Arlington, Virginia, May 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Defense Threat Reduction Agency showcased a few of its Research & Development success stories at the recent DoD Lab Day, held in the Pentagon courtyard. While DTRA works on hundreds of R&D projects – hardware and software, individual and unit equipment, offensive and defensive systems – the three tools on display were an excellent representation of how DTRA helps the warfighter become more protected AND more lethal.
“DTRA prioritizes the Research, Development, Test and Evaluation programs that deter, detect and defeat weapons of mass destruction and improvised devices,” said Dr. Rhys Williams, Director of DTRA’s Research and Development Directorate. “As a Combat Support Agency, we need to pursue breakthrough technological innovations, while also getting the technology into the warfighter’s hands within a short turnaround. The MACS-B, Mobile Field Kit, and Spectral Radiation Monitor are good examples on how we do both.”
MACS-B
The MACS-B is a family of multi-mission unmanned systems that operate as a cohesive unit to explore and map hidden environments where GPS cannot be used. Using a combination of drones and either tracked or wheeled vehicles, MACS-B can go in ahead of the warfighters to find, map and characterize weapons of mass destruction or chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) hazards. This reduces the time troops spend in known or potentially contaminated environments, facilitates underground communication, and sends data and images back to a commander in real time. The MACS-B is also “platform agnostic” and can be used on and with a wide variety of drones and unmanned ground vehicles.
MFK-CBRN
The Mobile Field Kit – Chemical/Biological/Radiological/Nuclear is an open architecture communication network that provides CBRN mission units greater situational awareness at multiple levels of command. Using MFK-CBRN, tactical units under different commands are able to coordinate and collaborate on multiple CBRN detection and mitigation missions by sharing data from multiple sensors – in real time – across the network. Data is shared seamlessly across cellular, satellite and tactical radio networks, and can be read on laptops and smart phones. By providing commanders with real-time situational awareness of hot zones and where survey teams are, they can make decisions more quickly and reduce the amount of time troops may be exposed to potentially contaminated areas.
SRM
The Spectral Radiation Monitor is a small, multi-purpose, extremely user-friendly tool that combines four instruments into one and lets a single person do what used to take a small team to accomplish when dealing with radiation. Before the SRM was fielded, multiple sensors and detectors – some of them quite large – were used to search for, detect, and characterize radiological sources or areas contaminated with radiation. The frills-free SRM can do it all, from the hand of a soldier, the pocket of a Marine, or attached to a drone or unmanned ground vehicle. The data is then sent back in real-time to a commander (possibly using the MFK-CBRN) to provide immediate, detailed and actionable information about radiation hazards long before troops are sent into contaminated environments.
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Mission
DTRA enables the Department of Defense, the U.S. Government, and international partners to counter and deter Weapons of Mass Destruction and Improvised Threat Networks. The mission of DTRA’s Research and Development Directorate is to provide science, technology and capability development investments that maintain the U.S. military’s technological superiority in countering weapons of mass destruction and asymmetric threats, mitigate the risks of technical surprise and respond to the warfighter’s urgent technical requirements.
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