Sotech 13 8 final

Readiness Provider

Brig. Gen. Kurt L. SonntagCommanderSpecial Operations Command South

October 2015 Volume 13, Issue 8

www.SOTECH-kmi.com

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

Full-Motion Video O Digitally Aided Close Air SupportSOF Ground Mobility O SOF Rotary Wing Upgrades O 320 STS

Cover / Q&AFeatures

Brigadier general Kurt l. Sonntag

CommanderSpecial Operations Command South

16

October 2015Volume 13, Issue 8Special OperatiOnS technOlOgy

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21digitally aided CloSe air SupportA fratricide incident in 2001 sparked the interest of then-Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, who subsequently directed the establishment of the Battlefield Air Operations Kit program office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which now serves as AFSOC’s only program of record to develop and field a digitally aided close air support capability for special tactics airmen who are JTAC-qualified (now known as combat controllers and tactical air control party airmen).By Technical SergeanT Jimmy eggleSTon and STaff SergeanT david Brown

The Authoritative Word on Special Operations� Defining Current and Future SOF Technologies�

Departments Unit Spotlight2 editor’S perSpeCtive25 WhiSperS14 BlaCK WatCh27 reSourCe Center

refreShing Water SKillS320th Special Tactics Squadron amphibious training.By Senior airman John linzmeier

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3full-Motion video SySteMS and CapaBilitieSFull-motion video (FMV) is indispensable in military operations today. Finding ways to meet the increasing demand for data of all types is at the top of the warfighters’ wish list.By Karen e. Thuermer

7vehiCle varietyMobility for SOF comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The Fiscal Year 2016 budget request for SOCOM calls for spending $73.5 million on tactical vehicle procurement, almost double the FY 2014 amount of $37.4 million.By marc Selinger

11Keeping the rotary Wing fleet relevantWith the Army’s next-generation helicopter program 25 years from delivering its first rotary wing aircraft, services buyers make due with upgrades until then.By william murray

As we come towards the end of 2015, Special Operations Technology will be completing its 13th year of publication. When I joined KMI Media Group about 14 years ago, the first proposal I made to the company for expansion was into the special operations world. It was sink or swim with the first issue; much of its success hinging on whether General Charles Holland, SOCOM commander, would accept the invitation to be the first cover Q&A interview for Special Operations Technology. Fortunately for us, he said yes, and we haven’t looked back since.

Over the years, SOTECH has been one of the compa-ny’s most successful titles. Following the business model of our other magazines, it has offered perspectives and insights into the SOF world that few other magazines covered annually, let alone in every issue. Exclusive interviews with senior leaders from SOCOM and the service components along with technology and innovation features earned us the trust and respect of the special operations community and the industry that supports it.

I am very excited and proud to announce that effective November 30, 2015, I will assume owner-ship of Special Operations Technology magazine. As the magazine has served the special operations world for the past 13 years, it will continue to do so from 2016 and beyond.

Building on the strong foundation of the past, there are several enhancements that will be put into place starting with the first issue in January 2016.

The first and perhaps most important new feature for 2016 is that Special Operations Technology will become Special Operations International. Make no mistake—this is not just a name change, but also a change that reflects the addition of international special operations distribution and the inclusion of internationally oriented editorial content.

To start with, we have built an international distribution database that will represent about 20 percent of the overall Special Operational International distribution. We have multiple command elements from more than 80 countries. The building of this database has taken a great deal of effort to ensure both its accuracy and that it fits with our overall goal of reaching the key command at the decision-maker and operator level.

While the database will now include a strong international reach, we still have the most compre-hensive distribution within the United States and to the U.S. special operations forces at the Pentagon level, headquarters and senior staffs, program and project offices, acquisition offices, R&D elements and at the small unit and team level. As always, our Pentagon and Congressional subscribers will continue to receive their copies via hand-delivery.

The other very noticeable change will be new websites for the magazine that will not only continue to offer the complete magazine in a PDF and flip-book version, as well as the individual articles, but also will add daily news updates. And by news updates, I don’t just mean company press releases. While these releases are important to keep the SOF world up to date on new and innovative products and services, we will also be adding specific content and news from around the world that will impact the environment the elite warfighter lives in.

There will always be something new on the site!Please feel free to call or email me if you have any questions,

comments or suggestions as we take Special Operations Technology International into a worldwide future.

World’s Largest Distributed Special Ops Magazine

editorialEditor-In-ChiefJeff mcKaughan [email protected]

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Special Operations Technology

Volume 13, Issue 8 • October 2015

eDitOr’S perSpectiVe

Jeff McKaughanEditor

Full-motion video (FMV) is indispensable in military opera-tions today. Ever since 9/11, the need to accurately visualize, geo-locate and identify elusive targets during asymmetric conflicts and counterinsurgency operations has driven the demand for a wide array of sophisticated intelligence surveillance and recon-naissance systems and sensor technologies. During this time, motion imagery became one of the most vital elements of ISR for ground forces in the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) area of responsibility and globally.

According to the product manager for electro-optic/infrared (EO/IR) at the Program Executive Office for Intelligence Elec-tronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO IEW&S), FMV is a critical capabil-ity because it provides unparalleled situational awareness that is instantly understood by nearly every type of user.

Systems that capture FMV are especially invaluable to ground troops today. Those systems allow near real-time analysis of what is happening on the battlefield as well as what is going on in areas where our troops don’t have eyes. “We use those systems to exploit targets and inform ground troops of detailed information useful on the battlefield,” said TransVoyant Vice President Jim Clautice, who serves as program manager for TransVoyant SOCOM and FMV programs.

Ground commanders have expressed a growing demand for motion imagery derived from unmanned aerial vehicles equipped with FMV sensors to provide overhead surveillance and advance warning of danger to convoys, patrol missions and special operations.

“As FMV data are collected and downlinked to the ground, analysts review the FMV data streams to begin the time-critical cognitive process of identifying objects or activities of interest captured in the FMV data stream,” remarked Jason O’Connor, vice president of analysis and mission solutions, Lockheed Martin.

FMV Today

FMV is captured by a variety of platforms, from towers and aerostats for force protection to UAVs and manned aircraft for aerial ISR. “For force protection, the focus is obviously on get-ting real-time tactical awareness to troops in combat,” reported the EO/IR product manager. “Aerial ISR assets can also provide real-time FMV to ground troops via One System Remote Video Terminals (OSRVTs). But aerial ISR also supports the intelligence mission in which real-time is less critical than high resolution.”

Today, advances in commercially available technology for cap-turing FMV have made it easier and cheaper to generate products that put more pixels on target for the user. According to the EO/IR product manager, however, more pixels mean more bandwidth, so the requirements for a given user can be limited by the band-width available to them.

“For this reason, users are asking for systems than can do more on-board processing to minimize the amount of data that must be transmitted and to limit the impact of information over-load on the user,” the EO/IR product manager said.

The Army is also developing a sensor computing environment in which FMV data can be more easily discoverable by networked users. Now, a user can identify and pull FMV from the assets oper-ating in his or her area of responsibility without having to wade through the flood of FMV streams available.

At its core, FMV is intended to provide people with a visual representation of activities (or lack thereof) in space and time.

FMV collected by an aerial platform offers visualization from an advantageous above perspective. This essentially gives better spatial awareness, both in real time and during more exhaustive analysis.

Executives from Pixia point out that to effectively shoot, move and communicate, troops need to be able to visualize their

By Karen e. ThuerMer, SoTeCh CorreSpondenT

Finding wayS To MeeT The inCreaSing deMand For daTa oF all KindS, wiTh FMV requeSTS Being near The Top oF The liST.

SOTECH 13.8 | 3 www.SOTECH-kmi.com

environment as well as activities within it. FMV can provide real-time awareness of activities that inevitably make operations fluid, dynamic and unpredictable. Those in the industry find that FMV, in support of mission overwatch, is so often a life-saving capabil-ity that its importance is immeasurable.

“If the target slips out the back of the building, we can poten-tially observe, adapt and overcome this change,” Pixia executives said. “If we cannot continue to engage, FMV would provide us the ability to follow/track the target and re-engage or learn more about his/her network. FMV can alert troops to enemy scouts, shooters and even activities that do not conform to normal patterns.”

Pixia sources point out that FMV is so much more than an over watch capability. It supports target package development, multi-INT corroboration, positive identification, tracking, force protection, assessing enemy strength, pattern of life and a host of other functions. In addition to directly supporting live operations, it feeds the intelligence enterprise with valuable information and keeps commanders and their staffs apprised of changes in the operational environment.

FMV sensors are available on a large variety of platforms, liter-ally from space to mud or water. FMV is a force multiplier with unlimited potential for life-saving and situational understanding as long as it is used appropriately.

Mike Manzo, director for GEOINT mission processing and exploitation, General Dynamics Missions Systems, points to the importance of the quality and accessibility of FMV.

“From a quality perspective, we need to go beyond FMV capture and evolve current and future systems, solutions and tradecraft to simultaneously focus on traditional ‘analysis’ and what the ‘activity’ is telling us,” Manzo said. “Something captured today may seem mundane, but in the future it may yield valuable information when additional information is connected to it, pro-viding further context. We need to increase availability to those who need FMV by providing platforms that enable a broader user base to search mission-critical FMV any time and from anywhere to derive real-time actionable intelligence and improve situ-ational awareness.”

For that reason, Manzo sees linear tasking, collection, pro-cessing, exploitation and dissemination (TCPED) systems and processes becoming a thing of the past. Platforms hosting multi-INT systems and solutions that enable activity-based intelligence (ABI)—to include traditional FMV processing and exploitation—will help lead the transformation and utility of FMV.

Lockheed Martin understands that FMV and motion imagery analytical operations use a time-phased approach for exploita-tion. According to O’Connor, “first phase” analysis delivers basic target/activity identification by the analyst applying meta-data tags to observations of the FMV stream within minutes of collection to maximize the timeliness and relevance of the analytical observations.

“As missions can extend to 24 hours and collect multiple targets, analysts can easily be overwhelmed with the volume of FMV data being collected,” he said. “Consequently, analysts must be able to correlate the first-phase FMV analytical product with information from other intelligence sources.”

O’Connor explained that during the second and third phases of analysis (extending from hours, days and weeks), analysts discover and extract information from the FMV stream and

correlate the observations with information derived from other intelligence sources such as signals intelligence or human intelligence.

“The results of second- and third-phase exploitation provide a more complete picture of the battlespace, which is vital to under-standing the irregular warfare environments in which UAVs are deployed, including geography, the human terrain and trends of activity,” he said.

TeChnology deVelopMenTS

With traditional narrow-field-of-view video surveillance sys-tems, the unpredictable nature of threats makes it challenging to understand what’s happening over a wide area. While there are often signs of hostile activity, it is difficult to place multiple, ongoing activities in context and distinguish threats from routine activities without sufficiently broad and persistent coverage.

To meet the need for situational awareness against increas-ingly elusive targets, O’Connor explained that military services are now deploying advanced wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensors to theater.

“WAMI covers a much wider geographic area than FMV, but at a lower frame rate—typically for forensic analysis and in support of emerging analytical concepts including activity-based intelligence,” he said. “WAMI permits persistent, high-resolution surveillance at the level of square miles rather than city blocks.”

While the bandwidth requirements to transmit the full image collected by a WAMI sensor are large, WAMI sensors can also pro-vide “chip-outs”—video chips that cover delimited subareas and that can be received by ground terminals. With the addition of new collectors and new sensors—especially WAMI sensors—the amount of collected intelligence data have been increasing by orders of magnitude.

“For example, the Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS-IS), a WAMI system under development, is capable of collecting over 400 GB per second,” O’Connor explained. “Lockheed Martin understands that the ability to collect motion imagery data at high levels of accuracy and on demand has been an enormous benefit to U.S. military operations, but it creates significant technical challenges. To be of value to the warfighter, raw data collected by ISR platforms must be converted into ‘actionable intelligence’—information that is relevant to commanders in the field and presented in a form that they can use, when operationally relevant.”

O’Connor also added how techniques and processes for data reduction and filtering in real time become imperative in trans-forming raw video pixels into information of actionable value. “These tasks become considerably more challenging as the speed and volume of information collection increases,” he said.

FMV oFFeringS and uSeS

Pixia’s product line complements a simple philosophy that data should be accessible by those who need them, when they need them, no matter where they or the data reside. In many cases, this becomes complicated because these datasets can be massive and cumbersome to discover, access and extract intel-ligence information from. Pixia provides the ability for users to

www.SOTECH-kmi.com4 | SOTECH 13.8

SOPHISTICATED EQUIPMENT FOR THE SOPHISTICATED MISSION

Realizing the most intricate missions call for the most dependable communications, L-3 GCS has developed its latest generation of VSAT terminals. The L-3 GCS Panther™ II manpack terminal is designed to be carried by a single user in a tactical, rugged environment. Together, its ability to support high-speed data rates, its lightweight and portable design, and its user-friendly control interface make the Panther II the logical choice for your next mission.

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tap into the data they need, at the time they need them, through their communications architecture and with the visualization tool they prefer.

Consequently, Pixia’s HiPER Watch FMV software solution can normalize, correct, re-stream, archive and update full-motion video for both real-time and forensic uses.

“Pixia understands that potentially anyone could be a con-sumer of FMV data,” Pixia sources said. “We also understand that not everyone is going to have the latest exploitation tool or viewer. For instance, commanders and infantryman would have little use for the same visualization tool as an FMV analyst. HiPER Watch can provide this data, as a service, in the format that is required for the tool being used.”

Further, if consumers have the responsibility to enrich the video with tags and annotations, HiPER Watch supports meta-data editing. This enhances discoverability, empowers analytic processes and enables more informed decision making. HiPER Stare provides similar capabilities for WAMI data. The persistent nature of WAMI data potentially increases the value of FMV to ground troops, exponentially. The coverage area is much larger than FMV’s “soda straw” coverage and the platform’s duration of collection is often much longer. Like HiPER Watch, HiPER Stare can also provide real-time/near-real-time visualization of activi-ties in space and time to any consumer in need from anywhere in the world. This reach-in capability reduces the forward-deployed analyst footprint.

General Dynamics Mission Systems capabilities include TAC-MAAS software system that provides standalone FMV capture, archive and exploitation capabilities in a compact footprint.

“TAC-MAAS is the tactical extension of our enterprise FMV Multi-INT Analysis and Archive System (MAAS) that has been integrated into operational command centers globally for almost two decades,” Manzo remarked.

Specifically designed for the boots-on-the-ground user and/or analyst in the field, TAC-MAAS allows users to efficiently man-age the life cycle of the data with advanced search, retrieval and forensic analysis capabilities.

With the ability to run on standard hardware, TAC-MAAS can scale in storage size and hardware footprint for up to four input streams. “It is highly mobile and easily deployable on ruggedized laptops and tablets in tactical environments including, but not limited to, combat vehicles, forward operating bases, ground sta-tions and airborne surveillance platforms,” Manzo added.

In addition, TAC-MAAS can be easily integrated into UAVs, providing operators with the ability to more effectively capture and process their sensor data in the field and efficiently manage the life cycle of the data and extract greater value from their video archives through better search and retrieval tools.

TransVoyant offers the expertise necessary to design, imple-ment and sustain these systems with 99 percent availability. “We have extensive knowledge of what systems are in use and how each of them function with regards to their strengths and weak-nesses,” Clautice said. “We have been exploiting FMV for over seven years now and we have learned a lot of valuable information when dealing with FMV and its architectures.”

TransVoyant uses a complex series of programs to allow simul-taneous recording and exploitation of live FMV. “We also have the ability to replay video to review potential targets or areas of interest,” Clautice added. “We also store this information for use

ourselves or to share with other agencies that we collaborate with on a regular basis.”

looKing ahead

The advancement of FMV-specific hardware and software has resulted in extraordinary leaps in what can be provided to the troops on the ground. Every day, companies are evaluating emerging technologies to see what advantages can be provided to the warfighter.

“We have gone from looking at grainy video and giving gen-eral numbers of people to being able to identify individuals by the gait of their step and the way they walk,” remarked TransVoyant’s Clautice.

Critical today is making data smarter without adding cumber-some gadgets for highly focused warfighters. Simple FMV feeds can be enhanced with feature services in real time. But how much data is enough and how much is too much? Should the consumer determine what they need? Should the information be pushed or pulled?

“These are things that need to be worked out, but are com-ing,” observers in the industry said.

The good news is that technologies have been battle-proven to enable troops to gain access to data they may not know they can easily access using the architectures, tools and viewing devices they currently have without adding anything more.

The General Dynamics Mission Systems team is working with customers to break down the stovepipes of disconnected data stores to derive and connect actionable intelligence to find that proverbial needle in the haystack. Known as ABI, this powerful methodology goes beyond collecting data, analyzing it and then just storing it.

“With ABI as guiding principal, analysts receive critical mission-essential information that is first contextualized and refined as additional information is received,” remarked Manzo. “ABI represents a powerful shift in the analysis of intelli-gence—especially when powered by enterprise platforms that can provide near-ubiquitous access to raw, derived and evolving intelligence products, readily available and easily accessible by the entire analyst community.”

Clautice at Transvoyant sees FMV systems getting even more complex over the next few years.

“With virtual machines becoming more prevalent, we are going to see a shift in user productivity,” he said. “We are increas-ing image fidelity multiple times over and we are able to use that to provide more detail about the battlefield.”

He maintains that there will be infrastructure expansion ramp up to accommodate the increased need for bandwidth and high-speed network access.

“I see collaborative systems being designed that will allow analysts a world apart to coordinate products to provide the best possible information down range,” he added. “With some of the technology we have coming online, it is going to be very difficult for our enemies to hide from us.” O

For more information, contact Editor-in-Chief Jeff McKaughan at [email protected] or search our online archives for

related stories at www.sotech-kmi.com.


MoBiliTy For SoF CoMeS in a VarieTy oF ShapeS and SizeS.

Special operations forces carry out their missions with an assortment of trucks and other ground vehicles. Much of the U.S. fleet is undergoing a refresh.

The Department of Defense’s Fiscal Year 2016 budget request for SOCOM calls for spending $73.5 million on tactical vehicle procurement, almost double the FY 2014 amount of $37.4 million. The Ground Mobility Vehicle (GMV) 1.1 accounts for most of the proposed spending.

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems is under a seven-year, $562 million contract from SOCOM to produce the GMV 1.1, which will replace older GMVs, namely AM General’s M1165A1 special ops HMMWV. According to DoD, the new vehicle will offer “a fast roll-on/roll-off capability ideal for a full spectrum of operations.” It will be equipped to accept a command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (C4ISR) suite “to provide an integrated and standardized communications platform.”

The GMV 1.1 program has completed its production qualifica-tion testing, in which nine vehicles amassed more than 20,000 miles of driving to verify their durabil-ity and reliability, General Dynamics spokeswoman Laurie VanBrocklin said. At press time, the program was scheduled to begin low-rate production in Sep-tember 2015 and full-rate production in 2016. A total of 1,300 vehicles will be delivered if all options are exercised.

For the GMV 1.1 program, General Dynamics is using the 72-inch-wide Flyer 72 vehicle, which fits inside a CH-47 heavy-lift helicopter and “provides increased speed, mobility and maneuverability, allow-ing operators to access previously denied terrain in rugged and demanding environments,” VanBrocklin said. A low center of grav-ity helps the vehicle maintain its stability.

The vehicle can be reconfigured for a variety of missions using bolt-on, bolt-off kits. “You can go from light to heavy without modifying the base design,” VanBrocklin said. “Whether you want a 4,500-pound vehicle or an 11,000-pound vehicle, the Flyer 72 can meet both of those requirements.”

General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems is also two years into a three-year contract to provide up to 10 Flyer 60 vehicles for SOCOM’s Internally Transportable Vehicle (ITV) program. “Test-ing and evaluation of the Flyer 60 is ongoing and on schedule,” VanBrocklin said.

The 60-inch-wide ITV will be transported inside a CV-22 and will be reconfigurable for a variety of combat and humanitarian

missions, including light assault, search and rescue, command and control and reconnaissance.

Like the larger Flyer 72, the Flyer 60 advanced light strike vehicle is designed to navigate rugged terrain. The two vehicles share many of the same components, which are expected to reduce maintenance and training costs. Each can carry a range of weapons, including M2, M134 and M240 machine guns and Mk19 and Mk47 grenade launchers.

Asked whether international SOF is acquiring or planning to acquire vehicles from General Dynamics, VanBrocklin said the com-pany has replied to requests for information (RFIs) from “several potential international customers.”

More CoMBaT VehiCleS

Polaris Defense and Boeing have also both been building new vehicles for SOCOM.

Polaris Defense said its newest vehicle, the DAGOR ultra-light combat vehicle, is under contract with elements of SOCOM and allied SOF. Deliveries began in 2014.

Dagor can carry up to 3,250 pounds of pay-load, including up to nine infantry personnel, while moving quickly over rugged terrain, said Mark McCormick, director of U.S. government business development at Polaris Defense. It can be transported in a sling load by an H-47, H-53 or UH-60 helicopter.

Dagor “meets a stringent set of requirements for rapid-air transportability, both strategic and tacti-cal airlift, payload capability and advanced off-road mobility,” McCormick said. “It has been purpose-

built for expeditionary forces to be easy to use and easy to maintain.”Since 2013, Polaris Defense has been supplying two- and four-

seat MRZR off-road vehicles to SOCOM under the Lightweight Tac-tical All-Terrain Vehicle (LTATV) program. The MRZR2 and MRZR4 are “highly mobile, CV-22 transportable, multi-configurable off-road platforms,” Polaris said.

Polaris Defense said that all of its military vehicles—the single-rider MV850 all-terrain vehicle, plus MRZR and Dagor—are in use by U.S. SOF. Its vehicles also are in service with more than 20 foreign countries.

Boeing’s Phantom Badger has been in production since October 2013 and has been delivered to elements of SOCOM. “Boeing con-tinues to talk with potential domestic and international customers with interests in Phantom Badger,” said Kim McCamon, Phantom Badger program manager.

By MarC Selinger, SoTeCh CorreSpondenT

Mark McCormick

www.SOTECH-kmi.com SOTECH 13.8 | 7

The 60-inch-wide, Phantom Badger can enter or exit a V-22 “in seconds, allowing for rapid insertion and exfiltration,” McCamon said. Two Phantom Badgers fit in a CH-47 or C-130, and up to 14 can be placed in a C-17.

According to Boeing, other features of the vehicle include an advanced sus-pension system, which “buffers the occu-pants on rough terrain, keeping them fresh for the fight”; four-wheel steering, which “enables high maneuverability” and a “tight-turning radius”; the use of existing hardware, such as hydraulic pumps, tires and ball joints; and a “customizable rear module” that can support a range of missions, including casualty transport, reconnaissance, search and rescue and “direct action with weapons mounts.”

Supacat recently unveiled the LRV 400 Mk2, a lightweight reconnaissance vehicle intended for SOF. The British-Australian company hopes to attract SOCOM’s interest.

“I am fairly confident that the U.S. SOF will be monitoring new products and capabilities that are being released by manufactur-ers,” said Phil Applegarth, head of Supacat. “We, of course, would be willing to discuss any future requirements they may have.”

Supacat developed the earlier LRV 400 Mk1 to fill a gap for an off-road vehicle between quad bikes and its HMT series, which includes the Jackal, Coyote and HMT Extenda. The Mk2 is the lat-est iteration of the LRV 400. Applegarth described the new vehicle as a “scaled-down version of Jackal” with the same all-terrain performance.

The LRV 400, which can carry up to four people, can achieve speeds of up to 100 miles per hour and operate up to about 500 miles from the point of insertion, “offering a true special forces long-range capability,” Applegarth said. The vehicle can be trans-ported inside a CH-47 Chinook fully equipped and loaded so the user can drive on or off the helicopter “fully operationally ready.”

preMiuM piCKupS

Vehicle builders are gearing up to vie for a Non-Standard Com-mercial Vehicle (NSCV) contract from SOCOM. At press time, they were awaiting the release of a request for proposals (RFP).

In February 2015, SOCOM laid groundwork for the competi-tion by issuing an RFI to “determine the suitability and maturity of [the] NSCV marketplace.” The RFI sought details on dual-cab pick-ups, such as the Mitsubishi L200, Toyota Hilux and Toyota Land Cruiser 79; sport utility vehicles, including the Land Cruiser 76, 78 and 200; vans, such as the Toy-ota Hiace; and sedans, including the Mitsubishi Lancer and Toyota Corolla and Camry.

Battelle, which has already built almost 300 Hilux, Land Cruiser 200 and Land Cruiser 70-series vehicles for SOF, is preparing to bid for the contract, said Jim LaBine, Battelle’s NSCV program manager.

LaBine said that Battelle’s civilian-style armored vehicles are designed to be adaptable. For example, Battelle’s NSCVs “may be ordered with a variety of options ranging from over-cab and rear-quarter gun mounts to left- or right-hand drive, gaso-line or diesel engines and automatic or manual transmissions,” he said. “Our standard MOLLE door and seatback panels provide flexibility for operators to customize their environment, and we offer multiple communications packages to accommodate user requirements.”

LaBine added that “Battelle’s vehicles incorporate standard or lightweight armor packages to meet user-specified protection lev-els. Our protective packages include manually operated transpar-ent armor windows that retract to provide emergency egress even if vehicle power is interrupted.”

Navistar Defense will “take a look at the SOCOM RFP when released and evaluate based on the requirement,” said Mike Hawn,

manager of foreign military sales for Navistar Defense.

Navistar Defense said that SOCOM and foreign militaries have been evaluating its Special Opera-tions Tactical Vehicle Blended (SOTV-B), which looks like a gar-den-variety pickup truck but has armor and other features that would benefit SOF.

“While our SOTV-B may look like a typical small truck seen

throughout the Middle East and around the world, it’s anything but,” Hawn said. “The SOTV-B is a purpose-built vehicle designed specifically to provide the highest levels of protection and perfor-mance while ‘hiding in plain view.’”

Besides the armor, which “provides 360-degree protection for its occupants,” the SOTV-B has a Cummins-built engine that “pro-vides an abundance of power for this size of platform”; an off-road, racing-style suspension system; and a modular electronics capabil-ity, Hawn said. In addition, the vehicle can be configured with a variety of weapons and C4ISR packages, and it has a “robust design and components” that give it “a significantly longer life cycle than an up-armored light truck.”

JlTV For SoF?

The U.S. Army and Marine Corps will be the initial users of the new joint light tactical vehicle (JLTV), which will replace many of their aging Humvees, but the JLTV “is very well-suited

Jim LaBine

Mike Hawn

NSCVFlyer 72 Armored

Battelle has a long history of building field-proven Non-Standard Commercial Vehicles that boast superior protection and peak performance in any terrain.

Get the benefit of experience – go with a Battelle.

BUILT TO SURVIVE

800.201.2011 ú [email protected] ú www.battelle.orgwww.SOTECH-kmi.com8 | SOTECH 13.8

Battelle has a long history of building field-proven Non-Standard Commercial Vehicles that boast superior protection and peak performance in any terrain.

Get the benefit of experience – go with a Battelle.

BUILT TO SURVIVE

800.201.2011 ú [email protected] ú www.battelle.org

for special forces missions,” said John Bryant, senior vice president of defense programs for Oshkosh Defense. Oshkosh was awarded a contract in August 2015 to build the JLTV, although Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems filed a protest—on the same day—with the Government Accountability Office.

“Our JLTV was designed to operate in all of the world’s terrain—from city streets to mountains to sand dunes,” Bry-ant said. “The Oshkosh JLTV provides protected, sustained and fully networked mobility—includ-ing strategic air, sea and land trans-portability—for American troops across the full spectrum of military operations and missions anywhere in the world.”

Oshkosh, which built thousands of mine-resistant, ambush-pro-tected (MRAP) all-terrain vehicles (M-ATV) to protect U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan, said the M-ATV remains in use with U.S.

SOF. The M-ATV is “the smallest and most mobile” variant in the U.S. military’s MRAP fleet, Bryant said.

“A specialized M-ATV variant was designed for the special forces to meet their specific requirements, including rapid egress, storage, payload and visibility,” Bryant explained. “The M-ATV is designed to accommodate a full C4ISR suite as defined by the special forces.” O

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It’s an all-too-familiar story in the U.S. military—the need for improved safety and effectiveness in its operating environment, combined with an austere budget environment.

Helicopter vendors are jockeying to help the U.S. Army rebuild its helicopter fleet starting in the 2030s through the Future Vertical Lift program, which includes building new heli-copters and upgrading the existing rotary wing fleet. U.S. Army officials have meanwhile overhauled their aviation structure to help the service save $30 billion in helicopter upgrades, but the Defense Department’s investment in helicopters is dropping from $12 billion annually to $6.7 billion by 2018, according to consult-ing firm Frost & Sullivan.

Given these shrinking opportunities, which extend to the U.S. Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy, which are smaller players than the Army in the military helicopter market, what features are budget-conscious military helicopter users and purchasers seeking from vendors? Survivability has emerged as a key issue with upgrades, according to vendors, and this includes ballistic protection for crew and fuel tanks, crashworthy seats and missile warning systems.

Vendors are also trying to help military helicopter pilots with improved situational awareness, as the military seeks to reduce its accident rate, which has destroyed more than 400 helicopters and led to more than 600 U.S. military deaths since the beginning

of the Afghanistan War in 2001. In many cases, accidents are not directly caused by direct enemy attacks, and instead are often-times caused by the difficult operating environments that military helicopters and special operators find themselves in. The military could see significant cost avoidance by reducing the operational crash rate.

Seeing through dust and bad weather is an ongoing need for helicopter pilots, as shown by accidents and hard landings in Iraq and high-altitude Afghanistan and during Continental U.S. training exercises. In addition, Army officials would like to see improved engine power for the AH-64 Apache and Sikorsky’s $20 million UH-60 Black Hawk within eight years through the Improved Turbine Engine Program. The Black Hawk is the most popular military helicopter around the world, with 3,600 fly-ing. Army officials have set a goal of 50 percent better engine performance while using 25 percent less fuel for the Apache and Black Hawk. Vendors are also delivering helicopter upgrades with improved self-diagnosis capabilities and improved digital connectivity.

Ground-based man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) in the fourth or fifth generation of development continue to be a threat to helicopters, which can be vulnerable because rotary wing aircraft tend to hover in low altitudes, according to Nancy Stoehr-Campbell, communications manager with Orbital ATK’s

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Defense Electronic Systems Division. Operators need missile warning and countermeasure responses for such MANPADS, in addition to protection against non-guided systems such as rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and small-arms fire.

To meet this need, Orbital ATK of Dulles, Va., has delivered more than 3,000 AAR-47 Missile Warning System units to mili-tary customers worldwide since its 1987 debut, including U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy users, according to Stoehr-Campbell. Company officials claim the AAR-47 is the lowest-cost, lightest-weight and most power-efficient missile warning and countermeasure response system on the military helicopter mar-ket that is combat-proven.

“It integrates missile, laser and hostile fire threat into one system,” Stoehr-Campbell said. The AAR-47, which functions as a software upgrade that requires no onboard helicopter hardware modification, gives users enhanced protection from AAA and RPG rocket fire, as well as small-caliber weapons fire.

Every second counts with detection of threats to helicopters, according to Rami Navon, EW marketing manager at Israel Aero-space Industries (IAI). His 62-year old company sells a 360-degree 11.5 kilograms infrared missile protection system, the EL/L8265, but no U.S. military helicopters are using it, despite widespread adoption in foreign militaries, according to Navon. The product has wide frequency band coverage from 2GHz to 19 GHz. Within 15 seconds on a helicopter of a threat appearing, the electromag-netic EL/L8265 warning and locating system gives the pilot the exact location of the threat, according to Navon.

“It gives the pilot an optimal tactical decision” as a result of the EL/L8265’s high accuracy and speed, Navon said.

The EL/L8265 missile approach warning system works with fixed wing and rotator aircraft. Navon was not able to provide pric-ing information on the EL/L8260. Designed to operate in dense and complex radar environments, the product operates indepen-dently and requires minimal pilot intervention, according to IAI.

“It’s very difficult to estimate the location of a threat,” Navon said. The EL/L8265 has an easy-to-read threat map on a digital display, according to company officials. The product can identify and locate all radar types, according to IAI.

In August, the Army awarded a $35 million Common Infrared Countermeasures (CICM) contract for engineering, manufac-ture and development services to Northrup Grumman Corp., as the company beat BAE Systems in staking its claim to the flag-ship contract on an estimated $1.5 billion program. CICM will help Army helicopter pilots in battling heat-seeking missiles, emerging threats which are often compact and shoulder-fired or radar-guided, in the higher-frequency, infrared short wavelength spectrum in special operations hotspots around the world.

Raytheon in 2013 had claimed an upset win with the Navy’s Next Generation Jammer program to fight adversaries who exploit radio frequency signals, so winning CICM and preventing Ray-theon from gaining a further foothold in the market was critical for BAE Systems and Northrup Grumman. At press time, BAE Systems were reportedly considering a protest of the CICM award to Northrup Grumman, which was made in late August.

Also in August, the Army awarded Lockheed Martin Co. a $21.7 million Modernized Day Sensor Assembly (M-DSA) follow-on contract for the AH-64E Apache attack helicopter to improve the aircraft’s advanced laser-targeting capabilities. The Apache debuted in 1986 to eventually replace the AH-1 Cobra as the

Army’s primary attack helicopter, and there are more than 1,000 Apaches in operation around the world. The Marine Corps still uses a late model version of the Bell Cobra, the AH-1W Super Cobra, introduced in 1985.

Through the Army contract, Lockheed Martin will deliver up to 786 modernized laser rangefinder designator (M-LRFD) kits to the Army and international customers, having already delivered 200 to the U.S. Army. The M-LRFD kits designate targets and establish target range for accurate weapon engagement.

In addition, M-DSA Phase 2 upgrades allow Apache pilots to see high-resolution, near-infrared and color imagery on cockpit displays. New laser-pointer markers and multi-marker lasers with eye-safe lasing capability will also be delivered under M-DSA Phase 2 by Lockheed Martin. This capability enables safer AH-64E Apache flight within urban environments and during training exercises. These features also enable pilots to better coordinate their operations with ground troops, according to a Lockheed Martin release.

In March 2014, furthermore, the Army Contracting Command awarded a $1.2 billion contract to Boeing Co. to provide 82 four-blade, twin-engine Apache attack helicopters, with a mix of 72 remanufactured Apaches and 10 new ones. Such a high ration of legacy aircraft upgrades to new helicopter purchases demonstrates the tight helicopter budget Army officials are executing.

Officials at the Aviation Center of Excellence at Fort Rucker, Ala., are working on an aviation restructure initiative to better marshal the service’s resources. Army officials have also planned new digital cockpits to be introduced by Sikorsky on the Black Hawk utility helicopters. In addition, an Improved Turbine Engine Program that could increase the range of both Apache and Black Hawk helicopters should reach development phase by the year’s end, according to published reports.

Meanwhile, the Army is considering an incremental upgrade strategy for Boeing CH-47 Chinook heavy lift helicopters.

One former operator who is now an executive at a suppler that works on helicopter upgrades offered his perspective about the military’s needs in such an austere environment. “They look for flexibility,” said Newman Shufflebarger, chief executive officer at Robertson Fuel Systems of Tempe, Ariz., when asked about the military’s rotary wing upgrade needs. His four-year old company develops fuel systems for internal and external storage on heli-copters. Robertson Fuel Systems self-performs and funds all its research and development work.

“We stay close to the user to help identify their needs,” Shuffle-barger said. Robertson Fuel Systems officials work backwards from a customer-determined delivery date in determining the produc-tion and installation schedule of new capabilities for fuel systems added to helicopters that are in the fleet.

Helicopter designers and operators make tradeoffs all the time, Shufflebarger pointed out. Carrying more fuel might mean increased payload and less space for personnel. Placing extra fuel systems outside a helicopter can effect fast rope capabilities and lead to greater noise. Generally speaking, the more flexibility to how operators can use their floor space and modify other aspects of their rotator wing aircraft is welcome.

Robertson Fuel Systems works with several platforms, includ-ing the Sikorsky MH and AH-60 Battle Hawk helicopters, the H-class Chinook helicopter and the V-22 Osprey helicopter, reflect-ing its focus on the U.S. military market. Shufflebarger is a retired


Army colonel, and his final active duty assignment before his 2010 retirement was serving as Cargo Helicopter Office Project Man-ager, when he supervised a team of 400 employees at the Redstone Arsenal, Ala.

In that position, Shufflebarger oversaw the sale of the Boeing H-class Chinook to 18 foreign militaries, including Royal Cana-dian Air Force, which had Boeing deliver 15 Chinooks by 2014. Those medium to heavy-lift Chinooks have directional infrared countermeasures in the cockpit’s advanced instruments that pro-tect the aircraft from sophisticated infrared guided missiles.

Previously in his 26-year Army career, Shufflebarger was awarded a Bronze Star for his service during Operation Desert Shield/Storm, in part due to the low crash rate of pilots under his command in an uncertain and potentially lethal environment against what was then the fifth-largest army in the world. Earlier in his military career before his heavy lift experience with the Chi-nook, Shufflebarger piloted attack helicopters: Apaches, Cobras and Kiowas, which the Army is retiring in favor of Apaches for light attack missions.

In a 2010 interview posted on the Army website to commemo-rate his retirement, Shufflebarger praised the Chinook for its ver-satility in performing as a cargo aircraft, in addition to serving on combat support and service support, and the secondary missions of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance.

First developed in 1962 during the Vietnam War, the Chinook has heavy lift capabilities that make it ideal for transporting

troops, ammunition, artillery, fuel, supplies and weapons. There are fewer than 900 Chinooks operational around the world.

In business for 40 years, Orbital ATK is developing a Multi-Threat Warning System (MTWS) with partner Sara Inc. provid-ing improved acoustic sensors. The Helicopter Active Protection System (HAPS), with four sensors to ensure 360-degree threat coverage, will not only identify incoming threats for helicopter operators but also launch and guide a kill vehicle to destroy the RPG or threat through electro-optical sensor technology that uses advanced commercial sensors, according to company officials. The kill vehicle will fit within the envelope of a standard flare and chaff launch tube.

The kill vehicle detonates the threatening warhead so that the RPG is rendered effective; this process takes place far away enough from the helicopter that the metal fragments from the warhead are not a threat to the well-being of the helicopter’s crew, according to Orbital ATK.

Orbital ATK is also modifying the computer processors it uses with the MTWS to take advantage of the latest commercial and interface peripherals, according to Stoehr-Campbell. “This will make the product open, extensible and supportable to the 2030 timeframe,” she said. O




BlacK Watch

Curtiss-Wright Corporation’s Defense Solutions division is expanding its range of mission- critical rugged displays with models optimized for the ground vehicle market. Ground vehicle display unit (GVDU) displays are specifically engineered to deliver the ruggedization, readability, reliability and product longevity demanded by both system integrators and users.

The first display of the new GVDU family to be announced is the 10.4-inch GVDU2630 touch-screen display. This compact (10.63 x 8.66 x 3.15 inches) and lightweight (6.6 pounds) unit provides 1024 x 768 resolution. Designed to deliver optimal performance over the full -40 °C to +60 °C military

temperature range, the GVDU2630 combines high readability and a sealed, reliable construction. It also provides a range of space-saving embedded Intel processor options. The GVDU2630 is ideal for use in tactical ground vehicles with demanding applications.

“We are very excited about the launch of our new ground vehicle display units,” said Lynn Bamford, senior vice president and general manager, Defense Solutions division. “With the new GVDU range of displays, Curtiss-Wright provides vehicle system integrators with an unparalleled combination of integration, optimized configura-tion and longevity of supply, all at a price that fits the sensitive budgets of ground vehicle system applications. End-users will appreciate the clarity and brightness of these displays, while benefitting from the ease of use and long-term reliability in the harshest of environments.”

Curtiss-Wright GVDUs deliver a full set of advanced features, including sealed front face and connectors, high-readability, programmable bezel buttons and options for flexible configuration. Support for applications in which the user wears night vision goggles is also offered.

This 2630 is fully qualified to established environmental standards and can be connected to a wide variety of video sources. External video is accepted as DVI-D or analog input, with the

touchscreen and bezel button output available on USB and RS232/RS422 suitable for direct connec-tion to other equipment such as mission and map computers and other video equipment, such as cameras and video management systems (VMS) for situational awareness applications.

When configured with an internal embedded processor, the display provides an enhanced set of interfaces, including Ethernet, USB, RS-232/RS-422 and GPIO. The internal processor provides graphics input to the displays and receives all touchscreen and bezel-button operations.

Designed to provide the maximum in user-interface flexibility, the GVDU2630 features bezel buttons along the sides that are available for use by computing equipment connected to the displays or by the embedded processor. A GVA-compliant bezel-button layout to the HMI defined by Def Stan 23-09 is available as an option. The display can also be supplied with an optional five-wire resistive touchscreen that can be used to control external equipment such as mission computers or the internal embedded processor.

The 2630 can be used in a stand-alone config-uration or can be easily integrated with other Curtiss-Wright MIL-STD-810-compliant products such the DuraCOR family of small form-factor processor units, rugged OpenVP single-board computers or 3U VPX application-ready systems.

Expanding Rugged Displays

Rockwell Collins has been selected by Sikorsky for the U.S. Air Force Combat Rescue Helicopter (CRH) program. Rockwell Collins will provide state-of-the art avionics and mission equipment to the next generation of combat rescue heli-copters, including the cockpit flight and mission display system, navigation radios and the advanced ARC-210 V/UHF communication system.

“In the midst of a combat zone, threats can come from all directions. To make sure Air Force pilots are able to conduct search and rescue operations safely, it’s vital that they have the most advanced avionics available to improve situational awareness while enhancing mission capability,” said Troy Brunk, vice president and general manager of airborne solutions. “Sikorsky’s selection of our latest display and communications technologies for the CRH program will help ensure success for the combat rescue mission.”

Rockwell Collins’ integrated cockpit flight and mission display system provides superior situational awareness reducing pilot workload for the CRH mission. Based on combat proven technologies currently being fielded on the U.S. Army’s Black Hawk helicopters, the HH-60W’s cockpit

display system leverages 15 years of open systems leadership to enable the Air Force to affordably implement mission enhancements over the life of the CRH.

Capable of a wide operating temperature range, providing superior optical performance and designed for a wide viewing angle for excellent cross-cockpit viewing, these multi-function displays are fully compliant with the latest night vision

imaging system standards.The CRH contract includes the newest-generation ARC-210 to provide

secure voice communications, including civil interoperability. It offers the CRH program future growth for advanced ad-hoc networking as well as next-generation SATCOM with the Mobile Users Objective System capability to bring increased throughput and simultaneous voice and data.

Sikorsky was awarded the CRH engineering and manufacturing development contract in June 2014 to develop up to four helicopters and seven training systems and to provide initial product support. The contract includes production options for fielding a total of 112 HH-60W helicopters, which will replace the U.S. Air Force’s aging of HH-60G fleet.

Combat Search & Rescue Helo Avionics


The U.S. Army and U.S. Navy awarded Lockheed Martin a $66.3 million contract for the engineering and manufacturing devel-opment (EMD) phase of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) program.

“Since contract award in August, we conducted a fifth flight test that further demonstrated the high degree of design maturity and readiness for operational testing that will support future JAGM production,” said U.S. Army Project Manager Colonel James Romero. “The August 25 test was the first JAGM test using the active fire and forget, lock-on after launch engagement mode against a stationary armored target. Throughout all five tests, we have demonstrated that both sensors—onboard radar and semi-active laser—effectively operate together to provide an enhanced capa-bility against stationary and moving targets for precision point or fire-and-forget targeting.”

The 24-month EMD phase will include JAGM production, test qualification and integration on the AH-64 Apache and AH-1Z Cobra attack helicopters. The EMD phase also establishes an initial low-rate manufacturing capability in support of two follow-on low-rate initial production options.

“The EMD contract validates the merits of our mature, modular and proven JAGM design,” said Frank St. John, vice presi-dent of tactical missiles and combat maneuver systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We will continue to work closely with the Army and Navy as we move through the EMD phase and into low-rate initial production, ensuring we meet initial opera-tional capability in 2018 on budget and on schedule.”

JAGM ProgressThe U.S. Army Contracting Command has awarded Navistar Defense a $369

million contract to provide 2,293 Medium Tactical Vehicles to build upon the Afghanistan National Security Force’s (ANSF) MTV Fleet. Production will commence immediately, with deliveries starting in January 2016 and concluding in 2019.

“We are honored to continue supporting the efforts of the Afghanistan National Security Force’s missions to provide security and rebuilding in their country,” said Kevin Thomas, president, Navistar Defense. “We have been supporting ANSF since 2005 and have provided more than 9,000 medium-duty vehicles to the Afghan forces during that time.”

Under the contract, Navistar Defense will provide general troop transport vehi-cles, water and fuel tankers, ammunition trucks and wreckers, as well as a number of trucks with armored cabs. This fleet is based on the International WorkStar/7000-MV severe service vocational truck platform.

Afghan Tactical Vehicle Contract

Rolls-Royce has delivered its 2,000th AE 2100 engine, which was installed onto a U.S. Air Force C-130J by Lockheed Martin.

The AE 2100 line has proven itself in opera-tions around the globe, accumulating more than 8 million engine flight hours of dependable service, primarily on C-130J aircraft produced by Lockheed Martin. The AE 2100 also powers C-27J aircraft, the Japanese US-2 sea rescue aircraft and a fleet of Saab 2000 civil turboprop aircraft. From military transport to civil passenger service, and from sea rescue to humanitarian efforts, the AE 2100 has proven itself a versatile power plant.

The AE 2100 is part of the AE family of engines, which also includes the AE 1107C engine powering V-22 aircraft, and the AE 3007 line, which powers Global Hawk, Triton and a

large fleet of corporate and regional aircraft. The AE engine line overall has topped 65 million engine flight hours.

Phil Burkholder, Rolls-Royce president, Defense Aerospace North America, said, “The AE 2100 engine has been one of the most successful military transport engine lines in Rolls-Royce

history. It is a proud moment for us to reach this significant milestone, as well as knowing we provide enhanced mission capability for the U.S. Air Force and other military operators.”

In addition to the AE 2100 line-powering C-130J aircraft, Rolls-Royce T56 engines power the global fleet of C-130 legacy aircraft.

C-130J Power

On September 10, SOCOM’s Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L), Program Executive Office-Maritime, Undersea Systems Program Management Office issued a presolicitation for their requirement for the design, development, construction, test, production and sustainment of the dry combat submersible (DCS) system. The program phases include engineering and manufacturing development, production and deployment and operations and support. The DCS program will result in the fielding of a safe, affordable, dry environ-ment, diver lock-in/lock-out, undersea mobility capability by designing and procuring commercially classed submersibles for use in special operations environments.

The procurement will be accomplished using full and open competition with the intent of making a single award for one DCS system and its related support equipment, along with two additional optional DCS systems and their related support equipment.

Dry Combat Submersible

compiled by Kmi media group staff


Brigadier General Kurt L. Sonntag assumed command of Special Operations Command South on September 16, 2014. As commander, he is responsible to the commander of U.S. South-ern Command for the planning, employment and command of special operations in Central and South America.

Sonntag is a 1986 graduate of the United States Military Academy, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree and was commissioned in the infantry. While in the infantry, he served as a Bradley platoon leader, scout platoon leader and S-3 Air while assigned to the 2nd Armored Division. After attending the Infantry Officer’s Advance Course and the Special Forces Qualification Course in 1991, he served as a detachment com-mander, battalion S-4, support company commander and com-pany commander in 3rd Battalion, 5th Special Forces Group (Airborne). After leaving the 5th Special Forces Group in 1997, he served as a company and battalion observer/controller with the Special Operations Training Detachment at the Joint Readiness Training Center.

Upon completing the Naval Command and Staff College at the Naval War College in 2000, he returned to the 5th Special Forces Group to command another company, serve as a bat-talion’s executive officer during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, and as the 5th Special Forces Group executive officer. He also served as the Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force-West & Arabian Peninsula’s chief of staff during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Following a brief assignment as the Chief of Joint and Army Concepts Division for the Army Special Operations Battle Lab, Sonntag commanded 2nd Battalion, 1st Special Warfare Training Group and served as the G-3 for the United States Army Special Forces Command. After fulfilling his United States Army War College requirements in 2009, Sonntag deployed to Pakistan to serve as the SOCCENT (Forward) - Pakistan commander in sup-port of Operation Enduring Freedom. Upon his return to Fort Bragg, he served as the United States Army Special Operations Command chief of staff. He recently returned from a deploy-ment where he commanded an interagency advisory detachment in support of national security goals and objectives. Sonntag then held the position of the deputy commanding general of the United States Army Special Operations Command.

Sonntag holds a master’s degree in Military History from Louisiana State University as well as a master’s in National

Security Strategy Studies from the Naval War College. He is also a Harvard Kennedy School National Security Fellow.

Q: Brigadier General Sonntag, could you provide an overview of your command and office for our readers?

A: Special Operations Command South plans, directs and exe-cutes special operations missions throughout Central America, South America and the Caribbean to achieve operational and strategic objectives in support of the commander, United States Southern Command. SOCSOUTH’s vision is a secure, stable and sovereign USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility. Our goal is to prevent conflict in the region.

To that end, we collaborate with interagency partners, con-ventional forces, allies and partner nations, which are connected by an in-depth network to detect, deter, disrupt and defeat threats to U.S. vital interests. Our top priorities are war fighting readiness and contingency response, shaping operations and engagement and taking care of the force and family.

Q: Could you discuss the advantages gained from and the purpose of the recent bilateral training exercise between your command and Chilean Special Forces at Camp Shelby, Miss.?

Working to Provide Peace and Security in the Southern AOR

Readiness Provider

Brig. Gen. Kurt L. SonntagCommander

Special Operations Command South

Q&AQ&A


A: Northern Star 2015 was a successful combined joint bilateral engagement between U.S. Special Operations Forces and Chil-ean Special Operations Forces. A benefit of this type of bilateral exchange is the unique opportunity to share best practices with one of our closest regional partners while serving as a model for future collaboration with other partner nation SOF units operat-ing in the SOUTHCOM area of responsibility. It was facilitated by our teammates in the National Guard.

I would like to highlight some of the operational advantages gained throughout the training evolution. Northern Star par-ticipants engaged in a full range of bilateral training and full-mission profiles, including small unit tactics, close quarter battle, advanced marksmanship, all-terrain vehicle tactics, fast-roping, helocast, air assault and airborne operations. The skills of the U.S. SOF and Chilean SOF operating units were exhibited in a culmi-nating exercise (Operation Geronimo Lives), a non-combatant evacuation event flown in conjunction with air units based out of Hurlburt Field, Fla. More than 400 personnel from the Chilean Special Forces, Special Operations Command-South, Special Operations Detachment-South, Marine Reconnaissance and Army Reserve Aviation participated in the culminating exercise. The successful execution of an event of this magnitude is a testament to our expertise in combined joint operations, underscoring our proficiency at aligning ourselves seamlessly with our partner nations in achieving the desired operational effects.

From a commander’s perspective, the U.S.-Chilean relation-ships that were built and strengthened during this exercise at the operational level and during key leader engagements are crucial in ensuring that we continue to expand and develop the Special Operations capabilities of both countries.

Q: Are there any ISR enhancements that could aid in certain environments where you operate (mountains, jungle, etc., FOPEN)?

A: The triple-canopy jungle environment prevalent in some parts of the SOUTHCOM AOR presents a difficult challenge to our partner nations as they pursue criminals into remote locations. Employing a foliage penetration (FOPEN) radar capability in order to look beneath dense vegetation would be invaluable in reducing narco-traffickers’ ability to conceal their illegal activities.

We have also seen a demand signal in Partner Shareable IS—that is, IS—is immediately or seamlessly releasable to our part-ners for their use in identifying and interdicting criminal activity.

Q: What are some of the significant training challenges in your AOR?

A: Besides the most varied terrain, riverine and littoral water and climate imaginable, there are several challenges, and they vary from country to country. The challenges can range from the PN’s ability to absorb the training that we are conducting to the authorities, and both fiscal and operational challenges that we operate under.

While SOCSOUTH conducts numerous JCETs and subject-matter expert engagements for the training benefit of U.S. SOF, all of the building partner capacity activities we conduct are under the authority of Section 1004 of the National Defense Authorization Act. While these authorities are broadly written,

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the permissions granted to the TSOC within 1004 are a limiting factor in how we con-duct our engagements with partner nations.

Q: Following that, what are the skills that our partner nations want to focus on?

A: The skills that our partner nation forces want to focus on vary not only from country to country, but also from unit to unit within each country. The key to supporting a devel-oping, focused and effective unit training plan is first to understand exactly what the PN wants to accomplish. Following that, we jointly assess the unit’s mission, its current proficiency and the equipment it has to accomplish its required tasks.

Based on this assessment, we can col-lectively develop a program that will help them build the capabilities they need. This assessment and planning process can drive significant changes in training programs. Sometimes what the PN initially wants to train on is not what they need to train on; for example, if a country does not have airlift suitable for fast rope infiltration, then time and resources would be better spent training on something they do have the capability to employ. Sometimes, that is driven by who their “sponsor” is within the Department of State’s Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL).

Q: Are you able to incorporate simulators when training with partner-nation forces, or is the training more hands-on and/or live fire?

A: While the use of tactical simulators would in some cases enhance the mission, the vast majority of our tactical training is in the field with a focus on employment. In many cases, the units we are training with will employ the TTPs learned on real-world operations later the same day.

We also work very hard to help units build the capacity to analyze the operational impacts of the missions they execute, and employ effects-based models to further their understanding of threat networks so they can more effectively and efficiently target those adversaries. Modeling and simulation could potentially con-tribute to this type of training.

Q: What is SOCSOUTH’s perception on violent extremism within the AOR and the possible threat it poses to U.S. interests and to the homeland?

A: A terrorist attack against U.S. interests in the region, or an attack on the homeland facilitated from the region, is a high-impact but low-probability scenario. Of the commonly known Middle East-based terrorist groups, Lebanese Hezbollah is openly known to have conducted terrorist attacks in the region. Evidence that Hezbollah continues to maintain an attack capability was seen in the recent October 2014 arrest of a Peru-based operative. While these past attacks were limited to Jewish and Israeli targets, it has attacked non-regional U.S interests in the past. Its leadership, and

that of its patron, Iran, remains committed to posing threats to U.S. interests worldwide.

The probability of a Sunni Islamic extremist group operating in the region is lower, with a self-inspired “lone-wolf” attack being the most likely scenario. However, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) has attracted recruits from the region, which may present security challenges upon their return. The potential catalysts for a Sunni extremist terror cell formation in the region may include the rise of a charismatic leader, significant backing by Middle Eastern donors or willing and capable jihadists reaching a critical mass.

Q: The Mexican cartels have been undergoing a lot of competi-tion, splintering and consolidation in recent years. What effect has this had on the region as a whole?

A: Latin American drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs) control various aspects of the drug supply chain and vary in terms of capabilities, organizational structures and levels of associated violence. As a result of their struggle for power and consolidation over territory, the Central American and Caribbean regions have the highest crime rates, including violent crimes, of any region in the world. Research has shown that criminality related to drug trafficking has replaced political and regional conflicts as the pri-mary source of citizen insecurity in the Americas.

Increased law enforcement by Mexican authorities has forced traffickers to use Central America, particularly Guatemala and Honduras, as transshipment points for Andean Ridge cocaine, increasing the already high levels of violence in those countries. Some violence is directly associated with the protection of drug trafficking routes and syndicate power struggles. Other violence occurs as drug trafficking organizations corrupt and undermine public security and legal institutions.

Economic and social collapse throughout the region, com-pounded by weak government institutions, inhibits efforts to improve security, rendering large portions of the population susceptible to DTO influence. Criminal organizations and radical groups capitalize on these vulnerabilities, using various methods

A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier with the National Guard shares best practices to U.S. and Chile counterparts April 23, 2015, at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., during a bilateral training exchange. The exchange, organized by Special Operations Command South, promotes cooperation among peer nations. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/by Staff Sergeant Osvaldo Equite]


to influence or exploit the local populace. Families are in jeopardy. Mothers and fathers are putting their children into the hands of smugglers in the hope that the lives of their children, alone, away from their families in a foreign country will be safer than with their families in their home towns.

Q: Could you give some specifics or pro-vide some anecdotes concerning how SOC-SOUTH is protecting American interests?

A: From Colombia to Honduras to the Dominican Republic, we’re building a net-work of lasting relationships that are, quite literally, helping bring some countries back from the brink. This work is valuable not just to SOUTHCOM and the U.S. government, but also to our partners throughout the region.

Our special operations forces are among the most qualified, culturally sensitive and linguistically capable trainers in the U.S. military, and above all, they excel at building trust and forg-ing personal relationships that are essential to supporting our national interests. Whether it’s a small team at the tactical level or an official engagement at my level, all our efforts are focused

on professionalizing military and security forces. We are here to help our partners become more accountable to civilian authority and more capable, and above all, to help them respect the human rights of the citizens they are charged to protect.

Join U.S. and international SOF leaders for an innovative event to discuss the importance of SOF enablers as well as critical ways for global SOF to interoperate, from tactics to policy.• A truly global agenda will provide attendees with a unique experience• Attendees include: active duty and retired military and police, government civilians, industry,

academia, journalists, and non-governmental organizations• Previous year’s event attracted 350 attendees from 24 nationsSPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIESContact Laurie Powell, [email protected] or (703) 740-1940FOR MORE INFORMATIONSymposium: www.GlobalSOFSymposium.orgFoundation: www.GlobalSOFFoundation.orgTwitter: @GlobalSOF

www.GlobalSOFSymposium.org

A U.S. Army Special Forces soldier with the National Guard fires downrange April 23, 2015, at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., during a bilateral training exchange with Chilean SF. The training exchange, organized by Special Operations Command South, strengthens ties between the nations’ forces. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/by Staff Sergeant Osvaldo Equite]


Our efforts are part of a whole-of-gov-ernment approach-involving the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Department of Justice, Department of Homeland Security, Depart-ment of State, United States Agency for Inter-national Development and many others to strengthen governance and foster accountable, transparent and effective institutions through-out the Western Hemisphere.

Our work with Colombia is the model for everything we want to do in this part of the world. SOCSOUTH was there three decades ago when Colombia was teetering on the verge of collapse—and we’re there today.

As a result of SOF efforts, Colombia has taken its rightful place as a regional leader and one of our most important allies. SOCSOUTH has helped our Colombian partners bring the FARC to its knees in multiple ways over the last 20 years or so, building the capacity of their most elite units so that Colombia could rescue American hostages and show the world there’s nowhere special operations forces can’t go and nowhere the FARC can hide. We are also helping the Colombians target these narco-terrorists that are among the worst violators of human rights in the world. We have been sup-porting the Colombian military as it learned the importance of respecting human rights and protecting civilian populations, and, finally, staying with the Colombians as they make their final push to finish this fight, once and for all.

What we’ve helped our partners accomplish in Colombia is now a benchmark for our engagement with countries like Hon-duras and Guatemala, who are suffering unbelievable turmoil and insecurity brought on by transnational criminal organizations.

Q: Since development has been increasing tremendously in South America over the past decade, are different forms of air-craft now in demand by your command? Essentially, how much of a problem is the tyranny of distance today in the region?

A: The tyranny of distance within our assigned region can be quite a challenge if we were to go it alone. However, our Spe-cial Operations Command Enterprise consistently engages in relationships with our host nation partners, other United States forces in the region and our inter-agency partners.

Additionally, our National Guard and Reserve partners do an outstanding job supporting mobility requirements in the SOUTHCOM region. Each of these entities brings with it unique assets and experience throughout the region ranging from small fixed wing platforms and helicopters to the largest strategic airlift assets. Being able to maintain positive relationships means being able to maintain the ability to move around the region and per-form the required training in the right places.

The largest challenges are not necessarily distance-related but altitude- and infrastructure-related. Our region ranges from sea level to over 22,000 feet and from developed city to nearly uninhabited rainforest. Finding the right mode of transportation to access a remote village high in the mountains takes a lot of coordination and synchronization between us and our partners.

Environment and sustainment are always challenges. As far as specific demand signals in the region, it really does range most of the capability spectrum. From time to time, we require the long-range capabilities of strategic airlift to go between the Continental United States and points in the south end of South America. Other times, we and our partners need only go from one end of Central America to the other on smaller fixed-wing air-craft. Then again, sometimes we merely need to travel 100 miles to a remote training or support site that can only be serviced by utility helicopters. Furthermore, all of these aircraft serve as the combined MEDEVAC system capable of saving lives and treating casualties from the point of injury all the way back to the Continental United States, if necessary. It is a system of mobility and survivability.

Q: Can you point to any cases in the region where nations are beginning to work together to address regional issues?

A: Take, for example, how we have provided persistent, focused training to the naval special forces (FEN) in Guatemala over the past four years. As a result, the FEN can now effectively locate and interdict target vessels, seize drug shipments and cooperate as a cohesive unit.

Colombia is a good example of SOF engagement leading to the U.S.-Colombia Action Plan. Colombia is now “exporting” their security know-how, and is now working with its neighbors in the shared fights against countering transnational criminal organiza-tions specifically in Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Guate-mala, Honduras, Panama and El Salvador. Colombia continues to expand its role as a security exporter, having helped train tens of thousands of security personnel from more than 40 nations. Through the U.S.-Colombia Action Plan for Regional Security, Colombia engages regularly with the security forces of six Cen-tral American and Caribbean countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Panama, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic—to strengthen their counter-narcotics capabilities. O

A U.S. Special Forces soldier with the Army National Guard explains common USSF tactics, techniques and procedures to Chile and USSF counterparts April 23, 2015, at the Camp Shelby Joint Forces Training Center, Miss., during a bilateral training exchange. [Photo courtesy of U.S. Army/by Staff Sergeant Osvaldo Equite]


Since before the inception of the Air Force in 1947, close air support—lethal effects from airborne assets in close proximity to friendly ground forces—has been controlled by forward air controllers, combat controllers, tactical air control party airmen and air liaison officers, all of whom have been certified to control air and ground precision strikes as joint terminal attack control-lers (JTACs). The fundamental tools of map, compass and radio remained largely unchanged from World War II through the 1991 Gulf War. Even during the initial stages of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, while Global Positioning System receivers had largely replaced the map and compass, critical information was still being passed between the controller and aircrew via voice and recorded manually by grease pencil.

A fratricide incident in 2001 sparked the interest of then-Secretary of the Air Force James Roche, who subsequently directed the estab-lishment of the Battlefield Air Operations (BAO) Kit program office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, which now serves as Air Force Special Operations Command’s (AFSOC) only program of record to develop and field a digitally aided close air support (DACAS) capabil-ity for special tactics airmen who are JTAC-qualified (now known as combat controllers and tactical air control party airmen). Special tactics airmen are U.S. Special Operations Command’s primary air-to-ground integration force, enabling air power in special operations mission sets, including close air support. Now formally defined in the

Joint Publication, DACAS is “the machine-to-machine exchange of required CAS mission data between JTAC and CAS platform (or C2 node) for the purpose of attacking a surface target.

Under that charter, the BAO program set forth to develop a DACAS capability that was comprehensive from mission planning through execution. On the mission planning side, the goal was to automate JTAC duties to shorten kill chain timelines and reduce user workload. However, BAO saw challenges ranging from interoperability issues with supported ground units, inability to access classified networks with tactical computers and lack of standardized products across the air request and control systems. Moreover, hardware was unsuitable due to size, weight and performance; non-existent software; multiple dissimilar and incompatible datalinks fielded within and across the services’ fighter fleets and a lack of standardized tactics, techniques and procedures (TTP).

Faced with these challenges, like the other DACAS programs across DoD, the BAO office jumped in and aggressively tried to tackle every challenge as a number-one priority. Progress was most notice-ably made at first on the software side, building upon the successful FalconView mapping engine of the DoD’s Portable Flight Planning Software (PFPS) suite with JTAC-specific applications that allowed for 9-line generation, friendly position tracking, situational awareness cues, aircraft sensor point of interest displays and free text messaging. With the flyers and air planners using PFPS or at least FalconView,

Coupling legaCy TeChniqueS wiTh CurrenT TeChnology To MaKe JoinT TerMinal aTTaCK ConTrollerS FaSTer, More leThal and More SiTuaTionally aware on The BaTTleField.

By TeChniCal SergeanT JiMMy eggleSTon and STaFF SergeanT daVid Brown


pre-mission coordination and interoperability was natively achieved. Most ground special operations forces were also using FalconView as their mission planning mapping engine to develop target-specific gridded reference graphics and conduct route planning—interop-erability existed there as well. Where DACAS lagged was on the execution side.

The multiple stovepiped datalinks and networks hindered both training and mission execution. Air Force Applications Program Development was limited to a few USAF aircraft and NATO partners, Air National Guard fighters equipped with Situational Awareness Data Link (SADL), and the AV-8B unique Marine targeting system. The Variable Message Format (VMF) was fielded with incompat-ible implementations across identical mission design series air-craft in different services, and had to rely on beyond-line-of-sight communications with a third party to relay for Link 16. Some of these networks required unique hardware or crypto to even oper-ate, further complicating JTAC operations with multiple unique message formats. For years, the DACAS landscape was populated with heavy and underpowered computing devices and unfriendly user software.

Bao KiT Today

BAO Kit’s future began to change in 2005 and 2006 when a few special tactics JTACs leveraged the use of SADL in the tactical envi-ronment. Lessons were learned and new TTPs were developed. This proved to be critical a few years later as technology improved and viable hardware solutions became available. In 2012, the BAO office took a hard look at the state of their software efforts and determined a drastic change was in order to better support the JTAC operator. The primary goal became to simplify the programming approach and reduce the processing steps for the operator.

The first dramatic change to hardware for special tactics JTACs was the Black Diamond MTS system. This was the first purpose-built hardware solution to address JTAC needs for both ruggedized and

patrol-portable computing with integrated cable management to peripheral devices. Although the computing power was insufficient for the software needs at the time, this critical step led to Black Diamond’s development of their APEX system, which recently won a competitive source selection in July 2015. The APEX system, which received a fielding recommendation from AFSOC, will serve as the primary hardware solution for special tactics JTACs, Air Combat Command (ACC) Guardian Angel, and ACC TACP communities. With these advances in human factors, user simplification and robust hardware, the BAO Kit of today is a leap ahead in the evolu-tion of AFSOC DACAS capability.

BAO Kit also started from the ground level to develop cutting-edge JTAC software with SRA International. The resulting Battle-field Airmen-Digital Air Strike Suite (BA-DASS) provides the JTAC with unparalleled situational awareness and machine-to-machine capability. With a software modem and native message translation integrated into the kit, BA-DASS gives the JTAC full SADL capability in air-air and gateway modes, auto-detect and auto-configure VMF capability with a simultaneous multi-stack capability, video data-link (VDL) metadata exploitation and cross-cueing and integrated Harris situational awareness. JTACs have the ability to pre-mission program individualized standards to support a “3-click 9-line” and customize fratricide graphical cues to personal preferences. Real-time airspace management is achieved via VDL metadata, SADL data and VMF aircraft position messages. Target mensuration is provided by a precision strike suite for special operations forces. FalconView overlays are generated by flying units or command and control units are natively displayed. These war-winning capabilities, delivered with BA-DASS, continue to ensure that the special tactics JTACs remain at the forefront of DACAS.

daCaS aT large Today

Simultaneous to BAO Kit’s remarkable innovations, the pro-gram office’s involvement with the Joint Staff J6 Joint Fire Support

As the air-to-ground strike force, interoperability for a joint terminal attack controller involves two critical areas: supporting aircraft and the supported ground force during the employment of aerial fires. [Photo courtesy of DoD]


(JFS) office paved the way for further advances. The VMF configuration standards developed by the Naval Strike and Air Warfare Center were briefed at a JFS conference in 2012 and was adopted by the BAO office that same year, two years before being formally established in the November 2014 release of the Joint Publica-tion 3-09.3. Adoption of the JFS Coordinated Implementation message blocks has drastically increased interoperability on the battlefield. The JFS forum has been a critical foundation to resolve DoD DACAS stovepipe problems. The BAO Program Office has been an active par-ticipant in the JFS conferences, working groups and Bold Quest events as a collaborative partner with both JTAC and aircraft programs with a singular goal to push toward an interoperable DACAS enterprise. With policy, joint publica-tions and TTP moving faster than updates to digital standards, these types of events and relationships are critical to developing solutions that ensure JTAC capability remains safe but lethal.

where are we going: inTeroperaBiliTy, The nexT FighT and ToolS For Training

As the air-to-ground strike force, interoperability for a JTAC involves two critical areas: supporting aircraft and the supported ground force during the employment of aerial fires. With much of special operations ground forces moving toward small computing devices, the BAO Program Office is closely following these develop-ments, particularly those in USSOCOM. AFSOC and BAO Kit con-tinue to invest in, study and test the use of “smartphone” devices as a ground tactical computing tool, working closely with USSOCOM in this endeavor. Yet the lack of today’s mobile computing power and absence of a software modem continue to limit the utility for a JTAC conducting DACAS, thus forcing the JTAC to carry an addi-tional computing device to conduct the DoD DACAS standard VMF. However, both AFSOC and the BAO Program Office plan to invest in further hardware and software development to improve this issue with utilizing a “smartphone” in 2016. Both offices remain hopeful that this effort will allow other mobile solutions to mirror the APEX tactical computer solution and software modem currently integrated within the BAO kit.

Regardless of the DACAS or other tactical computing tool chosen by any DoD/SOF community, it’s imperative that interoperability is maintained. AFSOC has not lost focus on this and the BAO kit program office continues to ensure that all AFSOC field systems are interoperable with all special operations community fielded solutions.

One of the most exciting areas for increased interoperability and capability is the handheld Link 16 effort. The BAO Program Office is a stakeholder in that joint technology capability demonstration effort, and has already demonstrated stand-alone Link 16 capability using a KOR-24 Small Tactical Terminal as a surrogate. This configuration will be demonstrated at the JFS Bold Quest 15-2 event in October 2015, with follow-on development using pre-production models scheduled for the following six to nine months. Closely related is Net Enabled Weapons (NEW) and the role they may play beyond CAS. The BAO Kit has been designated as one of two JTAC kits critical to

the progress of NEW and for the last two years has been active in the development of the Small Diameter Bomb II.

Additionally, by using a Windows-based system for BA-DASS, the BAO Kit is able to leverage interoperable software tools that are considered non-traditional for JTACs. The BAO Kit includes the Joint Munitions Effectiveness Manual Weaponeering System. This weaponeering tool provides not only increased JTAC capability in emerging roles in near-peer and anti-access theaters of combat, but also is a trove of useful information for JTAC instructors in develop-ing more in-depth lesson plans while on home station. Another criti-cal tool is the U.S. Army’s Research, Development and Engineering Command’s Recognition of Combat – Vehicles (ROC-V) software. This tool provides multi-aspect visual, night vision, infrared pictures of friendly and enemy vehicles and weapons systems in an existing professional training package. A final critical training piece is the Battlefield Airmen Digital Simulator, which allows a JTAC instruc-tor to conduct “live” DACAS training in the classroom while acting as a DACAS-capable aircraft and sending the correct messages and aircraft/sensor information.

The BAO Kit history and development has mirrored that of many other transformative systems. Initial gains were at times sporadic and limited by outside influences. However, as the DACAS environ-ment started to solidify around specific networks, messages and TTP, the BAO Kit Program Office has been able to capitalize and leverage technology advancements to produce unprecedented capabilities for the special tactics operator with JTAC qualification. As it stands today, the BAO Program Office is reaching the goals envisioned by then-Secretary of the Air Force Roche, and in collaboration with DoD partners, continues to be postured to advance JTAC capabilities in the future. O

Technical Sergeant Jimmy Eggleston is the lead subject-mat-ter expert, BAO Kit Program Office. Staff Sergeant David Brown is a subject-matter expert, BAO Kit Program Office.

Fig 1. JTAC SA: Closest friendly (IC26) to target 1 (TANK1), Spider 01 SPI to northeast with J3.5 he dropped (J07565), Spider 02 SPI index 4 southeast of that; independent airspace tools showing aircraft positions




compiled by Kmi media group staffWhiSperS

Lockheed Martin recently completed a successful Infirno test, demon-strating the system’s performance and reliability. Infirno is a high-definition 15-inch sensor system that provides precision targeting and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability across ground, air and maritime platforms.

The test demonstrated Infirno’s ability to identify and laser-designate items of interest at extended ranges for maximum weapon effectiveness. The system also captured high-definition infrared and color video in extreme temperatures under harsh environmental conditions.

“The demonstration confirmed Infirno’s ability to detect, recognize and identify targets with the pinpoint accuracy required by precision munitions,” said Paul Lemmo, vice president of fire control/SOF CLSS at Lockheed Martin. “Lockheed Martin has additional tests scheduled for later this year/early 2016.”

Infirno features multiple high-definition optical sensors in a highly stabilized 15-inch turret. Nine plug-and-play components allow the sensor to be reconfigured to meet rapid changes in evolving technology and mission requirements. This modular innovation allows operators to afford-ably maintain and upgrade the system, keeping critical mission capability readily available to the warfighter.

Targeting & ISR Capabilities

U.S. Army Special Operations Command recently recognized civilians from the G9 direc-torate for their outstanding civilian service.

The following were presented the Achievement Medal for Civilian Service: Brian S. Stoll, Wayne Rider, Dan Moroney, John Haynes, Kurt Goudy, Brian Ebert and Dr. Robert Toguchi.

Presented the Commander’s Award for Civilian Service were Greg Georgevitch and Mark Alexander.

“I’m privileged for this opportunity to recog-nize eight individuals from within our directorate who, through their exceptional performance, have contributed to advancing USASOC’s vision towards future Army Special Operations Force capabilities and readiness,” said Robert A. Warburg, the deputy chief of staff, G9.

“I cannot find words to thank you enough for what you have done for this country, for our freedom,” said Richard Holcomb, USASOC deputy to the commanding general. “Your mission takes on huge meaning to the safety of our mission, as Lt. General Tovo (USASOC commanding general) refers to as the Arc of Change.”

The Arc of Change refers to the concept devel-opment, analysis, solution identification and integration, as well as science and technology testing and evaluation that the G9 is tasked with executing in order to prepare ARSOF for the future. “We will be much closer to ‘right’ because of the work you’ve done,” added Holcomb.

USASOC Recognizes G9 Civilians

Air Force Special Operations Command has issued a combined synopsis/solicitation looking for an NVIS filter compatible with the iPad Air 2.

Some of the criteria mentioned include: sized-to-fit iPad Air 2 screen; light transmissivity greater than or equal to 25 percent; meet or exceed MIL-STD-3009; matte finish (anti-glare); no adhesive prop-erties; touchscreen compatible; and not to exceed .012-inch thickness.

AFSOC is looking for 200 of the filters, mentioning that the product must be the Cervians FP-DCND-IPA-003 or its equal.

NVIS Filter for iPad Air 2

Rockwell Collins recently unveiled a lightweight, wearable version of its proven FireStorm integrated targeting system.

The new FireStorm system offers a scalable targeting capability for both mobile and static applications. Based upon the most widely used joint fires system in the world, the wearable version of FireStorm delivers the highest levels of accuracy, maintains full-digital interoperability with a wide range of coalition aircraft and artillery systems and has a new intuitive, easy-to-use interface.

“Our new FireStorm system keeps pace with the challenges of evolving battlefields, tactics and technologies,” said Claude Alber, vice president and managing director of Europe, Middle East and Africa for Rockwell Collins. “The system provides a more effective mission capability by leveraging years of targeting experience that simplify data link inputs.”

This wearable FireStorm system is available as a complete turnkey solution or as user-selected FireStorm hardware and software compo-nents for integration and enhancement of current in-service systems. The new FireStorm interface unit (FIU) provides body-worn integrated smart power management and data concentration for components of the system.

The latest version features a smaller, lighter accuracy augmentation unit called the High-Accuracy Lightweight Targeter that weighs less than 1.2 kilograms, can be carried in a vest pouch or large uniform pocket and can enhance the accuracy of an LRF in a handheld mode. The unit provides direct observation target location coordinates at Category I levels of accuracy to enable precision-guided munitions with vital targeting data.

It also features the latest compact version of the StrikeHawk Digital tactical video downlink receiver. StrikeHawk Digital enables the dismounted user to receive, record or rebroadcast digital and analog video from unmanned aerial vehicles, strike pods or ground-generated sources.

Wearable Integrated Targeting Systems

(From left to right) Dr. Robert Toguchi, Gregory Georgevitch, Daniel Moroney, Kurt Goudy, Richard Holcomb, Brian Stoll, Wayne Rider, Brian Ebert and Mark Alexander. [Photo courtesy of USASOC/by Specialist David Shefchuk]


compiled by Kmi media group staffWhiSperS

AQYR Technologies Inc. has been awarded a $100 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity production contract. The contract allows AQYR to provide Global Broadcast Service Rucksack Portable Receive Suites (AN/PRS-12) and Suitcase Portable Receive Suites (AN/PRS-11), spares, training, support and engineering services to the Air Force and other branches of the U.S. military. This sole-source award is the result of a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) initially granted by the Air Force Research Laboratories. Initial funding of $13.95 million was received at the time of award. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., is the contracting activity.

Both systems are highly portable, rugged satellite receive suites that can be deployed and operated by a single user. The AN/PRS-12 weighs just under 20 pounds in tactical carry mode and the AN/PRS-11 weighs just under 32 pounds. Earlier configura-tions have been in service with special operations forces deployed overseas. “The award is the culmination of a decade long part-nership, working side by side with the warfighter and the Global Broadcast Service Joint Program Office. It is a SBIR success for all involved,” said AQYR’s president, Laura Z. Dion.

The battle-proven Portable Receiver Suites (PRS) bring crucial command center information and data to the in-field warfighter, substantially improving mission success probabilities and saving lives. The PRS can withstand a variety of adverse envi-ronmental conditions, including high humidity, blowing sand, rain and extreme heat/cold.

Satellite acquisition time is approximately 3 minutes due to AQYRs patented auto-acquisition capability. The systems provide access to unmanned aircraft systems video and imagery; weather, terrain, geospatial and mapping information; forward-looking infrared imagery; streaming video, web content replication and other large files.

AQYR developed the PRS under the SBIR program and was recognized with a 2011 Tibbett’s Award from the Small Business Administration for advancing technological innovation and economic growth.

First AC-130U Retires

The first AC-130U Spooky gunship to retire from the active fleet flew from its Hurlburt Field, Fla., home to its retirement home with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan Air Base, Ariz., on September 21.

The gunship, named “Bad Omen,” was delivered to Hurlburt Field February 17, 1995, and flew more than 2,300 sorties with approximately 5,600 landings and accumulated more than 10,000 hours,” said Karl Cirulis, 4th Special Operations Squadron pilot. “Bad Omen was last deployed to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, in December 2013 where it accumulated approximately 600 combat hours and flew more than 100 sorties.”

Tail number 0163 had one of its most successful sorties over Afghanistan on July 21, 2011. The aircraft arrived on station to support a task force when the task force started taking fire from all sides.

“The gunship began to take direct action, and true to ‘U’ model form, the crew performed eight separate engagements using infrared and TV dual-target attacks,” said Cirulis. “It fired 146 40mm cannon rounds and 41 105mm rounds to end the engagement.”

The AC-130U fleet will remain engaged in worldwide operations until the modernized AC-130J arrives, which is projected to achieve initial operating capa-bility in 2018.

Air Force Special Operations Command’s roadmap is to replace existing vari-ants of the AC-130 with 37 AC-130J Ghostriders in a single configuration with an advanced suite of sensors and precision weapons. Specifically, the AC-130J will have a precision strike package, which includes a mission management console, robust communications suite, two electro-optical/infrared sensors, advanced fire control equipment, precision-guided munitions delivery capability as well as trainable 30mm and 105mm weapons.

By Airman Kai White, 1st Special Operations Wing public affairs.

The 27th Special Operations Logistics Readiness Squadron (SOLRS)/LGRDDO, Vehicle Operations Element, has a requirement for updated Motorola land mobile radios (LMR), desk console and other required accessories as well as the installation of the equipment. The complete functionality of working Motorola land mobile radios and desk console are key to the operation of the Vehicle Operations Element. The use of updated LMRs will cut down the time lost getting informa-tion to/from the vehicle operations control center controllers and the Vehicle Operations operators

that are conducting daily missions on Cannon AFB and Melrose Air Force Range.

The 27th Special Operations Wing/Special Operations Communications Squadron (SOW/SOCS) Personal Wireless Communications Shop (PWCS) states that the base’s “Trunking” system/network is only compatible with the Motorola land mobile radio/desk console products. The ability to add an off brand system to the network will force the PWCS LMR technicians to attend the off brands network training, which will cost the Air Force more than $50,000. Also, there is no

guarantee that the off brands equipment will be compatible with the already established Motorola networking system.

At the time of the market research, Motorola is the only source of land mobile radios that the 27th SOW/SOCS Personal Wireless Communications Shop deals with. We believe there is a contract set up through Motorola. There currently are not any steps we can take to preclude future brand name source awards due to the 27 SOW/SOCS Personal Wireless Communications Land Mobile Radio Shop only dealing with Motorola devices.

Rucksack and Suitcase Portable Receive Suites

Land Mobile Radios


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Calendar

October 20-21, 2015Close Air Support ConferenceReading, UKwww.omconf.com/eventdetail.asp?EID=43

October 26-27, 2015SOF SymposiumAlexandria, Va.http://sof.dsigroup.org/

November 16-18, 2015Special Operations Summit Little CreekVirginia Beach, Va. http://navy.specialoperationssummit.com/

November 30-December 4, 2015I/ITSECOrlando, Fla.www.iitsec.org

December 15-16, 2015SOMASan Marcos, Texaswww.specialoperationsmedicine.org

January 19-21, 2016SO/LICWashington, D.C.www.ndia.org/meetings/6880

February 23-25, 2016Global SOF Symposium 2016Palm Harbor, Fla.www.globalsofsymposium.org/

May 23-26, 2016SOMA Scientific AssemblyCharlotte, N.C.www.specialoperationsmedicine.org

advertisers indexAR ModularRF .......................................................................... 17www.arworld.us/tacticalBall Aerospace .......................................................................... C2www.ballaerospace.comBattelle ....................................................................................... 9www.battelle.orgBoeing/Insitu ........................................................................... C4www.insitu.com/suntzuFlir Systems ................................................................................ 1www.flir.comFlir Systems .............................................................................. C3www.flir.com/sotGlobal SOF Symposium 2016 ................................................... 19www.globalsofsymposium.orgL-3GCS ........................................................................................ 5www.l-3com.comNammo ..................................................................................... 13www.nammo.comSOFEX Jordan 2016 .................................................................. 23www.sofexjordan.comTrijicon ..................................................................................... 10www.trijicon.com


Unit SpOtlight Special Operations technology

Airmen from the 320th Special Tactics Squadron (STS) recently conducted an amphibious training operation along the West Coast of Okinawa to refresh qualifications and retain profi-ciency in various special tactics skill sets.

The training included day and nighttime helo-casting in cohe-sion with HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter support from the 33rd Rescue Squadron, followed by open-water navigation in combat rubber raiding crafts and an open-circuit navigation dive.

“It’s important for us to conduct training that involves a variety of infiltration methods as it allows us to be inserted into environments that may otherwise be unreachable, which enables us to bring our skill sets to bear anywhere we’re asked to,” said 1st Lieutenant Blaze Dunn, 320th STS special tactics officer.

The exercise participants are trained and equipped to conduct special operations tasks during high-risk combat or weather oper-ations. Their ability to infiltrate and secure a location can lead to the recovery of personnel and equipment or enable a landing site for follow-on-forces to arrive during an emergency.

“A difficult mission can come from a lot of places in an area as big as the Pacific,” said Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Loughran, 320th STS commander. “Be it combat-related or even from Mother Nature, this training allows us to respond to a crisis from either one in short order.”

STS units can comprise combat control, pararescue and special operations weather team airmen. Each specialty brings a unique set of skills to the fight. Regardless of duty title, each air-man is expected to look out for one another.

“Teamwork is vital to the successful and safe completion of our missions,” said Blaze. “In the high-risk and quick-moving environ-ments our operators often find themselves, it is imperative each man on the team must trust that the man to his left and the man to his right will tow his end of the line.”

As the training concluded, team members went over the strong points that were executed with finesse and communicated improvements that can be implemented for the next operation. To make the most out of every mission, STS airmen sharpen their skills frequently in order to support airpower throughout the full spectrum of mission sets U.S. Special Operations Command undertakes. O

Senior Airman John Linzmeier is with 18th Wing public affairs.

Refreshing Water SkillsSpeCial TaCTiCS airMen TaKe To The waTer For Training.By Senior airMan John linzMeier




For more information visitwww.flir.com/SOT

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