 2013 budget plan.

Obama, in the House chamber at the Capitol to present his State of the Union address, publicly praised Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta for the special ops rescue mission, saying, “Good job tonight.” In the gallery above them, SOCOM Commander Admiral Bill McRaven sat next to Michelle Obama. Instead of cuts in special ops strength, the number of special operators will grow from about 64,000 to roughly 70,000 over three years in Obama’s budget plan.

U.S. special operators rescued American Jessica Buchanan and Danish citizen Poul Hagen Thisted, who had been kidnapped in Somalia by pirates as the two were working in a campaign against mines. The swift, meticulous rescue mission burnished the already shining image of special ops, following the stellar SEALs mission to take out Osama bin Laden.

Even before Obama delivered his State of the Union address, he clearly indicated his strong support for special ops during a budget briefing at the Pentagon with Panetta and others. The president praised special opera-tors, saying, “We’ve delivered justice to Osama bin Laden and we put that terrorist network on the path to defeat.”

Similarly, Panetta praised special ops. In the fiscal 2013 defense budget plan, “We will protect our invest-ments in special operations forces,” the secretary stated.

The strategic plan “makes important investments in emerging and proven capabilities like cyber and special operations,” General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

However, as the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq draw down, special operators may shift to reflect a greater emphasis on other types of missions such as aiding partner nations.

Admiral James A. “Sandy” Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, explained how the new defense strategy paper that has informed the budget-cutting places a high value on the work that special ops units perform.

“We’ve invested a lot in our special operations forces over the last decade” during wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Winnefeld told journalists. Special ops organizations are “also very good at working with partners,” allied nations that join the United States in facing an enemy. “We are going to retain those folks,” Winnefeld said of budget plans for special ops.

Dave AhearnEditor

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

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EDITOR’S PERSPECTIVE

President Obama nominated Frank Kendall III to be the top Pentagon weapons procurement leader. Kendall currently occupies the post—undersecretary for defense for acquisition, technology and logistics—on an acting basis. The nomination is subject to Senate confirmation. Kendall succeeds Ashton B. Carter, who moved up to

become deputy secretary of defense.

Air Force Brigadier General George F. Williams has been nominated to the rank of major general and for assignment as mobilization assistant to the commander, Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurlburt Field, Fla.

Air Force Colonel Scott A. Howell has been nominated to the rank of brigadier general. Howell is currently serving as special assistant to the commander, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla.

Air Force Colonel Albert M. Elton II has been nominated to the rank of brigadier general. Elton

is currently serving as commander, 27th Special Operations Wing, Air Force Special Operations Command, Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

Army Major General William K. Fuller, deputy commanding general, U.S. Army Special Operations Command, Fort Bragg, N. C., was assigned to be commanding general,

25th Infantry Division, Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

Battelle promoted Lee Ann Schwope to vice president and manager of the national security, commercial and international markets. Since joining Battelle in 2010, Schwope grew Battelle’s commercial armor business.

Acquisition Broadens Robotic Capabilities

HDT Global announced that its HDT Robotics Division has completed the acquisition of Kinea Design LLC based in Evanston, Ill. A technology leader in human/robotic collaboration, Kinea specializes in advanced medical robotics applications and user interface/control capabilities, including touch-sensitive control and haptics. The Kinea team will add a new dimension to the HDT Robotics Division, including experience in rehabilitation robotics, robot-assisted surgery and in industrial ergonomic assisted robots.

“We at HDT Robotics are very pleased to have Kinea join our team, and look forward to our continued success in both prosthetics and robotics technology development,” said Tom Van Doren, Ph.D., chief operating officer of HDT Robotics.

The company and Kinea worked closely together on the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Revolutionizing Prosthetics 2009 (RP2009) program that resulted in developing an upper-extremity prosthesis known as the Modular Prosthetic Limb. As part of the HDT robotics team, Kinea engineers developed much of the wrist, hand and fingers, including fingertip sensors.

Utilizing technology it developed under the RP2009 Program, HDT Robotics offers a ruggedized robotic arm, the MK1, which can be mounted to any mobile platform for use by the military and law enforcement units. With near human dexterity, strength and speed, this manipulator arm allows users to grasp and handle irregularly shaped objects. The company continues to advance this technology and is currently developing a two-armed robot, which will add even more flexibility and capability for completing hazardous missions.

V-22 Osprey Engine Maintenance Procured

Rolls-Royce Corp., Indianapolis, Ind., was awarded a $15.6 million modifica-tion to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price contract to exercise an option for maintenance services in support of the V-22 AE1107C turboshaft engines.

Work will be performed in Oakland, Calif. (70 percent), and Indianapolis, Ind. (30 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2012. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.

Software Integration, Other Services Obtained

For Osprey, OthersScience Applications International Corp., San Diego, Calif., was awarded an

$11.5 million indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity, cost plus fixed-fee contract to provide Comprehensive Automated Maintenance Environment, Optimized (CAMEO) system and software engineering support services in support of a range of Department of Defense programs, including the V-22 Osprey.

Work will include software integration and test, product validation/verifica-tion analyses, product integration and release, and training. This three-year contract includes one two-year option, which, if exercised, would bring the potential value of this contract to $19 million.

Work will be performed in San Diego, Calif. (50 percent), and at govern-ment sites nationwide (50 percent), and is expected to be completed November 29, 2012, and with the option exercised, work will continue through November 29, 2014.

This contract was competitively procured via Request for Proposal N66001-11-R-0048 published on the Federal Business Opportunities website, and the SPAWAR e-Commerce Central website, with one offer received. Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, San Diego, Calif., is the contracting activity.

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffWHISPERS

Compiled by KMi Media Group staffPEOPLE

www.SOTECH-kmi.com4 | SOTECH 10.1

Special Operations Command is seeking a better ride for its stealth warriors, one that will provide them with superior agility, safety, C4ISR/communications, armaments and more. The ground mobility vehicle (GMV) 1.1 will offer advances over the current HMMWV-based GMV, which comes in several SOF-specific versions.

In a combined sources sought announcement, SOCOM stated a requirement to procure a modified-government off-the-shelf vehicle with SOF peculiar modifications.

One requirement is that the vehicle must be highly mobile, mean-ing a vehicle that can move quickly. During a decade of war in Afghani-stan and Iraq, as the enemy employed ever-larger IEDs targeting U.S. vehicles, heavy armor was added that caused vehicle performance to suffer. In the next iteration of the GMV, SOCOM wants a vehicle that can deftly move at speed, whisking special operators to an objective and then extract them just as swiftly.

The GMV is classified as the medium-weight part of an overall special ops tactical mobility requirement that ranges from very light-weight assets such as all terrain vehicles up to heavyweights such as MRAPs, M-ATVs and Strykers modified for special ops missions.

One requirement for the GMV is that it must be transportable on the Boeing CH-47 Chinook helo. Chinooks can carry up to 28,000 pounds of payload. SOCOM does not, however, require the more dif-ficult challenge of transportability on a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which has a payload of up to 8,400 pounds, depending upon desired range.

The GMV program has attracted the interest of major and smaller vehicle makers, involving a proposed production rate of about 200 vehicles annually over five years (base year plus four option years). But the program also has attracted the interest of scores of companies poised to offer vehicle components, ranging from suspension systems to transparent armor, from vehicle protection systems to electronics and much more.

For the overall main contracts, SOCOM envisions awarding an indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract, with the acquisition process divided into two phases: First there will be a written proposal with certified test data from each contractor, and from the field of pro-posals SOCOM will award up to two contracts for test and evaluation.

In the second phase, SOCOM might buy prototypes from each of the companies. Then SOCOM will select the single winner and move ahead to production.

This scenario can be altered, depending on comments that con-tractors provide.

AdvAnced vehicles

Lockheed Martin has a singular offering for the GMV, Ric Magness, director of the Havoc 8x8 Program in the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control sector, explained. The common vehicle meets the GMV criteria, he continued, and importantly, the “common vehicle is the best choice for commonality among the military fleet, as hundreds in its family are used and sustained by U.S., NATO and coalition forces in theater today.”

Further, choosing this asset means dealing with an immensely experienced provider, the largest defense contractor in the world. “Lockheed Martin is an established ground vehicles provider for the U.S. and allies worldwide,” Magness explained. “We’ve produced and have been sustaining common vehicles for U.S. customers for eight years, and we think it will be a seamless fit into the existing fleet.”

In other words, SOCOM has the opportunity to obtain a known asset from a known vendor. “Common vehicle is an off-the-shelf solution, having over 700 vehicles in its family in operation around the world, so the infrastructure for support is already there,” he emphasized. “It really shines when it comes to capability, and there are few vehicles that can approach its agility, speed and performance in theater. Common vehicle also fits internally in many airborne assets, like the CH-47 and CH-53, making it one of the most transportable combat vehicles today.”

The common vehicle provides the capabilities that special opera-tors need, Magness continued. “Common vehicle is an off-road combat vehicle that can move quickly [over 80 mph] at long ranges [440 miles with auxiliary tank], giving dangerous missions maximum flexibility,” he said. “It’s fast for quick entry and egress, and it is designed for inhospitable environments, so teams don’t have to be tied to the road.”

Although the common vehicle isn’t a huge piece of hardware, it can carry what special operators require. “Despite its light body and quick speed, common vehicle is a heavy hauler, and it exceeds the GMV payload requirement,” Magness said. O

sOcOM needs FAst, Flexible, trAnspOrts FOr sOF

by dAve AheArn

sOtech editOr

For more information, contact SOTECH Editor Dave Ahearn at [email protected] or search our online archives for related stories at www.SOTECH-kmi.com.

www.SOTECH-kmi.com SOTECH 10.1 | 5

As the amount of data available to warfighters in the field continues to grow, the ability to manage and make use of that data as efficiently as possible becomes increasingly crucial.

Several companies now offer a variety of ways to improve battlefield awareness through leading edge technologies and data analytics capabilities that provide soldiers with a better understanding of the situation around them than they’ve ever had before.

Still, SOCOM spokesman Kenneth McGraw said there is some key functional-ity SOCOM continues to seek from indus-try today. “Within the battlespace-awareness functional area, SOCOM is interested in tech-nologies that will enable cross cueing of SOF organic, DoD and coalition partnered intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) collection assets and technologies that improve precise target location, identification accuracy, and analytic confidence and speed,” he said.

And in meeting SOF needs in particular, McGraw said, it’s all about flexibility. “In tactical deployments, SOF typically operate

in smaller elements as compared to con-ventional forces, as well as within multiple theaters concurrently,” he said. “The tech-nologies that support SOF in these broad roles need to be as scalable, agile and flexible as our deployed forces.”

MissiOn plAnning

Meeting those needs starts with training and mission planning. David Irwin, director of ground forces training at Boeing, said the company’s 55-inch touch-screen Virtual Mis-sion Board, which provides a three-dimen-sional view of terrain, can be key for planning (the same technology is also available on a Panasonic ToughBook for greater portability). “When you do, say, a night insertion and have to move over land 10 miles, in the dark … having a three-dimensional view of the area in front of you really helps you get oriented on the ground—as opposed to looking at a two-dimensional map and trying to figure out where you are,” he said.

And it’s not just for visualization. “The Virtual Mission Board gives the military

personnel access to a training area or a real mission area in 3-D,” Irwin said. “We allow them to plan on it, so they can put military graphics on it, they can draw on it, they can zoom into the terrain, they can do a simulated flyover or walkthrough of the terrain—they can do a lot of virtual rehearsals in that ter-rain.”

The same is true for planning UAV deploy-ments. “We allow them to fly virtual routes of different types of UAVs—whatever type they specify—over the area, so they get used to what kind of data they’re going to get from that unmanned aerial system, and how they’re going to share that with the people on the team,” Irwin said.

Using Boeing’s Virtual Battlespace 2 train-ing tool, Irwin said, the company worked with some students at Iowa State University on model development, then did a demonstra-tion at Fort Leonard Wood. “The Iowa State students who had helped us came to the demonstration—they had never been to the training area that we were in, but they had been in that area in Virtual Battlespace 2 for weeks,” he said. “And when they walked into

Data Analytics

by JeFF gOldMAn, sOtech cOrrespOndent

systeMs MAke A FlOOd OF sensOr inFOrMAtiOn understAndAble tO wArFighters.


the training area, they knew where everything was—they knew the insides of buildings, they knew where the windows were, the stairwells, they knew it all.”

reAl tiMe dAtA AnAlysis

In an actual mission environment, Bar-bara Flanagan, CEO of Boeing Kestrel, said the company’s TAC solution can make an enormous difference in monitoring and man-aging data. “Leveraging the inherent data processing and visualization capabilities of TAC, Boeing Kestrel supports elements of the special operations community by providing a real-time and holistic common operations and intelligence picture,” she said. “Boeing is placing special emphasis on supporting global synchronization of SOF missions by marshal-ing vast quantities of all source data and persistently searching and monitoring all of that data via TAC for SOF’s essential elements of information.”

The results of that process, Flanagan said, are then presented to planners in a com-mon user interface that incorporates both

geospatial and nodal analysis tools. “This advanced analytic capability allows planners, analysts and decision-makers to share data, questions, methodology and findings in real time, and plug any new data source into the picture as the operational situation dictates,” she said.

Flanagan said the company’s products enable analysis of a wide variety of data types, both by analysts at various headquarters and by warfighters in the field. “These data sources include unstructured text, whether open source or record message traffic, com-plete with attachments, and multimedia files, including larger documents and sound files, sketches, images, diagrams and videos,” she said. “These sources of information, from any language, are added to sources of data extracted from databases—structured data—so that the combination of these unstructured and structured data sources provide all-source insight to the analyst and decision-maker.”

John Purvis, president and CEO of AME Unmanned Air Systems, said the biggest chal-lenge his company currently faces in meet-ing SOCOM forces’ needs lies in providing a

persistent ISR capability in non-permissive environments. “We’re developing and deliver-ing a runway-independent system that has long endurance, but also can be based off-field in pretty rugged, austere environments—but then also has low signatures, low acoustic IR and even radar signatures so that it can oper-ate in places where the current systems might not be able to operate,” he said.

The first fielding of that system, Purvis said, is slated to be in AFRICOM in June 2012. “What we’re focused on is making sure that we have comparable payload capabilities to some systems that are much larger than we are, but at a much lower cost and in a much smaller package,” he said. “Because we’re focused on keeping our signature low … we can use smaller sensors but get the same fidelity of imagery off of the platform by flying much closer to the targets.”

The company’s SharkFin mission man-agement solution combines planning and mission execution in a single software pack-age. “It allows us to do very quick, dynamic re-tasking in the system,” Purvis said. “We can do route planning in a predictive manner

PS_MPU4_ad.indd 1 8/23/11 1:52 PM


to make sure that we can service the targets in the manner which we’re required to, while also making sure that our signature that could be detected is very, very low.”

The SharkFin solution, Purvis said, is also designed specifically to control multiple UAVs. “Our ground team, because of where we operate and our mobility requirements, has to be much smaller than comparable systems,” he said. “So for instance, our system might operate with about a third of the amount of people on the ground as some of the current systems out there right now … and in order to have that be possible, we’re relying on a lot of software tools to allow our limited amount of crew to do a lot more than they would nor-mally be able to do.”

In general, Purvis said, the system is very focused on delivering data directly to the people on the ground. “For SOCOM, our whole intention is for us to be able to use our aircraft to transmit as much information and intelligence to the ground forces as possible … so we try to do whatever basic exploitation we can, and then pass it off immediately to the SOF team in the field,” he said. “We’re trying to be as real-time as possible … to greatly reduce the amount of time it takes to get some of this intel and this information from our platform directly to the guys in the field.”

Drew Fisher, GXP director of sales, Ameri-cas at BAE Systems, said SOCOM leverages the company’s SOCET GXP (geospatial exploi-tation product) solution for access to a wide range of key image processing and intel prod-uct generation functionality. “The analysts that are assigned in the [SOCOM component commands] are building map and imagery products to help with identifying areas to land helicopters, doing route reconnaissance and surveillance to look at potential hazards from when a group is moving from Point A to Point B along a route, or to identify alterna-tive routes … any of the intel overlays that are needed to successfully and safely move people from one location to another, all those tools are available in SOCET GXP,” he said.

One example, Fisher said, is the Grid Reference Graphic tool. “It puts a grid down on top of an image that provides a quick reference so that everyone is operating off the same sheet of music when they’re conducting their missions,” he said.

And in making optimal use of imagery, Fisher said, it’s key to be able to consolidate a wide range of distinct data sources into a single view. “It can be satellite imagery, either classified or commercial, it could be an air-borne source … and these analysts can pile

all that data into SOCET GXP, sift through it, organize it, and get an understanding of the area that they’re going to be operating in,” he said. “We have a very significant ter-rain generation and analysis capability as well—it is one thing to look at an image and say, ‘Yeah, I can move from Point A to Point B, but there could be some very significant terrain challenges in moving from 2,000 feet to 12,000 feet in elevation, which can cause a lot of issues operationally.”

What’s more, Fisher said, SOCET GXP is designed to allow analysts to handle a wide range of tasks that would previously have required several different pieces of software. “They might have used one piece of software to create these terrain products, another one to do some of the image analysis, another one to do an overlay or create a hard copy product … but with our software, what we’ve been able to do is consolidate that whole opera-tion into one package,” he said. “It reduces the training time, it reduces the amount of software maintenance that the organizations have to pay, and it increases the effectiveness of the analyst … these analysts don’t have a lot of time to be jumping around from one software to the other to pull an intel package together—so what they’ve found with our application is it’s very, very efficient.”

dAtA MAnAgeMent And predictive AnAlytics

Rebecca Garcia, director at SAS Federal, said functionality like social media analytics can also help provide crucial information in the field. “Special operations has a difficult mission—not only is time a critical factor, complete understanding of the enemy is nec-essary,” she said. “SAS provides several ana-lytic capabilities that could be used to provide greater awareness of the battlefield or threat. Social media analytics provides understand-ing of tweets, blogs, Facebook postings and other social media outlets … the combina-tion of social media analytics and geospatial coordinates can show how the sentiment of a region has changed over time. This can give better understanding to how humanitarian or other efforts have had a positive or nega-tive effect on the sentiment of individuals or groups in a specific geographic area.”

Regardless of the data source, Garcia said, SAS can also offer a significant benefit in enabling information sharing across a wide variety of data formats. “One key advantage that SAS provides is our ability to connect disparate data sources, bring them together

into a single dashboard and even provide alerts associated with time-critical changes,” she said. “SAS’ Enterprise Data Integration allows us to connect varied data types and formats into a single view so that they can be correlated and make sense of data that may not have been correlated previously. When this is combined with our Data Quality tools, tools that can manage massive amounts of data, missing data fields, mistyped informa-tion, incorrect data, there can be a huge increase in understanding that results.”

And coupling data management with pre-dictive analytics, Garcia said, can ensure that users are as fully informed as possible in plan-ning their next steps. “In some cases, data may uncover a known pattern of behavior, or identify patterns that resulted in a specific outcome—so SOF will be able to recognize these patterns early in the process next time, and be able to proactively address instead of reacting after the fact,” she said. “This is especially helpful when dealing with large volumes of continuous data, where it is too difficult to determine patterns due to the amount of data available and the velocity in which it is received or ingested. Predictive analytics will also help provide a degree of certainty with each possible outcome, based on the type and amount of data available and models that have been built for the purpose.”

pOrtAble sAtellite AntennA

Still, no data is useful if you can’t get it to the people who need it in the field. One of the many options for ensuring ongoing connectivity no matter the location is Gatr Technologies’ unique inflatable satellite com-munications system. “The key benefits of the Gatr are the packaging form factor and weight, due to the ability to pack a large aperture (2.4-meter) antenna in a compres-sion bag weighing only 22 pounds (dish and radome),” said Cyrus Wilson, Gatr’s SOCOM program manager. “The whole system can pack in as few as two cases under 100 pounds each (vs. 1,000-plus pounds and six to 10 large cases for conventional rigid 2.4-meter portable systems), is easy to set up, and enables high-bandwidth communications in areas where other systems are not feasible.”

Crucially, Wilson said, Gatr’s reduced space requirements during transport can allow for other critical gear or personnel to be added, while its reduced weight makes it cheaper to transport or ship. “At the same time, Gatr preserves the advantage of larger dishes, such as higher bandwidth, C-band


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

related stories at www.SOTECH-kmi.com.

capability and lower satellite power/cost required to establish a link,” he said. “Also, the radome shape [round] makes it more aerodynamic and therefore significantly more stable in high winds.”

Thanks to their portability, Wilson said, Gatr antennas are a perfect solution for enabling high-bandwidth satellite commu-nications in remote areas. “This makes them ideal for all types of data transmission, voice communication, video relay and other IP-enabled activities—the system has been used all over the globe by a diverse range of U.S. military, NGO and private sector operators,” he said.

Several different versions of the solution are available. “Gatr’s flagship product is the 2.4-meter communications terminal—how-ever, we also have a 1.8-meter solution in production that is popular within the U.S., and we will be announcing a new 1.2-meter backpack solution in March,” Wilson said. “We even have a 4.6-meter inflatable antenna in development for quick deploy/set-up of hub solutions until permanent units can be installed.”

leverAging sMArt sensOrs

From an ISR perspective, Neil K. Peter-son, director of strategy and business devel-opment for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems (ISRS) at Raytheon, said his company’s emphasis for the U.S. military is on smart sensors—leveraging technology innovation to provide increas-ingly capable systems that are more effective, more affordable and require less manpower to support. “This in turn enhances real-time decision-making, minimizes the data pushed through constrained data-link pipes and reduces operator workload,” he said.

Raytheon, Peterson said, is enabling dis-tributed, netted operation by enhancing the architecture, interfaces, processing and capa-bilities of its sensors. “With these enhance-ments, the military will better address threats in the future battlespace,” he said. “Operating in contested or denied air space, for example, will require gathering information from far away and processing through it more quickly in order to take action.”

One example of smart sensors at Ray-theon, Peterson said, is the company’s hyper-spectral sensing capability, which can provide expanded spectrum coverage for emerging missions. “Missile defense and wide area surveillance are also among the capabilities Raytheon is looking to add to its sensors. …

The marketplace and threat drivers for our future technologies are greater affordability for our customer, rapid fielding of enhanced capabilities, need to reduce data overload, and a requirement for persistent surveillance in areas of concern,” he said.

Jon Percy, vice president of business development and strategy at Overwatch Sys-tems, said the key challenge in meeting spe-cial forces’ needs comes down to the fact that they can’t be tied down to a single network. “They are generally very light on available bandwidth, and they don’t have a lot of heavy-duty computing capability,” he said. “They do periodically tie back to a FOB, or maybe even via satellite they’ll go back to national assets—but as a rule these guys execute pretty independently.”

As a result, Percy said, efficiency and ease of use are key. “They require analytic capabil-ity that doesn’t count on heavy-duty process-ing and significant access to large databases,” he said. “So Overwatch has really architected its systems from the bottom up. … As we’ve architected our systems to work at that most fundamental level, we’ve developed systems that all execute on laptops, on handheld devices—something that’s light that can be easily manipulated by the soldier.”

That means automation is crucial—as opposed to simply flooding the user with data. “We see over and over again that the tradi-tional response when people say, ‘We need more intel,’ is they build more sensors,” Percy said. “And as you have more sensors, what you get is an accumulation of more and more data—but data still requires that analysis to turn it into actionable information. So we’ve developed our systems such that they are focused on reducing the data that’s portrayed to a human being, so that what the human being is being presented with is patterns of behavior—and the operator can then make decisions of what patterns make the most sense in terms of actionable intelligence.”

It’s all about assembling data into the most useful or usable patterns possible, Percy said. “To illustrate that, you can create a social network and portray that in a social network diagram, and it may or may not provide a real instantaneous pattern of behavior,” he said. “But you can throw that same set of data onto a time wheel, do a time wheel analysis on it, and start recognizing, ‘Ah: I’m seeing these same two people meeting at the same place every Thursday at 4:00.’ That’s a pattern that very quickly becomes recognizable, depend-ing on the way that you’ve portrayed that information.”

Overwatch’s InSite system, also called SoldierEyes, is a handheld solution running-secure Android that provides the user with a wide range of information to maximize situ-ational awareness. As an example, Percy said, at Empire Challenge, an InSite/SoldierEyes unit was sent out with a convoy that faced an ambush. “We actually hooked up to a Cana-dian UAV which was collecting full motion video, and we were able to analyze that video, recognize the ambush that was being set up, and pass that information via SoldierEyes, or InSite, back to the users in the convoy,” he said. “They recognized then that they were about to fall into that ambush, and they were able to circle around it and capture the bad guys. It’s a very, very powerful tool, and it’s designed from a cloud-based solution at the server, so you can collect the data from a huge variety of data sources—as evidenced by being able to collect from a Canadian UAV that otherwise did not have an interface to U.S. forces.”

Another Overwatch solution, AXIS Pro, is designed for deployment on a laptop. “It’s got a plethora of different analysis tools, again focused on pattern recognition, portraying patterns within the data that lead to intel-ligence,” Percy said. “And within those tools, [the user] will download the latest database of what’s going on in a given area of interest, they’ll disconnect, they’ll go out, do their op, they analyze data and feed in data as they’re out on the op—and then they’ll come back in, plug it back into the network, and then download that data from the network and get the updates accordingly.”

Looking ahead, Percy said, the need for tools like these will only increase. “As we move forward in the conflicts that we are currently engaged in, and as we throttle back, we’re not going to see any kind of reduc-tion in the activities associated with special forces,” he said. “They’re still going to be out there, they’re still going to have the mission they have now—and it’s going to expand as the regular forces pull out. So the tools that they’re going to demand are going to be even more advanced than what we see right now … and the ability to reduce the [flood of data] down to something that is consumable by humans is going to become more and more critical—because they’re going to be the only ones out there continuing the mission.” O


Even before the successful launch of Sputnik by our Cold War nemesis, American military leaders saw the potential for space-based communication.

As early as 1946, the Army experimented with bouncing radar signals off the moon. The Navy continued such experi-ments throughout the ‘50s and ‘60s with a clear understanding that the country that dominated space also ruled the battlefield. Today, satellite communications (SATCOM) are an essential force multiplier in aiding commanders to see through the “fog of war,” especially during special forces operations.

“Satellite communications are typically used when wireline or fiber infrastructure is not available, or when the range exceeds what can be provided by line-of-sight radios,” explained Scott Whatmough, vice president of integrated communication sys-tems, Raytheon. “Satellite communication has the advantage of being usable anywhere there is an unobstructed view of the sky and an available satellite.”

The first military satellite communications network, the Defense Satellite Communication System (DSCS), went live in the late 1960s. Over the years much has changed, and been learned, about improving, remodeling and redesigning satellite technologiesfor the needs of DoD. Subsequent generations of SATCOM have been driven by the need to provide more secure and jam-resistant links to tactical users with smaller and more power-ful, yet less power hungry terminals on the ground.

This meant satellites needed to have more powerful and more efficient solar cells, and eventually, new telemetry techniques and attitude control that allowed more time in proximity to permit more sustained capture of the sun’s energy. Such capabilities, along with ground control of satellite positioning and orientation, are now fundamental to all military satellites.

According to an official spokesperson with U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), “Satellite communications play a vital role in warships, aircraft, missile guidance and several other

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critical programs that support multiple areas of responsibility. Traditionally our ‘transportable’ communication systems have had the capability of being deployed by mobile communication units to our larger forward operating bases. These types of deploy-ments were typically used to support units of 50 to more than 100 warfighters, offering a complete suite of communications capabilities. In the past decade, deployment sizes have changed; so have traditional thinking and the needs of the warfighter on the ground.”

Today, what has really made SATCOM the dominating force multiplier it has become, especially in the SOF community, is the development and deployment of mobile and tactical military satellite communication systems. Such small and portable SAT-COM systems typically are composed of ground terminals with very small antennas that can be mounted traditionally on ships, submarines and aircraft, and more recently on ground vehicles and lightweight man-pack terminals, which can transmit to tacti-cal radio handsets that in some cases are not much larger than cell phones. These mobile systems primarily transmit voice and data, and in the latest generations even leverage video and other broadband real-time tactical applications.

“As the war in Iraq went into full swing, auto deploy antennas became very popular with the U.S. Army,” said David Provencher, general manager for Orlando, Fla.-based Cobham Antennas SAT-COM Landsystems. “Comm-at-the-pause very small aperture ter-minal (VSAT) technology really took off and dominated the DoD market. The next evolution in controls technology was comm-on-the-move. There is comm-on-the-move all the way from UHF to Ka-band today. In 2007, we developed what we call a mid-profile comm-on-the-move antenna. The thing that is driving and domi-nating [the comm-on-the-move] market today is ISR on UAVS.”

According to STRATCOM’s spokesperson, “In the past few years, a decrease in the size of deployed units made the typical deployable command, control, communications, computers and ISR systems impractical. The communications systems designed to be transportable and support large units are now too large to meet the demands of today’s streamlined rapidly-deployable forces. The challenge today is how to scale back the footprint of these systems while still offering a robust capability for the deployed forces so that we have ‘satellite communications avail-ability’ at the lowest level for our warfighters.”

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In addition to STRATCOM, another entity largely responsible for developing, maintaining and operating the nation’s MILSAT-COM network is the Space and Missile Systems Center MILSAT-COM Directorate (SMC MILSATCOM) based out of Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Calif. At present, the directorate encompasses a total force of approximately 102 assigned military, 148 assigned civilians, 184 federally funded research and develop-ment center contractors, and 378 other contractors. That com-bined group of experts and thought leaders is dedicated to meeting some of the challenges facing DoD when it comes to next-genera-tion satellite communications. According to an SMC MILSATCOM spokesperson, “The greatest challenge facing the DoD with respect to satellite communications is meeting the growing demand for connectivity, capacity and protection in a more affordable man-ner in order to support the foundational level of space our nation

relies upon. The MILSATCOM Systems Directorate has released a broad agency announcement to involve industry in addressing the development of future MILSATCOM architectures, to include bet-ter business practices to optimize capability and minimize costs.”

He added that “the recent airborne flight demonstration of a low-profile Advanced Multiband Communications Antenna System prototype at EHF/SHF frequency bands is an example of such technology risk reduction efforts. In addition, the directorate is investigating approaches to leverage commercial SATCOM capa-bilities and services.”

Satellite operators agree that an increased reliance on com-mercial satellites may be the way forward in meeting DoD’s growing appetite for SATCOM. “Future deployments that require beyond line-of-sight services will be relying more on commercial offerings that complement military SATCOM,” said Steff Taylor, director of government services for Inmarsat. “In an asymmetric warfare environment, the need for costly MilSpec satellites in orbit is not as critical. It is now possible that policymakers and operational planners will outsource more to COTS [commercial off-the-shelf], including fully managed services.”

Inmarsat operates a fleet of 11 satellites, and is responsible for creating the Broadband Global Area Network, which provides secure and reliable mobile voice and broadband data communica-tions “on the move” or “at the pause” for ground forces worldwide. Based in the United Kingdom, Inmarsat is currently working with Boeing to manufacture, deploy and operate a new constellation of satellites, the Inmarsat-5s. That will form the backbone of a the future Inmarsat Global Xpress network, which will be capable of delivering mobile broadband at speeds of up to 50 megabits per second.

spAce links

The issue with comms-on-the-move, according to Cobham’s Provencher, is “there is a huge tradeoff that has to take place between the size of the antenna and bandwidth efficiency. SOF wants small antennas, and the network really needs to be designed around the size of the antennae. Most satellite networks are com-fortable and are legal to operate at Ku-band, and to a certain extent Ka-band, at around a 1.2-meter antenna. Obviously, you can’t put a 1.2 meter antenna on a UAV. But, when you go smaller than that, the beam width of the antenna gets wider, and that can cause adjacent satellite interference.”

Traditionally SOF is not under the same budgetary constraints as are other branches of the military. Provencher was not at lib-erty to disclose which units of SOF are customers of Landsystem’s comm-on-the-move antennas, but he did say, “If you are not on a tight operating budget for bandwidth, then you can use small aperture antennas, you can run the modulation schemes that don’t violate all of the international regulations and rules. So SOF does have an advantage there. But also even if it is not comm-on-the-move, but comm-at-the-pause, SOF has the same issues even when they are not moving. When you stop and break out a dish from your rucksack, set it up, it’s still very small, and has the same constraints and challenges of a comm-on-the-move antenna.”

System integrators realize that issues of size, weight and power are always of greatest concern with any gear operated by the SOF community. “Raytheon is engaged in several activities related to developing and deploying terminals on smaller platforms,”


explained Raytheon’s Whatmough. Raytheon is the supplier of the Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Terminal (SMART-T) to the Army and Air Force and international partners.

Whatmough continued, “We have constantly evolved the electronics in our terminals over the past three decades to make them smaller, less expensive and higher in performance. One of the key technologies for smaller terminals is lightweight, low profile, high performance antennas. Over the years we’ve invested in antenna technologies that are suitable for smaller plat-forms and for mobile platforms.”

Moving forward, surmounting these kinds of beyond line-of -sight challenges facing special forces will require an integrated approach of manufacturers, system aggregators and satellite operators, Taylor predicted. “In order to be in a position to meet [DoD’s] changing requirements, the launch of our new Ka-band service, Global Xpress, will complete the portfolio of services that range from very low data rate through to true broadband capabil-ity in a highly mobile platform,” he said. “The Inmarsat portfolio fits exactly the requirements of special operations for mobility, reliability and ease of operation. These services will be available to military customers and will complement existing MILSATCOM in the future.”

lOOking up

The aerospace industry, along with STRATCOM and SMC MILSATCOM, has helped to dramatically improve and expand military satellite communications capabilities over the past few decades. Systems have evolved from single channel to today’s high-capacity systems, leveraging greater power, wider bandwidth and improved waveforms for secure tactical communications, with an ever-expanding assortment of terminal types. That development of small lightweight terminals has likely had the largest impact on the SOF community. From an early infrastructure of only a few large fixed terminals, SOF field operatives can now rely on thou-sands of small mobile terminals.

With more than 50 years of experience in providing the full range of military satellite systems in support of DoD, the con-tractors and vendors of the U.S. aerospace industry are uniquely positioned to apply lessons learned in space to the needs of the warfighters on the ground.

“As I see it,” concluded Cobham’s Provencher, “the biggest hurdle for SOF moving forward will continue to be, how do we make it small enough for these types of operators to carry along and use it inconspicuously, but give them the bandwidth that they need to do radio communications as well as ISR data rate com-munications? That’s a trade-off and requires cooperation from everybody, from the satellite manufacturers and operators, to the antenna makers, to the end-user.”

As military satellite communications systems continue to evolve and give way to the next even more advanced generation, these companies and military thought leaders will continue to make major contributions in each phase of acquisition, development and deployment. O


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Innovative Backpacks Introduced

Tactical & Survival Specialties Inc. (TSS) is rolling out a new line of backpacks that has been designed with input and feedback from U.S. military units and agen-cies across the country.

The new backpacks, along with individual pouches and accessories, are being introduced as part of TSS TACOPS brand of unique products.

The Rhino large backpack (2,510 cubic inches) is a multi-mission, multi-day operations pack. Other packs in the line offer unique capabilities, including the Nova Elite computer bag (1,980 cubic inches) which has an integrated storage compartment for laptop and tablet computers. The Merlin rollup packable backpack (1,680 cubic inches) stows away into an integrated pouch and can be stored in the Rhino and Elite to provide additional carrying capacity.

The Rhino and Nova Elite feature a channeled breathable mesh-padded back panel, adjust-able with padded shoulder straps and adjustable sternum straps. They also come with the modular Velcro attachment system (MVAS) that provides the option of attaching a wide variety of pouches according to individual needs. Accessories include a modular carry handle that can fit all MOLLE packs. All three packs are available in Coyote and black, and the Rhino and Nova Elite are also available in multi-cam.

One feature of the Rhino that has been well received by focus groups is the zippered bottom access panel that allows access into the main compartment of the pack without opening the top. The RH also has a removable padded adjustable kidney and waist strap that spreads the load.

New Desktop Unit Provides Training in MQ-9 Reaper Ground Control

CH Products’ Reaper Ground Control Simulator (RGCS) is an affordable single USB, plug and play desktop training device designed to meet the training needs of the Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security, the company announced.

Currently approved and in use by the United States Air Force and Air National Guard, this industrial quality mobile desktop unit offers identical form, fit and function of the MQ-9 Reaper ground control station. The Reaper also is flown by SOCOM.

New Laser Range Finder Introduced

The Terrapin is the newest addition to the family of Vectronix laser range finder products now making military-proven technology available to a broad range of users at an affordable price. The Terrapin offers ranging capability of up to 2,400 meters while weighing only 500 grams. Its MIL-SPEC proven design makes Terrapin the ideal companion for snipers, spotters, marksmen or even hunters to work under harsh environmental conditions.

Terrapin incorporates Vectronix’s glass lens technology and allows for very rapid detection of

any targets. The 5x magnification, combined with the wide field of view of 8 degrees and the fixed focus make it an ideal choice to meet the require-ments of close combat scenarios.

It is powered by two commercially available CR123A batteries providing enough power to perform over 7,000 measurements. The integrated Class 1 Eye-Safe Laser enables unrestricted and safe operation and training.

The Terrapin is now available for sale and delivery and can be ordered in two colors: green and coyote brown.

New Light Provides Two Versions, Several Options

To incorporate the latest technology and features, Pelican Products has introduced the 2710 and 2710 headlights.Each headlight is engineered with a wide range of features so it can adapt to almost any situation:

2710 LED Headlight•White light, with night-vision-friendly red and green LEDs•High/low mode: 24 lumens in high and 7 lumens in low•Offers usable light for 2 hours in high and 5 hours in low•Weighs in at 2.8 oz. with 2 AAA batteries included

2720 LED Headlight•Features a motion sensor actuation mode that will turn the light

on and off with a simple gesture•Also offers variable dimming mode•Three LEDs (2 low level red, 1 high performance white)•Dimming mode allows the user to shine anywhere from 100

percent to 10 percent (80 to 5 lumens)•Offers 8 to 175 hours of runtime depending on light selection•Weighs in at 3.8 oz. with 3 AAA batteries included

Both headlights feature a red LED emergency signaling mode that flashes the letters “SOS” in Morse code and a 4X optical magnification lens that allows for both optimal closed space and spot lighting. They also come complete with a rubber headband for helmet use along with a comfortable cloth headband, batteries and Pelican Products’ legendary lifetime guarantee of excellence.

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New Improvements Seen for M-ATV

SOF Variant

The mine resistant ambush protected all-terrain vehicle modified for SOF use may receive some new advancements after testing by the Office Of The Director Of Operational Test & Evaluation (DOT&E).

Those new improvements would include larger rear passenger windows so combatant passengers can have a better view of surround-ings. This can provide them with advance warning of an enemy presence in the area.

Also, the DOT&E recommends working on improvements to weapons reliability and on the Common Remotely Operates Weapons Station, or CROWS, including its field of vision for target acquisition. Finally, the DOT&E would like enhanced air flow for the five passengers.

The DOT&E concluded that the current version of the SOF variant is operationally effective for conducting tactical transport missions such as convoy escort, protected detail and area reconnaissance. Further, the DOT&E also found that the SOF M-ATV is survivable.

A key issue for combatants in the past decade of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been enemy use of IEDs of increasingly massive explosive power to devastate unar-mored HMMWVs, enemy weapons that became the leading cause of casualties among U.S. and friendly forces.

To counter the IEDs, MRAPs and M-ATVs were fielded. These vehicles held up vastly better against IEDs and other enemy weapons such as RPGs. To protect special operators, the Oshkosh M-ATV was modified, and the resul-tant SOF variant was tested by DOT&E.

System Has Warfighters Climbing the Wall—Literally

A system fostered by the Office of Naval Research (ONR) could help sailors and Marines scale walls like Spiderman.

Funded by ONR’s TechSolutions program, the Powered Rope Ascender was originally designed for use by soldiers in urban combat and cave exploration. The handheld climbing tool allows warfighters to ascend and descend vertical surfaces quickly, at a rate of six feet per second.

As ONR’s rapid-response science and technology program, TechSolutions funded the project to create a next-generation system for naval operations. The resulting technology, which is more compact and runs on a rechargeable battery, can assist maritime security teams in boarding ships and help helicopter rescue crews evacuate casualties, among other applications.

New Carrying Pack Unveiled

Safariland, a BAE Systems business, announced the addition of the new TAC AR (Assault Rack) to its line of non-ballistic load carrying systems.

The TAC AR features a low-profile internal comfort foam system, an external cummerbund with three rows of 1-inch modular webbing for added pouch attachment platform capabilities and a dual closure system.

This plate rack provides first responders with more built-in options, making this sleek carrier a great tool in their arsenal.

The TAC AR is equipped with:

•Dual-side closure systems to offer the option of either utilizing the outer cummerbund for pouch attachment and 6” x 6” mini-side plates for added protection or removing the outer cummerbund to utilize the low-profile buckle closure system

•360° modular attachment system to accommodate Protech Tactical TP pouches

• Internal bottom-loading front and back plate designed specifically to hold multi-size type III or type IV hard armor plates

•Adjustable shoulders straps for greater adjustability with integrated D-rings to provide a platform for accessory attachment

•Hook and loop platforms on the front and back for attachment of identification patches

•Radio wire channel for securing communications systems•Reinforced officer rescue strap

The TAC AR can be customized with several accessories, including:

•Ballistic upper arm (bicep) protectors•Type III or Type IV multi-size rifle plates•Protech Tactical TP pouches

The TAC AR is a one-size-fits-all carrier and is currently offered in Ranger green. All other standard colors will be available for ordering soon.

Compiled by KMi Media Group staff


Rear Admiral Thomas L. Brown II assumed command of Special Operations Command South in September 2010. As com-mander, he is responsible to the commander of U.S. Southern Command for the planning, employment and command of special operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Brown was commissioned from the University of New Mexico Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1983. He completed under-water demolition/SEAL Training and Army airborne school prior to his assignment to SEAL Team 5 in 1984. In 1987, he studied Spanish at the Defense Learning Institute, and then reported to SEAL Team 1 to serve as platoon commander and operations officer.

Brown’s assignments include SEAL Team 8 executive officer, where he deployed as Naval Special Warfare Task Unit (NSWTU) commander NSWTU-Wasp under commander Amphibious Task Group 185.2, and then as commander NSWTU-America under Commander Task Force 60. He commanded Naval Special Warfare Unit 4, Puerto Rico, under U.S. Southern Command from 1999-2001.

His other assignments include the Office of the Assistant Secre-tary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict; United States Special Operations Command, and Navy section chief, U.S, Military Advisory Group, El Salvador. In 2002, Brown reported to the Directorate of Operations of the Joint Staff, Deputy Directorate Special Operations, serving as the Global War on Ter-rorism branch chief until September 2005. He was then assigned as assistant chief of staff for operations and plans at Naval Special Warfare Command until June 2007, when he took command of Naval Special Warfare Group 1. He most recently served as the deputy commander of Special Operations Command Europe.

Brown graduated Tau Beta Pi with a Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering, and is a distinguished graduate of the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies of John Hopkins University, where he earned a Master of Arts in international rela-tions with a concentration in Latin American and strategic stud-ies. He also holds a Master of Science degree in national resource strategy and the DoD Chief Information Officer Certificate from the National Defense University.

His awards include the Defense Superior Service medal; Legion of Merit (second award); Bronze Star medal (with V); Defense Meri-torious Service medal (second award); Meritorious Service medal;

Joint Service Commendation medal; Navy Commendation medal (second award); Joint Service Achievement medal; Navy Marine Corps Achievement medal; Combat Action ribbon; Joint Meritori-ous Unit award; Meritorious Unit Commendation; Navy E ribbon; Armed Forces Expeditionary medal; Southwest Asia Service medal; Armed Forces Expeditionary medal; Humanitarian Service medal; and the NATO medal.

Q: What changes have you made in Special Operations Command South since you assumed command in September 2010?

A: The most significant change has been the reconstitution of an organizational construct we call the Regional Engagement Divi-sion, with its four subordinate branches, regional engagement branches [REBs].

When I took command, the J3 [operations department] was organized into traditional stovepipes such as the J35 [Future Ops], J37 [Civil Affairs], J33 [Current Ops], etc., along discipline or tradi-tional staff function. This stovepiped organization was weak in its ability to apply multiple disciplines in unison to service the needs of partner nations and U.S. country teams. This industrial-age stove-piped organization was even more unwieldy as we looked outside the operations department at intelligence, communications, logis-tics and other non-operation department staff functions. Those

Rear Admiral Thomas L. Brown IICommander

Special Operations Command South


SOCSOUTH Thwarts Drug Cartels, Fosters Ties with Latin America

SOF Leader Q&AQ&A

disciplines were needed in our partner nation capacity building, but it was difficult to bring them to bear in J3-led efforts under the old industrial-age, stovepiped J3. I implemented a management-science innovation to improve our support to U.S. country teams and partner nations.

In addition to serving as the focal point for integrating staff functions and disciplines, inside and outside the operations depart-ment, the REB construct has helped SOCSOUTH institute another critical principle, ownership. These four REBs are commanded by a lieutenant colonel or major, and within each REB, there are coun-try officers responsible for two or three countries. Outcomes in those regions and countries, irrespective of the disciplines involved in a given activity there—intelligence, small unit tactics, etc.—are owned by that officer or NCO.

Today, my head logistician, Lieutenant Colonel [P] Jose Muniz, C4 department head Lieutenant Colonel Jim Urbec and senior intelligence officer Lieutenant Colonel Dan Tobias are nested in our regional engagement branch construct. These disciplines are being widely applied and tailored to partner-nation needs by our REB country officers. Let me explain further. Pre-REB, we articulated our efforts principally in terms of small-unit tactics training by special warfare combatant-craft crewmen, special forces and SEALs, because that was the formula answer for our joint combined exchange training and other such programs. Today, in contrast, you see the staff working across J-Codes and SOUTHCOM service components to produce higher value-added outcomes, bet-ter tailored to the needs of our customers, the U.S. country teams.

The Central American REB, for example, is teamed with U.S. Army South to put a weapons maintenance team into Honduras, or deploying intelligence professionals to teach the latest version of software intended to improve a partner’s targeting capability. Also, we’re making strides in employing the fixed investment in our 112th Signal Battalion Detachment to train partner nation special ops units on the use of tactical radios, as well as evaluat-ing their command-control-communications infrastructure and process, as we recently did in Suriname. The REB construct has served to break down the industrial age J-code stovepipes without abolishing them. Also, the country officers have the time, charter and longevity in their country or region; therefore, they know their environment and can build long-term relationships with the country team and partner-nation security forces required to tailor our activities to their needs. This construct is moving us away from the tendency to simply put dots on the map and assume activity equals success. The REBs have engendered ownership, horizontal integration across disciplines, and incentivized outcome versus activity-centric behavior.

Q: Is demand for special operations missions in the SOCSOUTH area of responsibility rising—for training, seminars, civil affairs and all your other types of missions—and if so, how are you meet-ing that demand?

A: The demand for U.S. special operations in General Douglas Fraser’s [commander of Southern Command] area of responsibil-ity, Latin America and the Caribbean, continues to be high, driven by the struggle for power, control or influence between state and non-state actors, and the utility of special operations in helping states combat dangerous non-state actors. These challenges range from Los Zetas, Sinaloa Cartel, and other organized criminal

organizations undermining stability in Central America, to the 40-plus year conflict between the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia [FARC] and the government of Colombia. Solutions to these irregular-warfare security challenges naturally flow from the breadth of unique capabilities resident in U.S. Special Operations Command [SOCOM].

The demand for building partner nation capacity activity is high. However, given the concentration of special forces, Air Force CCT, SEAL, and other such commando forces in the Middle East, SOCSOUTH has become much more disciplined in the application of the limited commando forces at our disposal. We’ve aligned our special forces operation detachment alphas [SF ODAs] against the most important missions in CENTAM, Peru and Colombia. We simply have less ODAs and SEAL platoons than we had pre-9/11.

In getting to your question about other than SF and SEAL engagements, I’ll speak to the demand for our military informa-tion support [MISO] and civil affairs [CA] operators and how the decrease in SF ODAs available has, in some ways, had a positive impact on our enterprise. We’ve been incentivized to work harder on the application of civil military and information operations forces in our priority countries, not solely focused on employment of SF ODAs and SEAL squads. The emphasis in fourth-generation warfare is on population, opinion and information—circumstances that do not necessarily involve closing with to capture or kill an opponent—and that means our civil affairs and information opera-tors play an increasingly prominent role in our campaigning.

MISO and CAO are two of the six lines of operation we articulate in our campaign plan, which also includes air-ground-maritime partner force capacity building, advice to partner nations and U.S. law enforcement agencies, special activities and intellectual capital, which I will discuss later in the article.

We are employing civil affairs teams to assist our partners in contesting control over their territory and sway over their population against powerful transnational criminal organizations and insurgents. Our MISO soldiers work discretely across a wide range of activities, from disrupting narco-terrorists using the DoD rewards program to employing Ph.D. expert reach-back to help us articulate themes and messages to undermine ideological support of insurgent groups.

You mentioned seminars, and this is a very active area at the command. We’re using the term intellectual capital to refer to learning activities as a line of operation. The Naval Post Graduate School [NPS] Center for Defense Analysis, the Center for Hemi-spheric Defense Studies [CHDS] of the National Defense University, and Joint Special Operations University [JSOU] are key partners in this line of operation. We leverage their considerable body of learning to help our partners develop innovative concepts of opera-tions, organizational constructs and campaigns against asymmet-ric threats, hopefully before throwing resources at a problem, to improve our partner’s cognitive capacity for dealing with complex security challenges such as insurgency.

NPS’s Center for Defense Analysis—led by Dr. John Arquilla, with its impressive faculty including Gordon McCormick, Gunner Sepp and Hy Rothstein—represents the best thinking in the world on combating dark networks and insurgencies. They have rolled up their sleeves to assist us and the government of Colombia in the development of a state-of-the-art description of the FARC system, intended for use in guiding the campaign to end this decades-long insurgency. We’re also taking advantage of the assignment of


former SOCSOUTH J3, Colonel Greg Wilson at NPS. He’s helping us apply NPS’s sophisticated network analysis tools to assist the Colombian Special Operations Command. Also, my J5, Colonel Larry Torres, has worked with Dr. Brian Maher’s team at JSOU to plan several intellectual capital events in our theater in fiscal year 2012-13.

The Center for Hemispheric Defense Studies, headed up by Richard D. Downie, functions as the academia component com-mand for SOUTHCOM. We leverage CHDS and their considerable relationships in Latin America and the Caribbean to help us lead the senior leadership seminar portion of our annual regional SOF skills completion, Exercise Fuerzas Comando. This year the semi-nar will be a venue for SOUTHCOM dialogue with partner nations on combating transnational organized criminal networks. I had a conference call in December last year led by CHDS in which they gathered an impressive expert network on the topic. This ability of CHDS, JSOU, and NPS to assemble expert networks is of great value.

Q: What is your assessment of SOCSOUTH progress in assist-ing forces in area nations in their drug interdiction and defeat efforts? Would more detection capabilities such as improved radars to locate small planes help you to assist indigenous forces?

A: Drug interdiction and defeat is an expression that requires fur-ther exploration before I answer, but it’s central to our purpose. The flow of illegal narcotics as a central organizing principle of our activities is no longer a sufficient description of our efforts, although building capacity to counter the act of illicit trafficking is still important. General Fraser is leading our thinking about this problem—to approach it increasingly in terms of countering the corrosive influence on regional security of transnational organized criminal organizations. Los Zetas, the Gulf and Sinaloa cartels, their links with local gangs, traffickers and insurgents across the region, and the billions in earnings, are a threat that transcends the simple act of illicit trafficking.

With respect to our progress in assisting partner forces in the region, there is no doubt that the money, time and effort we’ve expended in Central America, the Andean Ridge and Caribbean have had a positive effect; its stickiness, to borrow a Malcolm Gladwell term, however, has been uneven. The causes and mean-ing of that is under constant examination in the SOCSOUTH enterprise.

In Colombia, our investment has stuck, principally because of the commitment and resources of the Colombian government. The clear link between our investment in Colombian SOF and their results against the FARC make for a relatively clear judg-ment on the return on our investment. Elsewhere, the results are less clear. Our partners are very dedicated, but many have fewer resources and face other challenges. Also, before the REB, we had very few owners of outcomes, so we lacked the structure and incentive system required to adjust our activities to achieve outcomes. The best we could do, in many cases, was simply to manage the activities. Therefore, we weren’t progressing as well as we might have in this area. For example, infrequent or episodic engagement of the DEA and other elements of the country team by SOCSOUTH staff had caused us to not always be on the same sheet of music with them on which partner security forces we should

be invested in. Today, our REB country officers and distributed C2 node [an SF company headquarters] in Central America are in a sustained dialogue with country teams to secure their buy-in to our efforts, and help influence what units we are partnered with. We are building on the strong foundation of distributed C2, OEF authorities and resources, REB construct first instituted by Major General Charles T. Cleveland and the warm relationships engendered with partner nations under retired Brigadier General Hector E. Pagan. The enterprise is connecting the dots to better secure commitments from U.S. embassies and host nations to achieve capacity building outcomes. We’re seeking more stickiness to effects of the millions we invest in training, to increase the reli-ability that the units we train are those most actively working to combat the narco-traffickers and other asymmetric threats—and the U.S. country team and partner nation are fully behind our investment.

In answer to your question on the value of more detection capabilities … improved radars to locate small planes, I will offer observations on ISR needs in the Andean Ridge in the case of our partner’s battle with rural-based narco-terrorist insurgents.

A principal advantage that organizations like the FARC and Sendero Luminoso have over government security forces is their use of dense vegetation to mask their activities and location. Emerging ISR technologies show promise in eroding this advan-tage, which is why we are evaluating foliage penetrating radar and light detection and ranging [LiDAR] systems.

SOCOM has funded the pairing of an A160 Hummingbird with the Forester FOPEN radar; the operational evaluation of this sys-tem is a SOCSOUTH responsibility. We are also being advised by Nancy Ann Budden, director for special operations technology in the rapid reaction technology office of the secretary of defense, on DoD LiDAR systems that have the potential to be game changers here in our theater. My staff is challenged with crafting new para-digms for fielding and employment of such systems in partnership with SOUTHCOM, SOCOM, the services, industry and of course our partner nations.

Q: How do you work with the State Department in coordinating missions and overall objectives in the area of responsibility?

A: Our principal interface with the State Department is the ‘coun-try teams’ led by the U.S. ambassador. The ambassador’s staff is made up of personnel from multiple U.S. departments and agen-cies, among them a senior defense official whose office is normally our door into the State Department in that country.

Other venues for working with the State Department are Ambassador Carmen Martinez, the civilian deputy commander of SOUTHCOM, and the SOCOM political adviser [POLAD], Ambas-sador Karen Williams, who can help me engage the State Depart-ment on issues of interest in D.C., or with country teams. Also, I have a POLAD billet at SOCSOUTH; filling the billet will greatly assist me and the staff in interfacing with DoS on a daily basis across the theater.

Q: Is your organization growing in end strength and in equip-ment and platforms used in missions?

A: My organization, an operational headquarters staff, is not growing at the moment. SOCOM has, however, begun a process to


examine how the theater special operations commands [TSOCs] are resourced and in what areas they might be strengthened in the future. This may result in some growth of the headquarters in the out-years.

In terms of equipment and platforms, our theater is not a big consumer of MRAPs, UAVs and other such platforms as is the case in Central Command. Where we’ve had some growth is in deployed civil affairs teams. Also, we’re seeking to modestly increase the number of special warfare combatant craft crewmen aligned against riverine capacity building in the Amazonian Basin. Navy Captain Todd Veazie, commodore of Naval Special Warfare Group Four, has been a great supporter of Naval Special Warfare Unit Four and Special Boat Team 22s great work in getting NSW back into this arena, to assisting our partners in denying the use of rivers to narco-terrorists.

Q: What equipment and platforms would you most like to add to your current capabilities? Would you find unattended ground sensors or solar electrical generating systems to recharge com-munications equipment useful?

A: Given that most of our work is on the training, advice-and-assist side rather than actions we take ourselves, I’ll speak to what goods and services I see that our partner-nation troops are most in need of: communications, logistics and intelligence are key.

In Central America we work closely with land and maritime interdiction forces that operate in unison with U.S. or other partner-nation ISR assets and law enforcement to interdict illicit traffickers. Among our biggest challenges is the communications layer of this paradigm. It requires an enterprise approach. We’ve talked frequently, both inside and outside our lifelines, about how innovative software, hardware and training might improve the performance of the communication layer of the detect-to-interdict chain. Our partner-nation forces need simple solutions that allow for sharing of information securely, to communicate more readily across national and interagency stovepipes. Their sophisticated U.S. manufactured radios are challenging to maintain and operate, so as we train them to better employ the systems they have, we are also stimulating thinking on simpler enterprise solutions to this com-munication challenge.

Many countries have accumulated a number of systems or platforms that were not conceived of in an enterprise solution or approach. They often lack the appropriate tools to operate intel-ligence systems, maintain a fleet of riverine craft, or logistics pro-cesses and resources to establish safe forward operating sites for use by government security forces. Another observation: Protecting against attacks on infrastructure costs significant manpower to patrol and protect transportation, energy and resource extrac-tion activities. High reliability, low maintenance systems that can increase their capacity to monitor and protect infrastructure can free up troops for other priorities.

Q: There has been extensive discussion in Washington of pos-sible immense reductions in defense spending. What efficiency and cost reduction moves have you instituted in your command?

A: One of the principal efficiencies we’ve been working is reducing the amount of travel for routine conferences with the services and SOCOM. Although video teleconferencing [VTC] and bandwidth

have been a large investment for DoD, the default answer for sharing information or collaboration continues to be a physical conference or meeting requiring significant expenditure on lodging, airfare and time lost from travel. SOCSOUTH leadership is scruti-nizing travel, seeking to maximize use of VTCs in order to preserve travel dollars for our work down-range, where relationship-build-ing, context and atmospherics can’t always be gained using VTC.

We are also better scrutinizing our infrastructure investment in those countries where we have a persistent presence. We want to be sure that construction and maintenance costs, as well as uncertainty about the future, are better factored into investment decisions on ranges, lodging, etc. Once we commit monies to a project in one place or another, you can almost be certain that circumstances and priorities will change, at times leaving us ques-tioning why we committed resources to a particular place. We are better weighing such investments against both maintenance costs and uncertainty and generally being more frugal across the board.

Q: How comfortable are you with the level of language and cul-tural skills of SOCSOUTH personnel, skills crucial to interacting with local forces and populations?

A: We are fortunate to have a few old SOUTHCOM hands and native Spanish speakers, but the skill level is not what it should be. Human capital—how well equipped our action officers are to understand and interact with their environment—is without question the most important ingredient to our success. Therefore, we’ve instituted a course of instruction intended to provide the staff a baseline of knowledge and skills to do TSOC business in the Western Hemisphere. JSOU has put together a TSOC action officer course of instruction on SOF doctrine, combating networks, cam-paigning, funding and operational authorities, in addition to cul-ture, regional issues and history. There has been recent discussion in [SOCOM headquarters in] Tampa about institutionalizing this course given the need of the other TSOC commanders for the same.

The language side is more challenging. If someone is assigned to the command without a foundation in Spanish or Portuguese, it’s hard to get them sufficiently fluent to be effective in the couple of years they are typically assigned at SOCSOUTH. We’ve epi-sodically invested in basic and intermediate Spanish classes at the command, but it has been difficult to sustain because we are not resourced for a language program or program coordinator. We’ve got to rely on SOCOM’s continued investment in language and see-ing improvement over time, as SOCSOUTH invests in those that show up with high school or college Spanish motivated to pick it back up, as well as leveraging the native speakers we are lucky to get assigned here.

Q: Do you have any final thoughts on the mission and personnel of SOCSOUTH?

A: The Western Hemisphere is a fascinating and rewarding place to work. Special operations is, perhaps, our commander’s most flexible and useful tool given the asymmetric threats we face here. The innovative work of the SOCSOUTH enterprise is illuminating the value of SOF, with its breadth of capabilities—from civil, mili-tary and information operations to commando skills training—to positively influence the environment outside of theaters of war or major combat operations. O


Tracking andGeo

TargetingWith Global Positioning System (GPS) signals easy to jam

by commercial products that one can purchase for $100 or less, there is clearly a need for the armed forces to go further. Department of Defense officials view geo-tracking and target-ing technology as a means to better pinpoint a target or other item of interest, whether it is stationary or moving, for more accurate munitions delivery and avoidance of friendly fire incidents and civilian casualties.

One contractor pointed out that GPS signals are clearly insufficient for military field applications. “The adversaries of the United States are not limited by the $100 price barrier on the Internet,” so jamming a GPS signal would not present a big hurdle for them, said Kyle Rice, chief technology officer for the Intelligence Sys-tems Business Unit at Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in McLean, Va.

Using sources of location such as GPS and network signals such as IP addresses, RFID, Wi-Fi and CDMA and GSM cellular identifications, geo-location can provide location information for a device, which would typically include longitude and latitude data.

The DoD’s pain is clearly an opportunity for contrac-tors. One of the largest growth areas for DoD contrac-tors, according to one vendor, is quick reaction capability programs for ground surveillance and airborne surveil-lance. John Bradburn, senior business development director at SRI Sarnoff International Inc. of Menlo Park, Calif., called ground force protection the number two

requirement within intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance programs in DoD.

DoD officials need early warning capabilities, surveillance and tracking programs, according to Bradburn. “These areas

have become mission critical,” he said on the eve of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and its fortified position in Afghanistan. “We don’t see that going away anytime soon.”

He sees military personnel using personal digital assistants (PDAs) such as Androids and iPhones and tablet computers to access geo-tracking and targeting data. In some cases, military personnel use commercial versions of the PDAs and throw them away when they malfunction, while in other cases they might spend more money to purchase ruggedized versions, which will generally last longer during rough operational use.

SAIC’s Rice compared the GPS systems’ limited performance to a person being able to hear a telephone conversation from across a room in an otherwise deserted office building at 6 a.m. When there are terrain, structures, jammers and other factors that get in the way of a GPS signal, it becomes more like the office building during the work week at 10 a.m., where it is much harder to hear a phone conversation across the room because

Kyle Rice

John Bradburn

by williAM MurrAy


beyOnd gps: new systeMs bOlster AccurAcy, curb cOllAterAl dAMAge.


of additional noise, such as copier machines, coffee brewers, hallway and phone conversations, computers and fax machines.

“GPS can be very accurate,” Bradburn said, arguing that GPS systems do have a place in a military operational environ-ment. “There are concerns in the community about viability,” he added. DoD officials are working at achieving “absolute reli-ability without reliance on GPS,” in geo-tracking and targeting, he said. “That’s a problem area and a challenge to create failsafe mechanisms that can’t be interdicted.”

“GPS is a good first step,” SAIC’s Rice said. Extreme location accuracy, a state that SAIC is trying to achieve with a commer-cial rail carrier in the Western U.S., is “much more precise,” he said. “With inertial measurement units, you can tell how segmented missiles are getting off track,” using beacons, Rice said. Contractors are helping U.S. Special Operations Command officials to geo-reference people, places, vehicles and other items of interest, tagging longitudinal and latitudinal data for each object of interest. With the right tools, military personnel can engage in persistent surveillance to monitor and track a poten-tial target, which could include a person, place or vehicle, with the help of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that can also esti-mate the speed of travel for moving vehicles that are of interest.

At first, geolocation systems were developed under small business innovation research (SBIR) contracts, such as SOCOM’s testing of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s small, low-cost Wolfpack geolocation system under a contract

with Information Systems Laboratories Inc., of Vienna, Va., and subcontractor Raytheon. At that time, there was a geolocation accuracy of 10 meters for munitions targeting, but SOCOM offi-cials wanted to improve upon this performance.

In recent years, a commercial industry has sprung up around the use of geolocation with GPS technology, taking the technol-ogy well beyond the realm of SBIR contracts.

For example, SAIC has developed the GeoRover geospatial software products, which are extensions or plug-ins to the Arc-Map component of Esri ArcGIS Desktop GIS software versions 8.x, 9.x and 10. Through its import wizard, GeoRover can take in non-spatial data with coordinates from different sources, such as databases, spreadsheets and text in many formats into ArcGIS. Operators can plot routes and collect field data as layers in Arc-GIS. Users can collect field data, furthermore, with commercial GPS receivers and other components, such as digital cameras and voice recorders.

In 2006, SAIC acquired Geo-Spatial Technologies Inc. (GSTI), a Springfield, Va.- and Seattle, Wash.-based company that reserved, developed and applied novel geospatial technol-ogy for advanced 3-D imaging, reconnaissance, remote sensing and mapping systems. GSTI had developed systems applying airborne, vehicle-based and terrestrial sensors for mapping urban terrain and structures using light detection and rang-ing, interferometric synthetic aperture radar, digital cameras and video.

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There’s a clear blue forces tracking benefit to knowing where friendly forces are to ensure that they don’t receive friendly fire.

According to Bradburn, the ability for the Special Operations Command and other DoD users to employ video surveillance for change detection in carrying out surveillance on an object of interest is an important capability. Geolocation and targeting systems can greatly help with munitions accuracy, he said, as well as better help forces interdict hostile movements toward them.

“You can identify better what you want to do” using geolo-cation and targeting systems, said Mark Hutcheson, business development manager at Optical Alchemy Inc. of Nashua, N.H.

Founded in 2001, Optical Alchemy designs and manufactures ultra-lightweight, geo-referenced, inertially stabilized sensors for manned and unmanned systems. Optical Alchemy sells inertially-stabilized, geo-referenced gimbals with electro-optical/infrared imaging designed to enable greatly improving situational aware-ness, force protection, and target acquisition capability. In the case of UAVs, Optical Alchemy’s package improves fuel economy, which can expand mission ranges and duration.

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) with a spectral camera in a UAV allows military personnel to identify shades of color, which makes a big difference, according to Hutcheson. While the human eye sees colors in three bands, HSI divides the spectrum into many more bands. HSI has the ability to collect and process informa-tion from across the electromagnetic spectrum to include bands that are beyond the visible realm.

“Color is very unique,” Hutcheson said. “The camouflage color difference between the U.S. and Russian army is an example” of differences in colors that hyperspectral imaging could capture. “As you’re looking at a scene, you can identify that shade much easier, with the materials … flagged,” using hyperspectral imag-ing, Hutcheson said.

Three-dimensional hyperspectral imaging is a game-chang-ing technology because through spectral cameras, it gives mili-tary personnel the ability to identify the same object over time without having to constantly monitor it, according to Hutcheson. Some operators use binoculars to look at 3-D hyperspectral images. Pattern of life analyses through geo-monitoring allow operators to follow targets over very long timeframes, which can help with improvised explosive device searches or the extensive hunt by Navy SEALs that led to the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan in May 2011.

One of the benefits of hyperspectral imagery and surveillance in a SOCOM context is that hyperspectral surveillance draws information from such a large portion of the light spectrum that any given object should have a unique spectral signature in at least a few of the many bands that are scanned.

Georeferencing, the ability to define an object’s existence in physical space—in map projections or coordinated systems—has advanced greatly over the last five to 10 years, according to Hutcheson. “With some systems, we don’t know exactly where we’re looking, but we will know to ‘just look to the left,’ which is helpful information,” he said. Georeferencing is crucial to mak-ing aerial and satellite imagery, usually raster images, capable for mapping as it explains how other data, such as GPS points, relate to the imagery.

“With geo-referencing, we can see exactly where something is. We can then send the coordinates with much more accuracy,” to

operators in the field, who can mark the location of the object of interest on a database or map, Hutcheson said. Great accuracy can help improve munitions delivery and decrease the likelihood of civilian casualties and blue-on-blue friendly fire incidents because air power can more accurately identify targets with the aid of operators in the field and hyperspectral imaging run through UAV sensors.

The emerging technology is enticing and holds great promise, but there are fallacies to its use. For example, military person-nel in theater need to be careful about inadvertently providing geo-tracking and targeting information on their position to the enemy, through geo-tagging features on Facebook, Flickr and other social networking sites or through cell phone transmis-sions, since an enemy combatant could find these transmissions if he were looking to intercept them. For this reason, some contrac-tors advise DoD operators to operate PDAs when they are collect-ing geolocation and targeting data in an unplugged environment.

According to SRI International Sarnoff’s Bradburn, “encryp-tion in many cases is required” for the end-user. “We have to make sure our communications are secure.” His company provides sup-port to all DoD services and lists the Army as its largest customer.

“Direction and space of hostile movement toward them is what an operator is interested in,” Bradburn said. “What people are interested in is what the threat is and what direction is it headed.”

SRI International is a nonprofit research institute that performs research and development for government agencies, commercial businesses and private foundations. In addition to conducting contract R&D, SRI International licenses its technolo-gies, forms strategic partnerships and creates spin-off companies.

Fixed wing UAVs, known for their adaptability to adverse weather, enhanced fuel efficiency, and shorter learning curve for the untrained operator, are preferred by many DoD operators over rotary wing aircraft or blimps for geo-tracking. Fixed wing UAVs also have shown durability in harsh environments. Fixed wing UAVs, moreover, can provide images from multiple vantage points, allowing for more robust localization.

Another key DoD vendor in geo location and targeting is Lock-heed Martin (LM) Space Systems Co., which provides program management, systems engineering and spacecraft development under its Space-Based Infrared System (SBIRS) contract with the Air Force Infrared Space Systems Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. SBIRS is considered a high-priority space program.

LM Space Systems Co. provides program management, sys-tems engineering and spacecraft development, while LM Inte-grated Systems and Solutions is the ground systems developer and supports systems engineering. Northrop Grumman Elec-tronic Systems, meanwhile, is the payload subcontractor and supports systems engineering and ground mission processing development.

The SBIRS program consists of two geosynchronous Earth orbit satellites, two highly elliptical orbit payloads riding on host satellites, and associated worldwide deployed ground systems. The Air Force may procure a third satellite later. O



Despite what might appear to be obvi-ous tradeoffs with ruggedization and durability of equipment, Special Opera-tions Command officials wish to evaluate and acquire lighter rifle gear to obtain multiple benefits.

Lighter gear can help make mili-tary personnel harder to detect by the enemy, protect their hearing and help better communicate with partners dur-ing military operations, according to DoD contractors.

Since SOCOM runs its own research and development operation and makes its own acquisitions based on its own doctrine, techniques, tactics and pro-cedures, it can work with vendors on highly customized gear and more mass-produced ones, including helmet- and rifle-mounted sight systems, hardware and rails, and sound and flash suppres-sors, in addition to optical and thermal sights and fusion lights.

Streamlight has designed flashlights for use with night vision gear, the TLR-VIR and the Sidewinder, according to Loring Grove, global brand manager at Streamlight Inc. of Eagleville, Pa., a high performance flashlight company.

“Lithium batteries are more power-ful,” she said. “Lithium batteries have a higher energy density than alkaline batteries, so they can pack more power in a compact size. In addition, they are lightweight.

“We have designed the Sidewinder Compact II so that it can be powered by one CR123A size or one AA lithium or one AA alkaline battery, providing more battery options in the field.”

Streamlight’s tactical gun mount lights, designed to be attached or detached in two seconds or less, were designed by the company’s engineers for special operations and law enforce-ment. The mount lights have 2.5 hours of

lithium battery run time, are impervious to shock and have a 50,000 hour lifetime. Streamlight’s lithium ion batteries have a 10-year shelf life.

Streamlight also sells the Sidewinder Compact, a hands-free flashlight which in its military model has four levels of output, as well as a strobe function. The Sidewinder, meanwhile, is standard-issue helmet-mounted gear in the Marine Corps, has an unbreakable polycarbon-ate lens and shrugs off shock, boasting a 50,000-hour lifetime. It can be clipped onto an operator’s head strap. “Multiple functionality is important” with flash-lights in a tactical environment, Grove said. “If you can clip it on a vest or clip it on a helmet, it’s easy to use.”

Defense Department program man-agers aim to leverage all of the capa-bilities they’ve already purchased into the rifle during a time of tightening budgets, according to Michael Presz, vice

wArFighters’ burden is eAsed while lights, sights, suppressOrs iMprOve. by williAM MurrAy



president of government programs at Kopin Corp. of Taunton, Mass., a NAS-DAQ-traded company that sells advanced display products that exceed high defini-tion. “I think we’re learning from the deployments” in Afghanistan and Iraq, he said.

Presz predicted an increased focus on DoD research and development given the tight budgets. “The [Army Acquisition Objectives] have been largely met,” he observed.

Presz sees more focus on multi-spectral imaging and intelligent weapon sights. When asked how Kopin Corp.’s products are working in the field, he commented, “What we do know is when the hardware goes out, it doesn’t come back,” so there are very few returns for defects or malfunctions. Thermal imag-ing systems can give soldiers and military personnel the ability to see well in the darkness, a critical capability for warf-ighters who must own the night. The thermal weapons sight, in the fourth year of a five-year indefinite delivery/indefi-nite quantity contract though which the Army is purchasing nearly 22,000 ther-mal weapons systems for $194 million by June 30, 2012, is a major program for Kopin Corp. The company acts as a sub-contractor on the three prime contractor

teams: BAE Systems, DRS Technologies Inc. and Raytheon.

“Soldiers and snipers need data,” such as wind and conditions down range, according to Mark Luker, vice president of business development at Vectronix, a Leesburg, Va.-based U.S. subsidiary to a Swiss company. A retired Army major who served as a contracting officer for the Army First Corps in Iraq, Luker reports that Vectronix’s Vector binoculars have sold 27,500 units globally with a .01 percent return rate. “We build products to last, with a focus on size, weight and power,” he commented. Vectronix offi-cials are working on rifle accessories that can withstand the shock coming from .50 caliber rifles.

The Sterna precision target locator system (PTLS) by Vectronix, meanwhile, can “range out to five kilometers,” Luker said. Soldiers at Fort Sill who tried out the Sterna PTLS (in late 2011) were amazed at the accuracy of the target loca-tion,” he said.

The Sterna PTLS is an ultra-light (total system weight starts at 9 pounds), non-magnetic unit that “essentially gives the sniper a fused image when using the Long Range Thermal Video,” combin-ing images from two or more sources into one, according to Luker. The Sterna PTLS is a rangefinder that gives inde-pendent north-finding, eye-safe long dis-tance laser range-finding, strong day view optics and required north-finding capabilities to operators. The Sterna PTLS is a man-portable solution that can operate in magnetically charged or GPS-denied settings.

“SOCOM and the Rangers are our incubator for mission critical needs,” Luker said. Operators have tested Vec-tronix’s Clip On Thermal Imager, and next-generation Night Spot scopes for snipers and designated marksmen will be available by March 2012.

“A pretty good indicator of our field performance is anytime I go to a con-ference, people put our GEM products in their system, whether they are mili-tary, partners or industry suppliers like BAE Systems, Northrop Grumman or L-3 Communications,” he said.

Vectronix builds the SORD ballistics and ranging system with Horus Vision LLC, which provides “ballistics calcula-tion for almost any type of weapon,” according to Luker. The SORD can give

precise target coordinates, he said, which are invaluable for snipers because they reduce collateral damage while attaining high first round munitions accuracy.

Vectronix also sells NiteSpot 50, a clip-on night sight for snipers, which allows operators to upgrade their weap-ons when night falls, without a need to adjust scope.

“The lighter the load on the operator, the better,” said Don Alexander, director of military sales for SureFire LLC, of Foun-tain Valley, Calif., reflecting a common sentiment among contractors. “They’re also looking to decrease each operator’s signature,” he said of SOCOM, with lower muzzle blasts and more subdued flashes coming from their rifles, since a decreased signature means personnel are less likely to be detected and killed by the enemy. Surefire has been in business for 30 years.

“We have seen a high emphasis on sig-nature reduction in Afghanistan,” Alexan-der said. The Army purchased nearly 2,000 flash hiders from SureFire in 2011 for use in Afghanistan, according to Alexander, who served for 26 years in the Army Rang-ers and special forces. SOCOM has adopted SureFire flash hiders and suppressors but hasn’t fielded them yet.

One example of a special operations mission that required such a decreased operator signature was the successful May 2 operation in Pakistan by Navy SEAL forces that led to Osama bin Laden’s death. It was orchestrated by Navy Admiral Bill H. McRaven, who since has been elevated to command the U.S. Special Operations Command.

How did Tampa, Fla.-based SOCOM make its decision on adopting flash hiders and suppressors? “They didn’t select us because we were the cheapest,” Alexander said of SOCOM, since there are less expen-sive competitive alternatives to SureFire’s flash hiders and suppressors. “We were the highest performing,” in SOCOM field tests, he claimed, which ultimately proved to be the decisive reason for SureFire’s selection.

Flash suppressors can help shooters engaged in night operations by reducing the muzzle flash from the weapon to pre-serve the operator’s night vision, usually by directing the incandescent gases to the sides, away from the shooter’s line of sight, and by reducing the flash visible to the enemy. Night combat operators still must move quickly after firing to avoid

The Streamlight TLR series. [Photo courtesy of Streamlight]


receiving return fire, since they are still visible when firing, especially with night vision gear.

Another leading contractor seconded Alexander’s observation. SOCOM officials are looking for “lighter weight, more durable” rifle gear, according to Jay J. Quilligan, managing partner with Quick-silver Manufacturing LLC, of Shoshone, Idaho, one of the first manufacturers of titanium silencers. With a U.S. mili-tary mandate to use silencers, Quilligan reports a growing interest in Quicksil-ver Manufacturing’s products. “Titanium [alloy] fits the bill very well,” he said of DoD’s needs for rifles with less of an operator signature. Titanium is lighter and stronger than stainless steel.

Titanium alloy can hold up well under automatic and semi-automatic fire, according to Quicksilver Manufacturing officials. The company is beginning to gather metrics on the durability of its titanium alloy silencers.

Quicksilver Manufacturing has seen its silencers tested by the U.S. mili-tary in Afghanistan and Iraq but hasn’t seen significant fielding to date, although tests first started in 2007, showing that SOCOM officials are very deliberate in their proceedings and may occasionally have budget shortfalls. Quicksilver Manu-facturing silencers can make it easier for military personnel in the field to talk with their combat partners, protect their hearing, and reduce the flash from their muzzles, according to Quilligan, who is a medical doctor. SOCOM personnel recently tested Quicksilver Manufactur-ing silencers in Afghanistan and Iraq for up to seven months.

In response to customer demands, Quicksilver Manufacturing is working on producing a quick-detach mechanism for its silencers, as opposed to ones that screw on, despite the obvious difficul-ties involved with detaching a red hot silencer. Quick detach mechanisms tend to have a high failure rate, and some operators prefer to have the option of using them in case of catastrophic equip-ment failure. Quicksilver Manufacturing officials advise their customers to put the silencer on their weapon and leave it on.

Meanwhile, Gemtech is a Boise, Idaho-based firearm silencer design company with a strong record for deci-bel reduction, according to Kel Whalen, the company’s government and industry

liaison. He pointed out that Gemtech offers a bit more than decibel reduction. “Sound abatement is, of course, one of the main features of a silencer, but we also have a strong focus on reducing visual signature,” he said.

Founded in 1993 with the tagline “quiet things for quiet professionals,” Gemtech makes sound suppressors that directly connect to many host firearms. It also produces flash hiders that act as mounts for quick-disconnect silencers, according to Whalen.

Gemtech’s sound suppressors mount securely on standard barrel threads of most rifles, carbines and personal defense weapons using innovative and patented quick disconnect systems, according to Whalen. They also mount securely to threaded-barrel handguns with a unique retention feature to avoid loosening while firing. One of the largest U.S. manufactur-ers of its kind, Gemtech has been in busi-ness for nearly 20 years and has earned praise for the durability and longevity of its products, according to Whelan.

Vendors of bipods, suppressors and other equipment are producing gear that can mount on the limited space available on a Picatinny rail or else-where on a weapon. Given the military’s

experiences in Afghanistan and Iraq, ven-dors also report a growing appetite in the Army, Marine Corps and SOCOM for visible, infrared and laser lights, optical and thermal sights, fusion sights, acces-sory weapons such as grenade launch-ers and multifunction grip controllers. Vectronix sells a grenade launcher, the Rapid Acquisition Aiming Module, that can significantly increase the probability of a first-round hit by 40mm grenades fired from stand-alone and under barrel launchers.

SureFire, in addition, produces flash-lights, headlights, helmet lights and other illumination tools, such as the WeaponLight, a weapon-mounted flash-light. Illumination tools can temporarily blind, unbalance and disorient a threat. One Marine serving in Afghanistan at the time posted a testimonial on the SureFire website about how SureFire had enabled him and two fellow Marines to illuminate a road in front of them during a night-time patrol when their vehicles’ lights had died. Their ability to detect IEDs in front of their vehicle may have saved their lives.

Given SOCOM’s ongoing need to recruit and train personnel to serve as close air support, support, forward

Gemtech suppressors help to conceal special operators. [Photo courtesy Gemtech]


observer, forward air controller and joint tactical air controller specialists, it would appear that the trend toward lighter gear that makes SOCOM operators harder to detect by the enemy will continue unabated. The broader global war on terror, meanwhile, predicates that U.S. military and coalition partners develop the ability to strike lethally with smaller, quicker forces than those found in conventional warfare.

Small arms manufacturer Smith Enterprises Inc. (SEI) of Tempe, Ariz., for example, sells a sound suppressor, the Wind Talker, that mounts on the Vortex Flash Suppressor. “Our Vortex screws onto the front of the muzzle. We also sell scope rings and bipods that can be attached to the Picatinny rail system,” said Ron Smith, company president.

SEI has been in business for more than 40 years, and its sound suppressors can vary from a lightweight, less rugged ver-sion to ones that are heavier and more battle hardened. Weights on flash suppressors, by contrast, tend to be standard. In addi-tion to being a manufacturer, SEI also does weapons upgrades and enhancements and sells accessories.

Organizations that have given SEI gear positive reviews after field testing, according to Smith, include the Army 75th Ranger Regiment (Airborne) from Fort Benning, Ga., the Army 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry) from Fort Drum, N.Y., and SOCOM.

SOCOM was the first major command to begin using red dot sights, with the first widespread adoption in 1997, according to

Cormac O’Hanlon, national sales manager for government at Aimpoint Inc. A solid marksman can make a kill at distances up to 400 yards using red dot sights, he said. “They’re looking for very small, light packages,” O’Hanlon said of SOCOM and its rifle gear needs.

Aimpoint continues to work with the Army and SOCOM to “piggyback” on optical innovations, including more ruggedized gear that could better operate in rainy and dusty conditions, according to O’Hanlon, whose Swedish-based company has U.S. headquarters in Chantilly, Va., and has been working with DoD for 35 years. “Our accuracy has been proven over and over again,” he said. “Only the shooter sees the red dot.”

Gemtech’s Sandstorm .300 caliber compact silencer, mean-while, weighs 13.3 ounces, and its sound meters quieter than products inches longer and much heavier, according to Whelan. Gemtech has a line of featherweight hybrid-construction sound suppressors, incorporating titanium where weight can be saved and machined inconel components that are up to seven and a half times thicker than competitors that use stampings.

“For example, in our G5-T, the hybrid titanium/inconel ver-sion of our National Stock Numbered G5 5.56 mm silencer, this translates out into Gemtech having advantages of an overkill ‘cast iron frying pan’ approach to durability in some areas,” Whelan said, and “significant weight savings in others, balanc-ing out to be a lightweight quick-disconnect suppressor that doesn't compromise longevity.

“We also make traditional stainless steel suppressors that provide the same flash and sound reduction, but where lower cost is a factor to a client,” Whelan said.

In speaking about maintaining Gemtech’s gear, Whalen said, “Of the systems we make that require disassembly for cleaning, such as a pistol suppressor, we lead the industry with tool-free ability to be serviced. Maintenance is simple and can be per-formed in the field.”

SEI’s Smith calls his company’s rifle gear affordable, made of quality materials with quality manufacturing and well thought-out. In addition, “Our Vortex flash suppressor is patented and reduces the most flash. It is hardened and made from the best materials. It has corrosion resistance. It is affordable,” Smith said.

“Our Wind Talker Sound Suppressors are the same: very durable, affordable, corrosion resistant. They reduce sound very well,” Smith said. “We have technologies in our sound suppres-sor that no one else has. It is rebuildable, field cleanable, and reduces the muzzle first shot flash. We also make the Good Iron Muzzle Brake that is the best out there,” Smith said. The Iron Muzzle Brake is heat treated and made of ordnance grade material.

Gemtech sells through GSA Schedule contracts, 8(a) vendors and the Special Operational Equipment Tailored Logistics Sup-port program at the Defense Supply Center Philadelphia. Smith Enterprises, meanwhile, is a small business that is woman-owned and veteran operated, in addition to selling through GSA Schedule contracts. Aimpoint, Quicksilver Manufacturing and SureFire sell through dealers. O


SOF Mobile Systems Focus Day: March 26, 2012 Main Summit: March 27-28, 2012

San Diego, CA USAMaximizing Operational Capabilities for

Global Special Operations Forces

Exclusive Discount for IACSP Supporters!

Save 20% off the standard All-Access fee with code: SOTSOW1

Visit www.SpecialOperationsWest.com or call 1-800-882-8684 today

REGISTER TODAy TO hEAR FROM kEy DECISIOn MAkERS FROM vARIOuS COMbATAnT COMMAnDS, InCluDInG:

• SOCOM • PACOM • SOUTHCOM • EUCOM • National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency • Naval Surface Warfare Center • Joint Special Operations University • Army Special Operations Capabilities Integration Center


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February 6-8, 201223rd Annual SO/LIC Symposium & ExhibitionWashington, D.C.www.ndia.org/meetings

February 7-9, 2012AUVSI’s Unmanned Systems Program ReviewWashington, D.C.www.auvsi.org/uspr

February 22-24, 2012AUSA’s ILW Winter Symposium & ExpositionFort Lauderdale, Fla.http://ausa.org

March 13-14, 2012NAVEXFORVirginia Beach, Va.http://defensetradeshows.com/navexfor-2010

March 19-21, 2012Military Antennas WestSan Diego, Calif.www.militaryantennasevent.com

March 26-28, 2012Special Operations Summit WestSan Diego, Calif.www.specialoperationswest.com

March 2012Volume 10, Issue 2Next ISSuE

Cover and In-Depth Interview with:

James W. CluckAcquisition Executive and Senior Procurement ExecutiveUSSOCOM

Insertion Order Deadline: March 8, 2012 • Ad Materials Deadline: March 15, 2012

aDVErTiSErS inDEx

AR Modular RF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13www.arworld.usChandler May Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C4www.chandlermay.comG4S International Training Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21www.g4siti.comJohn Deere . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C3www.johndeere.com/military/salesL-3 GCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11www.l-3com.comPersistent Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7www.persistentsystems.comSOFEX 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3www.sofexjordan.comSpecial Operations Summit West . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26www.specialoperationswest.comStreamlight Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .C2www.streamlight.com/128

SOTECH CALENDAR & DIRECTORY

Features

Vertical Lift ModernizationFrom giant CH-47 helicopters to UH-60 Black Hawks modified with stealth technology, and high-speed V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, vertical lift capabilities are indispensable for special operators. Now, they are about to become even better.

Advances in AmmunitionUltimately, a round moving at supersonic speed marks the point at which the special operator meets and defeats the enemy. We look at the latest in ammo, including greater accuracy, range and stopping power, along with rounds that leave carbines cleaner.

electro-Optical and IR technologyWe provide an overview of the electro-optic and infrared gear that helps special operators own the night. What new systems are available? Is the range of infrared systems increasing?

HandgunsThe military has some tried and true favorites in sidearms. But what are the chances the military may obtain an entirely new pistol? What is the outlook for competition? We examine each potential sidearm, its strong points and weaknesses. We also detail what sort of gear can be mounted on each one.

Retrospective: USSOCOM 25th AnniversaryWe look back at the history of America’s elite fighting force, an epic tale written in bravery and blood, vital missions and victories.

Bonus Distribution:•Soldier Equipment & Technology Expo – Fort Hood•Quad-A


From 1966 to 1995, Lamar Tooke served in various command and staff positions of increasing responsibility in Germany, throughout the Pacific, in the Continental United States and the Republic of Vietnam. He also has served as a faculty member and academic department chairman at the U.S. Army War College. His written work related to military operations has been widely pub-lished and often translated for use in other countries.

Since 1995 he has held various positions within the training profession. He continues to serve in a training organization where he makes a contribution to the safety and tacti-cal skills of people every day.

Q: Can you describe G4S International Training Inc.’s history and evolution?

A: G4S International Training Inc. was estab-lished in May 1989 with the express pur-pose of providing advanced driver training to intelligence and special operations per-sonnel within the Department of Defense. During the 1990s, the company expanded to offer basic firearms and surveillance detection training to a broader audience within DoD. The events of September 2001 resulted in a further expansion of company capabilities within three primary skill areas—driving, for which the company is well known, fire-arms through an advanced level with cur-rent optics, night vision devices, etc., as well as security operations beyond surveillance detection. Coursework in threat analysis, sur-veillance, counter-surveillance and personal protection details were added to the offerings available from G4S ITI.

Q: Can you describe the product line focus-ing on the needs of the special ops warrior?

A: The most notable services provided for special operations personnel would be skill maintenance for the advanced driving tech-niques and methods and the need to stay sharp with their assigned weapons, primarily variations of the M4 carbine and various pis-tols used within the SOF community. G4S ITI organized and supports a competitive pistol team, which has performed very well at the

national and international level, especially during 2011. A visit to the G4S ITI Facebook page will provide readers the details on the team. The importance to the G4S ITI firearms program is that we have learned a great deal about speed and integrating that into tactical shooting requirements and the tactical envi-ronment. It is not an “either/or” situation. Tactical and competitive skills can be brought together in a rather astounding fashion with excellent results.

Q: What is G4S International Training Inc.’s connection with the defense community?

A: G4S ITI remains a strong specialized driver training and firearms training company with connections in the intelligence and special operations organizations of DoD. We have a reputation for flexibility, quick response and attempting to understand client train-ing needs. There is not a one course fits all approach at G4S ITI. We attempt to develop coursework that is mission-focused and pur-posefully designed. Understandably, there are times when clients have to withhold infor-mation that might allow us to enhance the training.

Q: What is an example of your success in the military, and what are some of your goals [specific to the special ops industry] over the next year?

A: During the height of our efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan, G4S ITI is very proud to have trained over 50,000 students, many

of whom deployed to those countries to perform their missions in support of U.S. policy objectives. Our goal for 2012-2014 is to become an obvious choice for training in the firearms field, especially skills maintenance in a more flexible open enrollment venue, which G4S ITI does not offer today. G4S ITI is also developing coursework for those intelligence personnel who will likely not attend a SERE course, but need survival skills once detained or captured.

Q: What unique benefits does your company provide its customers in comparison with other companies in your field?

A: Flexibility in course development, the ability to reach out to many partners for spe-cialized coursework such as advanced medi-cal subjects and a full-time, continuously professionally developed cadre are the major benefits to our clients. Having two sites to serve the West Coast [from Texas] and the East Coast [from Virginia] is also a big advan-tage to our clients. Our Texas facility has great potential for additional course work.

Q: How do you measure success?

A: In the broad view, G4S ITI measures success as a business, meaning revenue gen-eration, which very much depends on return clients. Long-term returning customers are the life of training companies and G4S ITI is no different. In day-to-day terms, G4S ITI has a very systematic quality management system based on widely accepted Kirkpat-rick methods of evaluation. The company requires every student to evaluate the train-ing they received. Those students providing an email address receive another opportu-nity to evaluate the training they received 6 months after they depart G4S ITI. The standard is 90 percent overall and for each of the 12 items evaluated by all students. The G4S ITI average for 2011 is over 97 percent overall with instructor related items rated even higher. G4S ITI conducts a quarterly review of its performance and each instruc-tor is monitored for student evaluation and feedback. [email protected]

Lamar TookeVice President of Operations


INDUSTRY INTERVIEW Special Operations Technology


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SOTECH 10-1 (Feb. 2012)

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