C4ISR technologies carry the load for special

forces
Intersection of new technologies produces powerful
and lightweight equipment
By Terry Costlow, May 02, 2011
https://defensesystems.com/Articles/2011/05/03/Cover-Story-Special-Forces-Gear.aspx?admgarea=DS&Page=1

Whether special operations teams swim or parachute into remote areas and spend a
few hours or a few days gathering information, the technology they carry has many of
the same attributes. Their load comprises compact equipment with long operating
times and versatile capabilities.
Special operations forces use the full spectrum of military technology, featuring the
latest advances in electronics. They are always searching for the newest systems in
technologies as varied as man-portable gear, such as night vision goggles, or the
latest sensors used on drones. Satellite and cellular communications also are a critical
aspect of the command and control side of special operations.
The need for data gathering and information sharing equipment is becoming
increasingly competitive for those charged with designing next-generation
equipment. Functionality and connectivity must increase, battery life should be
longer and weight should be lighter.
Special operations personnel must know much about their surroundings to move
without being spotted. They also need to identify foes from civilians. Many foes feel
injuries to innocents are unimportant. But the effect of human collateral damage can
be extremely problematic for special operations personnel who are trying to work
closely with local people.
The rules of engagement are a key factor for the special operations community,
said Don Reago of the Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development,
and Engineering Centers (CERDEC) Night Vision and Electronic Sensors
Directorate. They need to identify and classify potential targets before they shoot.
Their opponents can shoot whenever they see anything.
The ever-changing nature of military missions also drives the need for lightweight
technology. In the Middle East and elsewhere, theres growing demand for special
operations personnel to make quick forays into remote areas. Thats in contrast to the
demand for large-scale deployments of battalions, which is not expected to increase
significantly in coming years.
The special operations force structure is increasing, while many of the main forces
are decreasing, said Tom Benes, vice president and manager of Integrated Strategic
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Solutions Operations at Alion Science and Technology and a retired Marine Corps
general. That means theres also a demand for more training and more technology.
The drive to equip U.S. forces with gear that gives them a technical edge over their
adversaries is exacerbated by the widespread availability of sensors like night vision
goggles and heat sensors. Its a big challenge to us that primitive goggles can be
bought commercially. We have to increase resolution and sensitivity so our forces can
see more, Reago said.
Increasingly, the technical advances come as technologies come together.
Microcontrollers and other electronic devices continue to do more while taking less
space so advanced developers can more easily combine multiple functions so they
benefit the warfighter.
A lot of what we do is to bring combinations together so they benefit the soldier. For
example, we are augmenting night vision with thermal capabilities, adding ancillary
equipment like the pointer on a weapon, Reago said. Weve done a lot of work with
laser pointers in the near-infrared range, so our forces can see the point without the
target knowing that its there.
Many of these advances leverage commercial technology. But although the
government is using more commercially available microprocessors, software and
batteries, military researchers are still pushing state-of-the-art technologies in crucial
areas.
In the infrared focal point arrays used for night vision, were way ahead of
commercial advances, said Thom Soyka, Quick Response Branch Chief for
CERDECs Special Products and Prototyping Division. We concentrate on key
components where theres not a lot of commercial investment.
Power struggle
Given the extreme mobility requirements of special operations forces, size and
weight are critical factors. Although theres constant pressure to make units smaller
and lighter, thats balanced by the desire to have equipment do more and
communicate with more networks. As developers struggle to meet these conflicting
requirements, they often find the problems are intertwined.
One of the biggest tradeoffs for system designs is weight, Soyka said. Thats
closely tied to power, a system that draws a lot of power needs a lot of batteries. Our
goal is to minimize the amount of weight for the operation of the unit, whether its
carried by a soldier or transported on a vehicle.
There are many paths for product engineers who design portable equipment. By
lowering power consumption, they can sometimes remove cooling systems such as
fans and metal heat sinks that add bulk as well as weight. Reducing power
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consumption also makes it possible to move to smaller batteries without sacrificing

operating lifetimes.
One example is uncooled thermal sensors. Now that they dont need a cryogenic
cooler, theres a lot less weight, Soyka said. At the same time, that makes it
possible to run them on a few AA batteries. A few years ago, they needed a military
brick battery.
Battery technology advances slowly, annual improvements are in the low single
digits. That pales in comparison to the continuing advances in semiconductors, which
can double in capability every couple of years.
Designers of portable equipment can leverage those advances in electronics by using
lower voltages for microprocessors and other devices. Another way is to put these
chips into sleep modes so they need to draw very little energy from the battery until
theyre needed.
Were not seeing any great breakthroughs on battery lifetimes, so we need to build
smart electronics that go into sleep modes quickly and only wake up when theyre
needed, said Dennis Moran, vice president of government business development for
RF Communications at Harris and a retired Army major general.
The slow pace of change in batteries makes them a good candidate for
standardization. Specialized batteries are rapidly falling by the wayside as designers
choose standard sizes that can be purchased nearly anywhere. That reduces cost while
making the most of any advances that occur in consumer markets.
We want to leverage developments in the commercial battery market, so were
driving our partners to create products that use standard batteries, Reago said.
Everyone has a camera that operates on AA lithium ion batteries, so theres an
incredible demand for increased capacity.
The shift to smaller, standardized batteries is coming as products that augment or
even replace batteries inch closer to reality. A number of test flights have proven the
viability of fuel cells for unmanned aerial vehicles.
They can provide as much as a sevenfold improvement in flight time while
maintaining the weight of batteries, according to a Naval Research Laboratory test.
Thats prompting commercial groups to look closely at their potential.
In UAVs, theres a push to get away from batteries and go to fuel cells, Benes said.
Theres also a push to electric motors, which are much quieter. They work on fuel
cells, so you can you operate at night, which solar cant do.
Military researchers are also exploring technologies such as energy harvesting where
compact electronics convert the energy from vibration or changes in temperature so it
can be used to power remote sensors and other products. The technology has seen
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some use, but its effect remains more in its high potential than in actual applications.
Research in solar is also continuing as a way to extend operating lifetimes by
augmenting batteries.
At the same time, theres plenty of research into systemwide technologies that can
help special operations forces carry lighter loads. Thats happened a lot in satellite
communications, where antenna sizes have gotten substantially smaller, trimming
ounces, or even pounds.
Some of those changes have come on the antenna side as engineers leverage advances
in electronics and software. But the weight savings for warfighters on the ground are
also being driven by changes in equipment thats in orbit.
There are tradeoffs between size, weight and functionality for the warfighter and
whats on the spacecraft, said Tom Foust, vice president of global networking
solutions at Intelsat. If you put higher gain antennas on the satellite, the warfighter
doesnt need to lug around a heavy antenna.
Advances in connectivity
Wherever special operations troops are deployed, they want to stay connected while
using the lightest communications gear possible. As in other areas in electronics, the
rapid advances in commercial systems are driving many of the advances in military
communications.
Cell phone technology is the technology of the day, so theres a lot of investment that
aims to shrink headset sizes and do more tasks with a single device. When cellular
links are augmented by satellite links, remote forces can relay imagery or messages to
anyone on the network, often using technology borrowed from the commercial world.
Warfighters can talk with their colleagues using Bluetooth, and when they take a
photo with their smart phone, it can go out immediately over satellite if the cell phone
link is not there, said John Munoz-Atkinson, director of land business development
at Inmarsat Government Services.
New operating systems that let users run a range of applications packages on compact
phones are also transforming special operations.
Many military operations are looking at smart devices with applications based on
Android, Moran said. They can run applications and still communicate with many
different networks.
This ability to connect with multiple networks using a single device was one a major
advance for special operations teams that must often work with many groups and pull
information from many sources. Software defined radio remains one of the key
communication technologies despite the growing role of cell phones.
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"The most important aspect for radio capabilities is the flexibility of the software
defined architecture. A small package can handle many different waveforms so a user
can communicate with other forces on the ground and see a video link from a UAV,
Moran said.
Although software defined radios and smart phones are powerful tools, they wont
always have some of the specialized functions sometimes found in larger proprietary
equipment. Software vendors are attempting to reduce the negative effects by making
it fairly simple to move computing tasks to equipment thats most capable for each
task, mimicking the cloud computing concept thats popular in commercial
applications.
For example, Covia Labs is now planning a program with the Defense Information
Systems Agency and the U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) that will
use the startups software to shift tasks from a smart phone to other equipment on a
network.
When our Connector software is on a number of devices, applications can run on
whatever piece of equipment has the best capability. If you have a high resolution
photo that you want to send to a device with a low resolution screen, you can send the
photo to a device that can quickly convert it to the right resolution, said David Kahn,
Covias CEO.
As greater volumes of critical data move through the open air, data encryption plays
an increasingly important role. The need to share various types of information with
forces from other countries and even other branches of the U.S military makes the
challenge even more complex.
A recent USSOCOM task order highlighted the complexity of this task.
Unisys brought in partners that included Security First, which created a cryptographic
program named SecureParser, and Advanced C4 Solutions, an integration company.
They will work together to evaluate the Unisys Stealth Solution, which is an IT
environment that lets forces communicate and share information across a spectrum of
networks with varying levels of security.
Sensors in the sky
Special operation missions are often driven by images and other intelligence gathered
from airborne sensors. Drones are now in widespread use, and their capabilities are
continuously expanding.
Cameras and other sensors are becoming less expensive and there are more users to
share costs, fueling the advances so more aircraft can carry more devices. That means
that unmanned aerial systems are now helping forces connect with satellites, among
other links.
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Payload technology is advancing beyond that needed for ISR missions, said
Stephen Flach, vice president of Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems Programs at AAI
UAS. Payloads for small and tactical UASs now support new mission profiles,
including signals intelligence, communications relay and small-aperture radar.
That broadens situational awareness by ensuring that data from sensors on the ground
are coordinated with input from other areas. That can be particularly helpful when
ground sensors dont have satellite links.
We recently incorporated our Aerosonde UAS with a relay mechanism for Textron
Defense Systems Unattended Ground Sensors. This allowed the UAS to act as an
airborne relay, transmitting situational awareness from the sensors back to the
operations center, Flach said.
Sensor capabilities on the ground are also expanding rapidly. For example,
USSOCOM recently contracted for a $5.6 million delivery of forward-looking
infrared system from FLIR Systems Inc. those sensors will typically be linked with
cameras, often mounted on vehicles.
Cameras can be augmented by other types of sensors like radar and thermal, said
David Strong, marketing vice president at Flir Systems Inc. Sensors with a gyro
stabilizer and gimbal assembly for mounting on a vehicle can provide very long range
observations, especially when theyre raised up on masts.