Military Officer - January 2008 - (Page 61) members into harm’s way, the OAV metal snake and operates in much the sensing capabilities and spread them across the entire vehicle, greatly incan be used to hover over a target, same way. Designed for search-andcreasing its situational awareness. It pinpoint the threat, and provide troop rescue applications, the robot will be also allows Crusher to learn from past commanders with its exact location. able to insinuate itself into places too cramped or dangerous for rescuers or experiences and apply them to new A relatively large Class II version situations. The goal, says TTO, is to and a smaller, Class I unit that can be warfighters. It will have the capabil“yield an unmanned ground vehicle deployed by a single servicemember ity of crawling into a rubble pile, for that operates reliably in complex and instance, to look for survivors of a currently are being developed. bombing or to reconnoiter urban ter- varied natural environments.” Warfighters on the ground can For those on the ground constantly rain in search of insurlook forward to several facing threats from snipers and RPGs, gent threats. On-board other technological improvements. Take the “New tech- cameras will beam real- DARPA is testing a system called Crosshairs, designed to instantly lotime images of its envicommon mortar. TTO’s nologies cate the source of enemy fire. ronment to an operator. Electromagnetic Morenable and Imagine the difference “It’ll be a Humvee-mounted tar program is building a prototype railgun that inspire new an MDMR might have system able to detect, track, and respond to rifle bullets, RPGs, antimade in the tunnels of can hurl modified 120 visions.” tank guided missiles, mortars, Man Tora Bora or the ruins mm shells at speeds — Daniel Newman, Portable Air Defense Systems — baof the Twin Towers. up to about 940 mph. program manager sically everything,” says DARPA DARPA’s aforePropelled by electrospokesperson Jan Walker. Crosshairs mentioned unmanned magnetic pulses, the will integrate with the services’ ground vehicle, named projectile’s speed can Crusher, weighs some 17,000 pounds existing counter-fire systems, says be controlled precisely, unlike and features several new technologies Walker, allowing them to instantly standard mortar shells. designed to make it even smarter than respond to enemy projectiles. The shoulder-fired rocket its predecessor, including UPI, or launcher — christened the bazooka Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle Weaponizing light by World War II GIs — also is getPerceptOR Integration. The new soft- Perhaps the most futuristic program ting a makeover. Like the original ware and sensor suite boost Crusher’s is the High [CONTINUES ON PAGE 85] rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), Magneto-Hydrodynamic Explosive Munition (MAHEM) can be deployed by an individual servicemember, but that’s where the resemblance ends. MAHEM will exploit two advanced Defense Sciences Office identifies and advances radically new techtechnologies, according to TTO: “an nologies that promise to revolutionize military capabilities. explosively-driven magnetic flux comMicrosystems Technology Office pushes fundamental limits in netpression generator pulsed power and work, sensor, and military platform component technology. a magneto-hydrodynamic driven selfInformation Processing Technology Office extracts meaning from forging penetrator.” In other words, data to enable forces to master combat situations faster and more preit’s a weapon using a magnetic pulse to cisely than the enemy. drive an armor-penetrating explosive Tactical Technology Office focuses on high-risk, high-payoff advanced spike into a vehicle — with much more research leading to revolutionary improvements to the efficiency and efforce than current launchers. fectiveness of the military. Strategic Technology Office develops core strategies and systems Ground-war innovations that enable commanders and their forces to achieve immediately strateDARPA long has been in the foregic dominance. front of the robotics revolution, but Information Exploitation Office harnesses emerging, disruptive inan electromechanical device now on formation technologies to enhance radically U.S. military capabilities. the drawing boards is poised to redeVirtual Space Office is a decentralized office consisting of several profine what’s possible in the field. The gram managers working together to provide improved access to space Multi-Dimensional Mobility Robot and develop new space systems. (MDMR) looks like a segmented DARPA Offices JANUARY 2008 MILITARY OFFICER 61
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