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Google has launched a new online center for veterans, aggregating free tools they hope will be useful to servicemembers and their families. Try out the site and let them know what you think - toolsforveterans@gmail.com

A Tucson, Ariz., inventor has come up with a patented technology that can produce lightweight, near-impenetrable body and vehicle armor from aluminum.

Dubbed Kryron and made by Bourque Industries Inc., the metal alloy is lighter, often stronger, and has a uniquely higher electrical and lower thermal conductivity than the materials it replaces.

Bourque’s first application is for ballistic armor for the military and law enforcement, but the firm recently conducted a successful live-fire demonstration of a Kryron ballistics helmet. The helmet, after being shot with an AK-47 from approximately 10 feet, showed no penetration.

“There was no penetration at all,” says John Bourque, the company’s owner and Kryron’s inventor. “There was some deformation, but it was survivable deformation.”

Bourque notes that as far as he knows, the test was the first successful test where a rifle bullet struck a helmet and did not penetrate.

Bourque says Kryron is produced by blending a nano-enhanced additive into different metals.

“Once we add it to our aluminum bases, it creates an intense shock to the metal,” he says. “When the Kryron is impacted the first time, it shock-hardens the material for the next shock that is to come. Throughout all our testing, the first shot of six against our Kryron body armor was the highest shock where the greatest back face deformation was seen, with each successive shot showing less deformation.”

Bourque says his company’s Kryron body armor is being used by special operations in theater right now.

“Our stand-alone armor weighs in the 7 pound range and will take multiple impacts,” he points out. It needs no soft armor behind it to work. You can put two clips into it and it will still function.”

Bourque Industries also makes an in-conjunction Kryron body armor system where a slip plate is placed in front of a soft-armor vest.

The company also has tested a Kryron armor plate that can defeat .50-caliber armor piercing (AP) rounds.

“We’ve proved it at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina,” Bourque says. “We use our process to restructure the metal itself and put it in armored vehicle strike plates.”

Bourque adds that typically 1-1/2-inches of solid steel is needed to defeat a .50-caliber AP round, but that such armor weighs about 50 pounds per square foot.

“We can reduce that weight by between 30 and 50 percent,” he says, “depending on the vehicle, and still provide .50-caliber AP protection.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz., freelance writer who writes 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.

Tracking military targets? The University of Missouri’s College of Engineering has an app for that!

Engineers from the MU College of Engineering, with funding from the U.S. Army/Leonard Wood Institute, have enhanced popular smartphones to be able to find and track targets. In addition, the engineers have developed ad hoc networks so that soldiers can relay smartphone information without using the internet.

“The goal of the project is to provide the exact location of a remote target, through either sound or sight,” said Yi Shang, professor of computer science. “The Android phones and iPhones have powerful processors, which allow us to write complicated programs. Each smartphone has a camera, a microphone, GPS, a compass, an accelerometer, and several other sensors that we can utilize. Plus, these phones typically support three kinds of wireless communication: Bluetooth, WiFi and cellular.”

Shang has worked for ten years in wireless sensors, but has recently begun working with smartphones just as consumers would buy them, “off the shelf.” Collaborators Wenjun Zeng and Dominic Ho, MU professors of computer science, brought expertise in mobile networking, multimedia and signal processing, and have turned the phones into powerful tools for soldiers in combat situations.

“Imagine a team of soldiers in the field,” said Shang. “They see a distant enemy target, but lasers used to provide guidance to the target may be visible to the enemy. With our smartphone-based system, team members could take pictures of the target and obtain a GPS location, which can be relayed via wireless networks to interested parties.”

In addition, the researchers have developed a sound-based localization method for dark or urban environments. A group of soldiers could record a sound and share it, and software would allow the soldiers to determine the location of the sound source.

There are civilian applications to this technology as well. Emergency responders could use the software to identify a location or direct traffic, or tourists could use the application to identify an unfamiliar object or building with the exact location.

“The technology is still in the early stages of development, but it holds a lot of promise,” said Shang. “If we can achieve our goals, the application will be a very useful tool for our soldiers and the general public.”

Raytheon Company has tested a new warhead for its small tactical munition (STM), a new weapon that’s specifically designed for employment on unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

The STM is a 13-pound guided munition that’s 22 inches long and 3.6 inches in diameter, which makes it the smallest air-launched weapon Raytheon makes.

Because of the new warhead’s low weight — 5 pounds — and its significantly improved blast fragment capability, it allows an UAS to fly farther and faster and carry more weapons. The warhead, manufactured by NammoTalley, allows weaponization of smaller UAS, such as the Shadow 200, which currently cannot be weaponized because of payload limitations.

Don Newman, Raytheon’s director of unmanned system flight operations in Tucson, Ariz., said the smaller STM is in response to a U.S. Marine Corps urgent operational need statement to put weapons on the Shadow.

“Shadow has no weapons now, but it’s always seeing people planting IEDs and other types of explosives,” Newman says. “We’re trying to develop what’s needed for them on that platform.”

Newman points out the new STM is a precision-guided weapon, but because it now carries a smaller warhead, its lethality radius goes down.

“We expect it will be used on relatively soft targets, but it still has the precision needed to take them out,” he observes. “The STM is a highly effective custom-built weapon that carries a lethal punch, and we believe it could be used on the Predator, Reaper, and the U.S. Army’s Gray Eagle [a Predator version].”

Mike Nachshen, Raytheon’s public information officer, says the new STM is designed to go after certain targets — lightly armored vehicles, troops in the open, and similar targets of opportunity.

Newman notes the total weight that can be put on a Shadow is 60 pounds, meaning arming it with two STMs on the wings, along with the electronics package to manage them.

Contrast that payload with the Predator, which can carry a single Hellfire missile on its wing. Newman points out  Hellfire could be replaced by six to eight STMs on the same station.

Newman says the STM with the new warhead is compatible with the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marine Corps common launch tube. The weapon also can be gravity dropped, which will be how the STM will be delivered by Shadow.

“With all the unmanned aircraft out there in use, we anticipate a lot of STMs being built,” Newman says. “And incidentally, this STM can also be used on manned 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.

The Armed Services YMCA (ASYMCA) launched “Operation: Lighten the Load,” a campaign designed to raise awareness, understanding and appreciation of the heavy burden of military life for service members and their families alike, and what others can do to make life easier for those who are dedicated to serving our nation.

The campaign hub is www.operationlightentheload.org, where service members and military families are encouraged to upload videos of their “military life” stories and how the programs and services of the Armed Services YMCA help make their lives easier. They are stories of hope, strength and sacrifice that show just how great their commitment is to our country – and just how much they deserve the support of the neighbors, communities and organizations like the Armed Services YMCA. Volunteers and supporters are also encouraged to share videos of why they’ve made a commitment to help “Lighten the Load.”

Selected stories will be chosen to appear in a public service announcement for the Armed Services YMCA, airing Dec. 30, 2011, during the Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl on ESPN. The stories will also appear on the jumbotron inside Ford Stadium in Dallas, Texas during the game.

Soldiers, military families, volunteers and civilians will also be encouraged to share their stories or show their gratitude and support via Facebook and Twitter, using the hashtag #asymca.

Edith and Samuel love craft time at ASYMCA-FLW! from ASYMCA on Vimeo.

Northrop Grumman’s development of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) unmanned aircraft system (UAS) for the U.S. Navy is on track and scheduled to roll out its first aircraft in March of 2012.

Northrop Grumman won a $1.1 billion contract to develop BAMS with a version of its Global Hawk surveillance aircraft, designated the MQ-4C. The BAMS program seeks to provide persistent maritime intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance  data collection, and dissemination capability to the Navy’s Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Force.

The MQ-4C is 47.6-feet long with a 130.9-foot wingspan, has a 2,800-feet-per-minute rate of climb, a 330-knot cruise speed, an operational ceiling of 60,000 feet, a maximum unrefueled range of 9,550 miles, and can operate uninterrupted for 24 hours.

Powered by a Rolls-Royce AE3007H engine developing 8,500-pounds of thrust, the UAS can carry a 3,200-pound internal payload and 2,400-pound external payload.

The aircraft’s nose carries an AN/DAS-3 EO/IR (electro-optical infrared) unit that has a 360-degree field of regard, auto-target tracking, high-resolution EO/IR at multiple fields of view, and multimode color video.

A blister on the MQ-4C’s belly carries an AN/ZPY-1 multifunction active sensor maritime radar that incorporates a 360-degree X-band 2D AESA radar operating in maritime and air/ground modes.

An advanced mission management system housed in the fuselage has an onboard server, provides data correlation, and gives payload and bandwidth control.

Walt Kreitler, Northrop Grumman’s BAMS business development director, says the MQ-4C has persistence and endurance, using the advantage of flying a very high altitude where there is not much wind resistance.

“The remarkable aspect about the MQ-4C is it can fly out 650 miles, stay out there for 24 hours, and then come back to base,” Kreitler says. “It used to take several sorties of manned aircraft to track a single surface ship, but now we can do it with a single UAV.”

Kreitler notes the MQ-4C meets the Navy’s rigorous requirements for deicing caps in the wings, anti-icing in the engine cowlings, enhanced anti-bird strike resistance, and a sense-and-avoid capability that allows the UAV to see what else is flying around  it.

U.S. Navy Cap. Jim Hoke, BAMS program manager, says the MQ-4C has a dip capability that allows it to descend below weather if needed for a closer look and then return to a higher altitude and an automatic identification system with the ability to identify ships over a certain tonnage carrying a transponder.

The Navy plans to have five orbits of BAMS aircraft with the ability to do 24/7/365 operations at a 2,000-mile radius, Hoke says. The number of aircraft required to support five orbits is 22, he notes, with two in extended maintenance and the other 20 on operations.

“We’ll be buying a total of 68 BAMS UAVs because we need to fly these units until 2039, so we’ll have to replace them over time so we always have 22 operational units,” Hoke adds. “And within naval aviation, this is the first time the P-8 and BAMS will be working closely together, giving us a manned and unmanned solution to replace the manned-only mission.”

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 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it has completed an important milestone on its joint path with the Department of Defense (DoD) to create a single electronic health record system for servicemembers and Veterans. OSEHRA, the Open Source Electronic Health Record Agent, has begun operations and will serve as the central governing body of a new open source Electronic Health Record (EHR) community.

“We developed our open source strategy to engage the public and private sectors in the rapid advancement of our EHR software, which is central to the care we deliver to Veterans and servicemembers and to our joint EHR collaboration with the Department of Defense,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “With the launch of OSEHRA, we begin the implementation of our strategy and we look forward to the creation of a vibrant open source EHR community.”

Individuals and organizations interested in participating in OSEHRA are invited to join through the community website.

Community feedback is welcome as the OSEHRA team finalizes these designs in preparation for launch of full technical operations this fall.

Read the full release from the VA online.

Thor Global Defense Group of Van Buren, Ark., has developed a .408-inch modular tactical weapon system capable of satisfying military applications for anti-sniper and anti-personnel missions.

The Thor XM408 sniper rifle fires a .408 Chey-tac 419-grain bullet, uses a 30-inch match grade barrel with easily removable muzzle brake, has an adjustable monopod, a fully adjustable hardened aluminum stock with sliding mechanism, and a CNC and EDM-machined 42 Rockwell hardened receiver and bolt.

The rifle weighs 26 pounds, its length extended is 54 1/2-inches, and it uses either a 5-round standard or 7-round optional magazine.

Max Rodriguez, director of business development for Thor Global Defense Group, says the basic concept behind the SM408 “is to provide the longest possible range with the largest firepower possible for target interdiction, whether individual targets or vehicles.”

Rodriguez notes the sniper rifle uses a copper-nickel alloy projectile that’s armor piercing without having a steel core.

“It can defeat armor at various distances,” he says, “from one-quarter-inch to one-inch thick steel plate, depending on the distance.”

Bill Ritchie of EDM Arms in Hurricane, Utah, the rifle’s developer, says the .408 case is based on the .505 Gibbs and was developed to reach out to long range with superior accuracy.

“The XM408 is a 2,500-yard rifle that will outshoot a .50 BMG,” Ritchie says. “For example, shooting at 1,760 yards (one mile), with a .50 BMG from a zero setting you’d have to dial in 84 minutes of elevation to drop a round on target and the projectile has a three second flight time. With the XM408, you dial in 54 minutes of elevation. At 700 yards the projectile would overtake the .50 BMG projectile because of its flatter trajectory, and hit the target in only two seconds.”

Ritchie says the XM408 barrel can be changed out to another of a different caliber, including .416 Barrett, .338 Winchester, and .308 Winchester.

“There’s a lot of flexibility in this rifle that the users have told us they like,” Ritchie observes.

Ritchie says the XM408 has been used successfully in Afghanistan and Iraq by U.S. Marine Corps units, the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne and Ranger units, Special Operations teams and SEAL Team 5.

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.

Soldiers at the tip of the spear — dismounted troops and Special Forces — routinely have to patrol in dense urban environments and rural walled compound areas to clear routes and track insurgents. So situational awareness and standoff distance can be critical elements in a successful mission.

Minnesota company ReconRobotics has developed a throwable micro-robot that gives U.S. Army soldiers the ability to increase standoff and enhance situational awareness, essentially providing them with a set of eyes behind walls or inside buildings.

The Recon Scout XT can be thrown through a window, over a wall, or down stairs, and it lands ready to go and transmits real-time video to its operator.

Ernest Langdon, director of U.S. Military Programs for ReconRobotics, says the 1.2-pound robot deploys in five seconds, is infrared equipped, and throwable with accuracy to 120 feet through windows and onto rooftops.

“Indoors, we can get 100 feet of distance through concrete walls between the robot and the controller,” Langdon says. “In most instances, we can clear an entire floor at one time. With line of sight operation, we can get 300-plus-feet of distance depending on the radio frequency environment.”

The Recon Scout XT transmits to its handheld 1.8-pound controller in a low frequency range, Langdon points out, to give greater penetration in and around buildings.

“Our video image is in black and white because the robot has infrared capability where color is not effective,” Langdon says. “With current technology, you have to stay in the black and white spectrum in order to see the infrared.”

The Recon Scout XT, which traces its development to a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded program at the University of Minnesota, is water resistant to 12 inches submerged for five minutes and survives repeated 30-foot drops onto concrete. It can operate for an hour with all systems running continuously and can recharge off of military 2590 (rechargeable) and 5590 (nonrechargeable) radio batteries.

To enhance the robot’s capabilities, ReconRobotics developed the SearchStick, a pole extendable to six feet with a push-button articulating jaw that holds the robot and turns the unit into a pole camera.

“A six-foot [-tall] soldier with his arms extended can use it to look over a 15-foot high wall,” Langdon observes. “He also can look into a second story window, then push a button to release the robot, and have it roll around examining the room.”

ReconRobotics also developed a lightweight bayonet mount device that clips onto an M4 or M16 rifle, turning it into a smaller version of the SearchStick. The mounting device doesn’t interfere with the weapon firing and allows a soldier to look around a corner or over a wall without exposing himself.

Langdon says the company has thousands of the robots in the field with the military and law enforcement. For the U.S. Navy, ReconRobotics is developing a version of the Recon Scout XT with magnetized wheels that, among other things, can climb up and over the hull of a ship.

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 new face of the military could include “active protection” technology – finally ready after almost a decade of testing:

Trophy uses a system of flat-panel radars to monitor the skies for incoming fire. Should an incoming projectile be detected and verified as a weapon, Trophy’s active protection tools will decide the best angle to return fire with jets of molten metal. The entire process, from detection to destruction, takes just seconds.

The system being built for the United States military, to be used for armored vehicles in Afghanistan, is actually a combination of something similar to Trophy and a remote weapons station.

And just so you get your fix of explosions and cool tech stuff, check out the video of the already launched Israeli version of “active protection” technology!

Read the full story “Video of the Day: U.S. Military Prepares Truck That Returns Fire“  in The Atlantic for more tech details on the new systems ready for the field!