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What is typically a sea of T-shirts and blue jeans was replaced by green-and-brown military fatigues in the classroom of Stefan Bossmann, professor of chemistry at Kansas State University.

Bossmann recently opened K-State’s organic chemistry teaching lab to 30 soldiers with the 172nd Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Nuclear Company at Fort Riley. The soldiers, from the company’s 2nd and 3rd Platoons, met for a day of basic training in organic chemistry.

The soldiers, who specialize in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear detection and decontamination on the battlefield, learned the fundamental principles of organic chemistry through hands-on experiments involving recrystallization, distillation and extraction methods — including extracting caffeine from tea.

Though basic exercises, the time in the lab with Bossmann could prove invaluable in combat, said 2nd Lt. Andrew Owens, the company’s 2nd Platoon leader.

“One thing that has happened while in Afghanistan and Iraq is that we’ll find clandestine labs, and we don’t know whether the labs are used to manufacture explosives or drugs, or if they are just a high school chemistry setup,” Owens said.

“By working with the different instruments and glassware, and doing these extraction methods in this training, these soldiers can perhaps be more familiar with how to get an appropriate sample from a setup they find, and how to go about getting a sample of a more pure product,” said 2nd Lt. Keith Byers, the company’s 3rd Platoon leader. From there, Byers said the sample could be given to experts at a civilian lab who could tell military personnel exactly what is being produced.

Byers and Owens both have a bachelor’s degree in science. However, many of the soldiers serving in the Chemical Corps don’t necessarily have a background in science, according to Owens. For many soldiers, he said, being in the K-State classroom is the first time they’ve used actual laboratory equipment and conducted lab work since high school chemistry.

The occasion also marked the first time military personnel had come to a K-State classroom for a training exercise.

“We don’t get this level of chemical training in the Army,” Owens said. “K-State has all of the experts here on campus, and they’re right next door to Fort Riley. It would be a shame not to utilize them.”

The training was spearheaded by Byers, who contacted Bossmann to see if it could be done.

“I was actually surprised that we didn’t do this earlier; it was one of those ideas that was a really good one,” Bossmann said. “K-State prides itself on working with the military, and since they contacted us, it shows that the relationship is working.

“It’s a very welcome change to teach a group that actually has a real interest in chemistry and will need that knowledge in the field or when they deploy,” Bossmann said.

Owens agreed.

“These soldiers may never extract caffeine again, but by just spending this time in the lab they can become more familiar with what the processes are like and can consequently become more knowledgeable in their job,” he said.

Assisting Bossmann with the lab were David Villanueva, K-State senior in biology and premedicine, Baytown, Texas; Hongwang Wang, China, who is conducting postdoctoral work; and Sebastian Wendel, a visiting scientist from the University of Applied Sciences in Giessen, Germany.

The Defense Advance Research Projects Agency (DARPA) continues its attention to wall-climbing projects, funding various initiatives that might help servicemembers scale vertical surfaces without ladders or ropes.

Using an adhesive bond similar to the adhering qualities of the Palm beetle, Cornell University researchers in Ithaca, N.Y., have developed a water-based, hand-sized device that can bear loads while it sticks to and releases from walls.

The device contains a triple-layer plate and 9-volt battery that produce enough surface tension to hold up 15 pounds per square inch of device. Researchers estimate a 225-pound servicemember could be supported by a 3-by-5-inch plate on the sole of a boot.

Paul H. Steen, lead researcher in Cornell’s Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department, says the device is known as SECAD (Switchable Electronically Controlled Adhesive Device).

“Surface tension can be demonstrated by two pieces of glass with water in between them adhering to each other, known as wetting phenomenon,” Steen says. “Our device uses surface tension, but it’s main advantage is that we can turn it on and off.”

The project goal is to produce an epoxy-strength adhesive that can be turned on or off in a fraction of a second.

Mark Cutkowski of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University’s Center for Design Research in Palo Alto, Calif., subcontracts with Draper Laboratory to explore the use of dry adhesive materials for climbing applications. His group developed Stickybot, a robot with sticky feet that mimics the climbing action of geckos by using feet made with a synthetic elastomer, promoting a strong contact between the feet and a wall.

For efficient climbing, he notes, one must have direction adhesion, like a gecko, where it brushes against a surface and pulls in one direction to stick itself, and pulls in another direction to release itself without any effort.

Cutkowski says a 4-by-4-inch patch of synthetic adhesive could support about 30 pounds. The goal, he notes, is an application that can stick and unstick many times with no residue, and last many cycles, yet not expending much energy. The Stickybot, he says, must stick and unstick at least 120 times a minute in order to climb.

The challenges for humans to be able to walk on or climb walls, says Steen, is that such materials must work as well on dusty or wet surfaces as they do on smooth ones.

“While the Spiderman thing has a lot of appeal,” he notes, “it will be more than five years before you can go to a store and get gloves that will allow you to walk up walls.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms

The Military Vehicles Exhibition & Conference is August 11-12 at the Cobo Convention Center in Detroit, Mich. Join the major stakeholders from DoD and military, OEMs, component manufacturers, service providers, and academia for a comprehensive exhibition, program updates, technical education, and networking opportunities – all under one roof!

Register to attend today and use code “MOAA” to receive 25 percent off the Main Conference or a Free Expo Pass.

Military commanders in the field have come to rely on the intelligence that unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) can provide from a bird’s-eye view in the sky.

From the Raven B, a lightweight reconnaissance, surveillance, and target acquisition UAS to the smaller Wasp squad-level reconnaissance and surveillance unit, combat soldiers continue to have a much clearer picture of what the enemy is doing and what he or she intends.

AeroVironment of Monrovia, Calif., maker of UAS, is developing Switchblade — an advanced UAS that can be used to take out soft targets by diving on them and blowing up.

Designed as a Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLOS) package, Switchblade can glide or propel itself by electric propulsion and provides real-time GPS coordinates and color video for information gathering, targeting, and feature/object recognition.

Steve Gitlin, AeroVironment’s vice president of marketing strategy, says Switchblade would be used at the squad level.

“Switchblade would be controlled by the same hand-held ground controller used for Puma, Raven, and Wasp,” Gitlin says. “But where they can only provide visual information, Switchblade can provide that information and then become a lethal munition.”

Switchblade sets up in a tube on the ground, is launched on command, and as it exits the tube, wings spring into position to give it lift and a propeller begins spinning to propel it through the air at a high rate of speed.

Switchblade typically would be launched when the user was confronted with a threat, Gitlin notes, such as a sniper, a mortar team launching indirect fire, or someone planting a roadside bomb.

“The user would fly the Switchblade in the direction of that threat, using the color monitor to visually identify it,” he says. “Once they’ve identified and confirmed the threat, they will be able to lock the Switchblade onto the target, at which point the aircraft transitions into self-guided mode. It then flies itself into the target, impacting it and detonating a small explosive charge in the process.”

Gitlin says the charge is designed to neutralize soft targets with a very high level of precision and minimal collateral damage. For instance, if a Switchblade were to take out a sniper in a building window, he says, “people in apartments a couple of doors down wouldn’t be affected.”

A Switchblade operator views streaming video from the aircraft during the mission, so if the situation were to change, such as if innocent civilians were to appear in the target area, he could call off the Switchblade, Gitlin says.

“The aircraft would then do something that would not result in damage to people or property,” Gitlin noted.

Because of its very small size and quiet motor, Switchblade is difficult to detect, recognize, and track, even at close range.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

A contractor and three subcontractors have been awarded a U.S. Navy contract to design and develop a new restraint system for aircrews.

Designated CMARS (common mobile aircrew restraint system), the new design will include integrated safety features to reduce the likelihood of injuries caused by combat damage, aircraft crashes, or evasive maneuvers. The design will sense such situations and lock the aircrew in place, thus preventing injurious forces from affecting the crew.

Wolf Technical Services, an engineering company in Indianapolis, was awarded the $12 million contract. Subcontractors include Butler America, Garrity Tool Company, and Software Engineering Professionals.

Jon Carr, chief operating officer for Wolf Technical Services, says that up until development of CMARS, the gunners and mobile aircrew in the back of helicopters have had to rely on a 10-foot long “gunner’s belt that could be adjusted with some difficulty.” He notes the aircrew would secure one end of the gunner’s belt to a D ring on their harness and the other end to a D ring in the floor, ceiling, or sidewall of the aircraft.

“There have been many mishaps over the years where a guy didn’t shorten up the belt enough and found himself outside of the vehicle,” Carr says, “and the instances occurred both in flight and during crashes.”

Carr notes CMARS is an adaptation of a restraint system the Navy tried in the H-60 model helicopters that used a mechanical spring device to lock the wearer in place if the belt were accelerated.

“The MARS (mobile aircrew restraint system) didn’t work out because it wouldn’t allow the aircrew to move around and do his job without locking up,” Carr says. “So the Navy removed it from its choppers.”

Carr says CMARS uses a battery-powered electronic accelerometer and microprocessor to keep the belt snug with no slack, allowing the aircrew freedom of movement, and yet holds the aircrew in position by locking up in an event creating a certain amount of acceleration, like a crash or hard landing.

CMARS is still in development, but Carr expects Wolf Technical to produce about 100 units to go through the Navy’s qualification testing, and after any fine tuning, then go into full production.

He says the Navy intends to eventually buy about 20,000 units. The new system is expected to be used on rotary-wing and in some fixed-wing cargo aircraft.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

Uncle Sam is getting a little bit of underwater help from some of the residents of the deep — dolphins.

Locating and marking mines at sea is a difficult process, but seemingly one that comes easily to dolphins with their built-in biological sense of echolocation. The U.S. Navy uses those capabilities in its Marine Mammal Program to train the animals — dolphins and sea lions — to detect and locate mines and other potentially dangerous targets.

Dolphins naturally possess the most sophisticated sonar known to man and can locate targets that are acoustically difficult to detect, especially in murky or dark water.

Sea lions are not only adept at locating objects in challenging conditions, they also have the ability to maneuver in tight spaces and can go onto the shore if necessary.

The Marine Mammal Program uses five Marine Mammal Systems (MMS) to perform an assortment of tasks. In the MK 4 MMS, dolphins are used for detecting and/or marking the location of sea mines that are tethered off the ocean bottom. Deep-water mines are easy targets for the dolphin’s highly-effective echolocation, and the mammals are able to operate in highly cluttered and rough seabed conditions, as well as where there is high marine growth and other complex acoustic conditions that hamper Navy hardware performance.

The MK 7 MMS dolphins are trained to detect and/or mark location of mines sitting on the ocean bottom or buried in sediment. These dolphins are sent out after the first troops have gone into the area and help clear a wider path of safety for additional troops and equipment.

The MK 8 MMS is a human/dolphin team that allows troops to quickly identify safe corridors for the initial landing of troops ashore. MK 8 operates with a low profile in very shallow water.

MK 5 uses sea lions and MK6 uses both sea lions and dolphins.

Teams of animals and sailors can be deployed within 72 hours and transported by aircraft, helicopter, ship, or land vehicle.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

Communication through satellite link-ups has become an increasingly important element in the military’s bag of tricks, so having a portable satellite terminal can be a big asset.

That’s where an inflatable satellite terminal made by GATR Technologies in Huntsville, Ala., fits into the picture. The Department of the Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center has awarded GATR Technologies a one-year contract (with renewable options) for $26 million to deliver an indefinite quantity of the inflatable satellite terminals.

The terminal mounts a collapsible parabolic antenna on an inflated ball that can be set up on a satellite in 40 minutes. The reflector is available in 1.8 and 2.4 meter parabolic versions. “There’s a flexible reflective dish on the inside of the inflated ball,” says Dean Hudson GATR’s marketing director. “The ball has two chambers, and pressure is carefully managed to make sure the dish stays rigid and can support the feed mount which attaches to the outside of the unit. The larger the dish, the lower the power needed to transmit and receive.”

The advantage of the system is its portability, says Hudson. The system weighs 89 pounds ,and it fits into two checkable airline hard cases. “The system is reusable, quick to deploy, and easy to transport,” Hudson says. “After the recent earthquake in Haiti, we were the first to deploy a large aperture high bandwidth antenna. While others were trying to figure out how to get the crates onto a ship or cargo plane, we packed one into the back of a Cessna and flew in, helping the UN in support of search and rescue missions. The U.S Army had another of our units at the other end of the airport.”

Paul Gierow, president of GATR Technologies, says that besides Haiti, the firm has inflatable satellite systems in operation in Afghanistan, Germany, Japan, and Korea. “The unit enables missions that would not otherwise be able to be done, which is what makes it unique for military use,” Gierow says. “It’s transportability and reduced cube also are key and the unit opens up a lot of areas where users can get in quickly as opposed to waiting a week or two.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

…that MOAA is on Twitter!

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Fifty years is a long time to use any single design, but in the case of the Army’s T-10 parachute, it has stood the test of time. Yet change is inevitable and the Army’s new chute, the T-11, has undergone 3,200 test jumps and is starting to be fielded to units.

The T-11 — intended to be used in mass parachute assaults from altitudes as low as 500 feet above ground level — offers slower rates of descent, greater equipment carrying capacity, and decreased oscillation under the canopy. The maximum deployment altitude of the T-11 is 7,500 feet above sea level, and it can deploy at speeds up to 150 knots indicated airspeed.

The T-11 will replace more than 52,000 of the current chutes used by Army airborne units over a seven year period. Three firms — Aerostar International (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Airborne Systems North America (Santa Ana, Calif.), and BAE Systems (Phoenix, Ariz.), — share in the $200 million contract.

Greg Kraak, director of U.S. military programs for BAE Systems, calls the T-11 “something different” from its predecessor.

“The T-11 allows us to accommodate increased loads, which is necessary because the typical American’s physical size has grown in the last 50 years,” Kraak says. “And with the level of protective gear soldiers wear and carry, their protective plates, weapons, batteries, and equipment, they are heavier now when they come out of airplanes.”

BAE Systems will produce its first T-11 chutes in February and expects to deliver 2,200 by the end of the year. Approximately 10,000 T-11 parachutes are to be delivered to the Army by the end of 2010 by all three contractors.

Kraak points out that because the T-11 chute “brings the soldier down softer and with a slower rate of descent, it reduces the risk of injury, which is a great advancement over the older T-10 chute.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.

Say the word “Vulcan” and many people immediately think of Mr. Spock, the pointy-eared human-Vulcan on the Star Trek television series and films. But for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Vulcan is a far different matter.

Vulcan is a propulsion system program to design, build, and ground test an engine capable of accelerating a full-scale hypersonic vehicle from rest to Mach 4+.

The Vulcan will be a constant volume combustion (CVC) engine and a full-scale turbine. Contractors working on the first phase of the engine development — Alliant TechSystems, General Electric, Rolls Royce, and United Technologies —  will be able to choose from CVC engine architectures such as pulsed detonation engines (PDEs), continuous detonation engines (CDEs), or other CVC engine architectures.

Contractors will use a current production turbine engine capable of operating above Mach 2, such as the F-100–229, the F-110–129, the F-119. or the F-414 engine.

Contrasted with traditional propulsion engines that burn fuel in a constant pressure manner, a CVC engine uses a combustion cycle based on combusting fuel in a constant volume manner. Such engine cycles, DARPA thinks, offer the potential for very significant performance improvements over conventional cycles and have the ability to operate statically through high Mach numbers and offer significant design flexibility.

But because CVC cycles typically are unsteady and incorporate multiple combustors and unique valving, several technical challenges have to be overcome.

These include developing low total pressure loss detonation initiation devices, low total pressure loss air valves, thermal management systems, efficient nozzles, and control systems, among others. However, DARPA believes recent advances will give the program a strong foundation.

A key program objective is to integrate the turbine engine into the Vulcan engine system with minimal modification to the turbine and to operate the turbine from rest to its upper Mach limit, and then cocoon it when not in use during flight. The CVC and turbine engines will share a common inlet and nozzle.

The Vulcan engine is expected to propel vehicles that could be used for payload transport, reconnaissance, or strike missions.

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.