Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Defense Daily
August 9, 2007
Pg. 1
By Michael Sirak
ANAHEIM, Calif.--Improvised explosive devices (IED) remain the largest killer of U.S. servicemen in Iraq and rendering these weapons useless continues to be the Marine Corps' greatest combat need, the general in charge of the service's requirements said here on Tuesday.
"If we can take the IED out of the hands of the enemy, we will have neutered him," Lt. General James Amos, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, said Tuesday at DARPA Tech 2007. "It's the only weapon he has that is effective against U.S. forces."
Amos characterized countering the IED as the new "Manhattan project," referencing the intense classified effort during World War II to develop the atomic bomb.
Amos said every IED requires a firing device. Whether electrical or non-electrical, something has to start the ignition of the explosive, he said. Accordingly, he said he would like to see the means developed to neutralize the firing devices altogether, or allow U.S. forces to trigger them at the time of their choosing, so as to detonate the IEDs when they will not cause injury to civilians or coalition troops.
He acknowledged that this is a very ambitious goal, based on the challenges that the United States has faced to date in addressing this threat, but is still one worthy of pursuing.
DARPA Tech is the forum at which the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) showcases its accomplishments and lays out its emerging focal points of interest to industry, academia and service representatives.
Amos thanked the men and women of DARPA for saving the lives of Marines and U.S. service personnel, in general, in Afghanistan and Iraq with the innovations that they have already helped push to the field.
These include the WASP micro unmanned aerial vehicle and the XM3 sniper rifle, the latter of which the Marines are field testing in Iraq right now, he said.
Highlighting the Marines' emerging needs, Amos mentioned a simulation that allows small-sized units to train and rehearse missions in places like urban environments.
"I am talking the ability to train a small unit, a squad, and be able to rehearse and be able to walk through," he said.
The Marines also need ultralight body armor that is about one-quarter inch thick and weighs roughly one-fourth of current armor, he said.
Lightweight, interchangeable armor is also desired for ground systems like Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Amos said. Ideally this armor should be light enough so that a CH-53K helicopter can transport two of these vehicles at a time, he said.
Amos also wants to see the advent of a single-piece day/night rifle scope and an unmanned aerial vehicle that can rapidly resupply Marines who are dispersed across the battlefield. This unmanned aircraft should be able to haul between 1,000 pounds and 2,000 pounds and ideally fly faster than a helicopter, he said.
Guided anti-tank missiles are becoming much more deadly, with the ability to penetrate up to 122 millimeters of hardened steel, Amos said. Accordingly, there is the emerging need to develop the means to counter them, he said.
Further, new means of lighter weight and more efficient batteries and power generation in the field remains on the Marines' wish list, he said.
Amos said enemy snipers in Iraq, who are displaying increasingly more sophisticated skills, are also a thorn in the side of U.S. forces.
"This has become a war of snipers," he said. "Snipers are a way of life right now."
While new countersniper systems are a welcomed addition, they currently function by detecting a shot and then tracing back the location from which it came. This approach gives the enemy sniper the chance to get off at least one shot, which could result in the death of a Marine or U.S. serviceman, he said.
Accordingly, he said he would like to see the introduction of systems that can locate the snipers before they have the chance to shoot by detecting the optical scopes of their rifles.
"Every weapon that a sniper uses has an optical device on it," he said.
August 9, 2007
Pg. 1
By Michael Sirak
ANAHEIM, Calif.--Improvised explosive devices (IED) remain the largest killer of U.S. servicemen in Iraq and rendering these weapons useless continues to be the Marine Corps' greatest combat need, the general in charge of the service's requirements said here on Tuesday.
"If we can take the IED out of the hands of the enemy, we will have neutered him," Lt. General James Amos, commanding general of Marine Corps Combat Development Command and deputy commandant for Combat Development and Integration, said Tuesday at DARPA Tech 2007. "It's the only weapon he has that is effective against U.S. forces."
Amos characterized countering the IED as the new "Manhattan project," referencing the intense classified effort during World War II to develop the atomic bomb.
Amos said every IED requires a firing device. Whether electrical or non-electrical, something has to start the ignition of the explosive, he said. Accordingly, he said he would like to see the means developed to neutralize the firing devices altogether, or allow U.S. forces to trigger them at the time of their choosing, so as to detonate the IEDs when they will not cause injury to civilians or coalition troops.
He acknowledged that this is a very ambitious goal, based on the challenges that the United States has faced to date in addressing this threat, but is still one worthy of pursuing.
DARPA Tech is the forum at which the Pentagon's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) showcases its accomplishments and lays out its emerging focal points of interest to industry, academia and service representatives.
Amos thanked the men and women of DARPA for saving the lives of Marines and U.S. service personnel, in general, in Afghanistan and Iraq with the innovations that they have already helped push to the field.
These include the WASP micro unmanned aerial vehicle and the XM3 sniper rifle, the latter of which the Marines are field testing in Iraq right now, he said.
Highlighting the Marines' emerging needs, Amos mentioned a simulation that allows small-sized units to train and rehearse missions in places like urban environments.
"I am talking the ability to train a small unit, a squad, and be able to rehearse and be able to walk through," he said.
The Marines also need ultralight body armor that is about one-quarter inch thick and weighs roughly one-fourth of current armor, he said.
Lightweight, interchangeable armor is also desired for ground systems like Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, Amos said. Ideally this armor should be light enough so that a CH-53K helicopter can transport two of these vehicles at a time, he said.
Amos also wants to see the advent of a single-piece day/night rifle scope and an unmanned aerial vehicle that can rapidly resupply Marines who are dispersed across the battlefield. This unmanned aircraft should be able to haul between 1,000 pounds and 2,000 pounds and ideally fly faster than a helicopter, he said.
Guided anti-tank missiles are becoming much more deadly, with the ability to penetrate up to 122 millimeters of hardened steel, Amos said. Accordingly, there is the emerging need to develop the means to counter them, he said.
Further, new means of lighter weight and more efficient batteries and power generation in the field remains on the Marines' wish list, he said.
Amos said enemy snipers in Iraq, who are displaying increasingly more sophisticated skills, are also a thorn in the side of U.S. forces.
"This has become a war of snipers," he said. "Snipers are a way of life right now."
While new countersniper systems are a welcomed addition, they currently function by detecting a shot and then tracing back the location from which it came. This approach gives the enemy sniper the chance to get off at least one shot, which could result in the death of a Marine or U.S. serviceman, he said.
Accordingly, he said he would like to see the introduction of systems that can locate the snipers before they have the chance to shoot by detecting the optical scopes of their rifles.
"Every weapon that a sniper uses has an optical device on it," he said.