Re: IDF anti sniper device
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Phil1</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hostile sniper fire has historically been a major cause of casualties among United States ground forces, and the current conflicts have proved no different. U.S. ground forces operating in Afghanistan and Iraq have been faced with the continuous threat of sniper fire. Such has been the nature of the conflicts being fought against insurgents in urban environments—which provide an enemy endless places to hide—but also in rural mountainous regions where snipers can find cover in terrain much more familiar to them than to U.S. troops.
Snipers attack in groups of ones and twos and not in waves, taking pot shots at U.S. forces. These enemy engagements are very brief, and therefore are difficult to defeat.
Vehicle and environmental noise often prevent personnel from hearing the report of sniper fire or from localizing its source. They might not be aware they are under attack until they hear the ding of a round bouncing off a vehicle—or worse.
To reduce potential casualties, ground forces require situational awareness. They need to be alerted to the location of local threats and to be able to respond to take out those threats immediately. These kinds of capabilities are being provided by a number of sniper detection systems that have been designed and developed for use by ground forces. The systems currently in use by U.S. forces are acoustic-based, meaning that the system is equipped to listen through an array of microphones for the bang and crack of sniper gunfire. By processing the signals collected from sensors, they alert users to the presence of incoming fire and provide an indication of the direction and distance of that fire. These systems range from vehicle-mounted systems to soldier-worn gadgets.
There are other systems available based that utilize other types of sensors to detect the light and heat signatures of a weapon’s muzzle flash. One infrared-based system developed for the U.S. Marine Corps never made it into production. Another system, combining electrooptical and infrared capabilities and produced by the Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael-Advanced Defense Systems, has been tested by U.S. forces in Afghanistan to favorable reviews.
The granddaddy of sniper detection systems used by the U.S. military, called Boomerang, was developed by Raytheon BBN Technologies. Boomerang was developed in 2004 in response to an urgent request from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).
“In 68 days, we developed and shipped 50 of the first generation of the system for moving vehicles,” said Mark Sherman, Raytheon BBN’s Boomerang chief. “These were immediately deployed and received positive feedback from the users. Since then, we have made significant investment to refine the technology to make it more accurate, resistant to interference such as jammers, lighter weight, military standard compliant, and easier to install and maintain.”
Boomerang is a passive acoustic system that triggers on the shock wave of a supersonic round and, if available, the muzzle blast, to pinpoint the location of a hostile shooter. “Because the system focuses on the shock wave, there are no false alarms caused by extraneous noises such as door slams or backfires, and line of sight is not required,” said Sherman.
The system has been deployed in both mobile and static environments. It has been successfully deployed on HMMWVs, mine resistant ambush protected (MRAP) vehicles, Stryker vehicles, light armored vehicles, as well as various other types of military and commercial vehicles.
The system’s sensors consist of an array of microphones mounted on a mast at one corner of the vehicle. The system has been proved to work effectively on vehicles moving at speeds of up to 60 mph.
In static environments, Boomerang offers shooter detection localization to protect assets such as security check points, buildings and forward operating bases. The system provides an alert to users by pinpointing the location of hostile sharpshooters on a map display. “There are over 5,000 Boomerang systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, with systems also in use in other international arenas as well as within the United States,” said Sherman.
PDCue, an acoustic-based gunshot detection system developed and marketed by AAI Corporation, identifies the two signatures associated with a round moving at supersonic speed: the initial muzzle blast or bang, and the crack as the round pierces the sound barrier. Most sniper weapons fire supersonic rounds such as the 7.62 mm or 50 caliber. The system was first deployed in 2006 but was originally developed by AAI in 1994. “It is a very mature system that was ready for deployment,” said Derek Baker, AAI’s PDCue business manager. “It can provide the source of a shot, including range, elevation and GPS coordinates, within three degrees.”
PDCue differs from Boomerang in that it utilizes a distributed array of sensors at four separate points of a vehicle, as opposed to the collocated Boomerang sensors mounted on a single corner mast. PDCue’s groups of six sensors are arrayed in four small cubes that are mounted at or below the roof line. “There are multiple sensors at multiple locations on the vehicle,” Baker explained. “Using the length and width of the vehicle as the aperture for the system, we can generate higher fidelity target information. We determine where the shot is coming from by measuring the different timing of the sensors in detecting the shot. The greater distance between sensors, the greater accuracy you get.”
The sensors feed data to a processing unit inside the vehicle. The targeting output of PDCue is displayed graphically in the form of a bullseye on the vehicle-mounted tablet computer equipped with the proper software. PDCues have been mounted on Strykers, HMMWVs, and MRAPs, as well as on helicopters and small boats.
Sniper detection systems also come in soldier- wearable variations. Boomerang Warrior is a soldier-worn version from Raytheon BBN that provides the same shooter location technology provided by the conventional Boomerang system to individual dismounted soldiers. Boomerang Warrior is integrated into tactical vests and situational awareness systems.
“Within one second of detection, the soldier hears an immediate alert through an ear piece and can get additional details such as azimuth, elevation and range from the wrist display,” said Sherman. “It utilizes the same technology as Boomerang to locate and announce shooter locations.”
QinetiQ set out to develop a miniaturized version of a sniper detection system that was designed from the beginning to be soldier-wearable. The system, called SWATS, for soldier wearable acoustic targeting systems, is part of the company’s Ears family of products, which now also includes vehicle-mounted systems, Ears-VMS, as well as systems for fixed locations, Ears-FSS.
SWATS is an acoustic system that uses four microphones contained in a small package measuring 20 cubic inches, including the graphic display of the shooter location. The microphones detect the bang and crack of incoming rounds.
“If an incoming round passes close, an alert will be conveyed to the user within milliseconds through an audio prompt pinpointing the exact location of the shooter,” said Scott Shaw, director of the Soldier Systems Technology Solutions Group at QinetiQ North America. “The system updates the directional information as the wearer movers to take cover. The graphical display is a backup to the primary audio alert so the user doesn’t have to look down at the display. The system operates hands and eyes free.”
Ears is the smallest, lightest, lowest power and lowest profile gunshot localization system available, according to Shaw, with the shoulder-worn system SWATS weighing less than one pound. Over 3,000 Ears systems are currently deployed with troops in Afghanistan and Iraq, most of them SWATS, and a smaller number have gone to other armed forces internationally.
SWATS has been integrated with the Land Warrior Program, an integrated fighting system for infantry soldiers that includes weapons systems, helmet, computer, digital and voice communications; positional and navigation system, protective clothing and individual equipment. Ears and SWATS were recognized with one of Popular Science Magazine’s “Best of What’s New” awards in 2009. SWATS is also listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “first wearable sniper detector.”
The vehicle-mounted and fixed location variations of Ears were developed in collaboration with QinetiQ customers, who realized that the soldier-worn technology could be adapted to other situations. The advantage of mounting a small Ears system on a vehicle, Shaw noted, is that it saves space and power, both of which are at a premium.
The clustered sensors located in an Ears cube are analogous to the array of microphones mounted on the mast of Raytheon BBN’s Boomerang system. Shaw agreed with AAI’s Baker that a distributed sensor model such as PDCue’s provides more accurate reads, but that Ears has its own advantages.
“Physics dictates that a larger array with more sensors will get a better fix on the shooter,” Shaw explained. “If you want to get a better fix with more elements, that’s okay. When we built Ears, we specifically set out to build a smaller and lower powered system than anything out there.” Besides, he added, the accuracy that Ears offers, plus or minus 7.5 degrees, meets warfighter requirements.
A system that boasts a robotic element, as well as a few more bells and whistles than its cohorts, comes from iRobot and BioMimetic Systems (BMS). Dubbed RedOwl, the system’s robot listens autonomously for sniper fire. When incoming fire is detected, the robot turns toward the source and aims zoom optics and thermal optics laser illuminators on the target.
“The shooter is put in light that can be seen only through night vision equipment,” said Socrates Deligeorges, chief technology officer at BMS. “That way we can light up the shooter without him actually knowing it.”
BMS developed the detection system, which was incorporated into the iRobot product. The system relies on research originally conducted at Boston University, which allows the signal processors to mimic the functionality of human hearing.
“The difference between our system and other acoustic systems is that our specialized processing is based on the human neural system,” said Deligeorges. “It processes the signals the same way as the brain. This nontraditional method of processing allows our system to do things other systems can’t do, particularly in noisy environments.” The system has been acquired by the U.S. Navy for specialized missions, but has yet to be deployed.
A system originally developed as a proof of concept for the U.S. Marine Corps utilizes infrared detection to pinpoint the exact location of a sniper. “What you get right now with acoustic systems is a direction and maybe a distance for a shooter,” said Troy Tyre, a program manager at M2 Technologies Inc., the developer of the system. “But they can’t tell you he’s in this window of this building.”
One advantage of IR technology is that the sensor does not have to see a flash from as weapon nor hear the discharge of the round. “The bullet just has to pass through the sensor’s field of view,” said Tyre. The system calculates the exact GPS coordinates of the shooter’s location and displays those on a map. It is also equipped with a visual light camera, enabling users to see the potential target.
M2’s system was originally developed as a rapid prototype for the Marine Corps Systems Command, but the Marine Corps opted not to proceed with the system. The original version of the system was built to protect stationary positions such as checkpoints and forward operating bases and had a detection range of 200 meters.
Tyre is looking for further funding that would enable M2 to upgrade its prototype. Tyre envisions such an enhancement would offer the system in a smaller and lighter package and expand its range to 500 meters, and believes it would take the company 12 to 18 months to implement these further refinements. “Future versions of the system could also be vehicle or aerial-mounted,” he said.
Rafael’s Spotlite-P system incorporates electro-optical and infrared cameras with laser range finders to pinpoint the exact physical spot where a sniper is located. “The system actually provides users with a live picture of the sniper in the crosshairs so they can take him out,” said Haim Jacobovitz, vice president and general manager of the NCW sector at Rafael.
The system was first developed in response to threats that emerged during the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, when Palestinian gunmen in the village of Beit Jala trained their sights on targets in the Jerusalem neighborhood of Gilo. “A few samples of this system were used by U.S. troops in Afghanistan, and we received a very good letter of appreciation from those forces,” said Jacobovitz. “There are several European armies also using this system.”
Spotlight’s sensors detect the signature of the rifle flash. Sophisticated algorithms then process this signature to calculate the exact location of the sniper. The output is communicated to a command center where a single solider can then allocate targets among countersnipers. “The smart algorithms produce very few false alarms, even in an urban area, and a zero probability of detection,” said Jacobovitz.
Rafael also produces acoustic-based systems, which Jabobovtiz acknowledged aren’t suitable for some situations. “The tradeoff between infrared and acoustic is one of performance, range and price,” he explained.
Acoustic systems have longer ranges and are less expensive than Rafael’s EO-based system, but are less accurate in pinpointing a precise location for a shooter. “An electro-optical system is 10 times more accurate than acoustic-based systems,” claimed Jacobovitz. “For urban scenarios, the acoustic systems cannot deliver the goods which the EO systems can do easily.”
Acoustic systems, Jacobovitz suggested, are “good for operations in an open field, where collateral damage is not a fear if you shoot in the wrong place.”
QinetiQ’s Shaw said that his company’s acoustic based system has been validated in urban environments, where sounds can bounce off walls and travel through alleys. “Our system can sort through all that and come up with the location of the shooter in urban environments, open fields and mountainous terrains,” he said.
Sherman of Raytheon BBN said that Boomerang receives continual validation through its widespread use by the U.S. military. “The U.S. Army and Marine Corps continue to conduct independent tests to validate the system’s performance as gunshot detection moves towards a program of record,” he said.
“More importantly, the Boomerang team consistently receives validated user feedback from theater that supports the belief that this system saves lives and assists in carrying out their mission,” he added. “Soldiers, Marines and airmen have received a significant amount of new equipment since the two wars began and Boomerang has been one of the most widely requested pieces of new gear. We believe that this is true validation of the system. ♦
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Good work Phil. I had read about this stuff but thought it science fiction. Makes life tough for enemy snipers.
