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CBRNe
Winter 2008
WORLD
Continental Op
Quincy CB
The Third Man
Serbian, French, Dutch
and Korean CBRN
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Leader
Drugs – Just say NO!
It would be nice to suggest that Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato’s
Secretary General, and General John Craddock, Supreme
Allied Commander Europe, are such close readers of CBRNe
World magazine that they decided to increase the role of
Nato troops in Afghanistan to incorporate the counternarcotics (CN)mission (See CBRNe World Autumn 2008
p.49). Their announcement on 10 October stated: “At the
request of the Afghan government, I am grateful that the
North Atlantic Council has given me the authority to expand
ISAF’s role in counter narcotic operations.... It will allow us
to reduce the funding and income to insurgents which will
enhance force protection...” General John Craddock. The
devil, especially in counter narcotics, will be in the detail –
which is perilously spare at the moment. Afghanistan is a
very different proposition for CN operations. Usually you can
draw a thick line between drug manufacturers and terrorists;
in Afghanistan the local population is involved to such a
degree that that line is a dotted one – too much squeeze on
the agricultural worker will damage, rather than enhance,
force protection.
The grand strategic issue of counter narcotics is
(thankfully) outside the remit of this magazine. What
concerns us is the impact of the CN mission on CBRN
soldiers. The past quarter has seen me give two counternarcotics presentations, one at the CBRNe World conference
– CBRNe Convergence in Bucharest – and one at the CBRN
Commanders and Commandants conference – in Liberec,
Czech Republic. Both of those conferences, despite the
different audiences, saw the same result. The US and UK –
those nations that have either got some counter-narcotics
experience or will face the greatest challenge – paid attention
and (in a taste of his own medicine for the Editor) asked
searching and pointed questions. The other nations sat back,
and wondered quite what it had to do with them – they were
CBRN soldiers, and as such had nothing to do with CN ops.
The latter attitude is wrong, for a number of reasons. The
first is that it shows a complete lack of foresight and
planning. Counter narcotic ops are going to need soldiers
trained in Level A, armed with a variety of detectors able to
identify and classify chemicals so they can be stored safely
and handed off to the relevant contractor. Where the hell are
those skills and assets going to come from if not the CBRN
soldier? The previous attitude that treated CN ops as a
“might happen” is a luxury of the past. Saceur and Nato Sec
Gen have made it part of the mission in Afghanistan. Once
that pays dividends and terrorist funds start to diminish, this
mission is going to become more likely. The other major
reason is that this is an opportunity going begging. Too many
nations in Nato – and elsewhere – are still based on the old
“gallons of VX” threat, they have a small recce element
underpinned by a mammoth decon capability. How valid is
that capability now? How does it get adapted and stay
relevant? There is no doubt that it is needed, but it’s still
based on large armour formations – a currently obsolete
brand of warfighting. New Nato nations are usually the most
opportunistic: unable to compete in the tanks, planes and C4i
Nato now has the authority to be involved in the
CN mission in Afghanistan ©DoD
world, they have gained niche capabilities – search and
rescue, special forces or CBRN. Yet, largely, they have
modelled their CBRN response on the old elements of Nato.
The Germans and Czechs, the CBRN doyens of Nato, are
unprepared to engage with CN, they are have too much
conservatism and too many assets to manage a quick volte
face. But what of those nations that don’t? Slovakia, Slovenia,
Hungary, Estonia, Latvia – this mission is tailor-made for
them. It will require small,l well-equipped and -trained
teams; light and mobile, they will be able to have an
immediate impact on the Nato mission. Soon they will find
that their sensitive site exploitation skills are in demand with
other nations, the plaudits that they get on the battlefield
will gain them the appreciation – and probably the dollars –
of the US and they will have a hundred times the impact on
the battlefield of any decon company.
Are they stepping forward? No... We don’t do counter
narcotics, none of the other big nations do counter narcotics
– it’s difficult and messy and we don’t want to stand out...
The UK will also slump shoulders on the CN mission,
despite being lead nation for counter narcotics in Afghanistan.
It has rerolled large elements of the Joint CBRN Regiment
and denuded it of its command element – while extremely
capable at an individual level it is a spent force for the next 12
months. Inevitably, the US will have to stand up to take on
parts of the mission, with large parts of Afghanistan under its
control – and no-one else picking up the strain – there will be
little choice. But the US does not have the monopoly on good
ideas, and large organisations adapt to change very slowly.
Politically charged and divisive on the ground, what is needed
in Afghan CN ops is a Muslim Nato member that has a CBRN
capability – yet Turkey, who would be the obvious choice, will
be the least likely of all to take up that burden. Counter
narcotics missions will be a major shot in the arm for CBRN
forces, it will keep them relevant, funded and in the
Commander’s eye, yet no-one wants to take them up. Instead
they would rather concentrate on their decon forces. Change
is coming, and those that say yes to it first will gain the
advantages; those who say no will only lose.
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
1
Contents
1-5
Leader
Contents
News
32-39
Lab Rats:
CARA and Nato’s
laboratory capability
Paper Dragon:
French CBRN and the
defence white paper
CBRN Smurf:
CBIRF and their new
command
6-10 41-44
Myths and misses: The
fallacy of prevailing wind
Tale of two cities:
Ottowa and Toronto
fire service
46-50
11-13
Far off lands:
Serbian and ROK CBRN
14-21
Conference reviews:
Liberec, Bucharest and
Singapore
Transforming Fourier:
The explosion in fourier
technology
52-56
DATs the way to do it:
Nato’s CBRN defence
against terrorism
57-58
22-30
Published by Falcon
Communications
Limited
Business Development
Director
David Levitt
Editor
Gwyn Winfield
2
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
Art Director
Tony Denton
For Editorial
Tel: +44 (0) 7974 537 016
CBRNe World
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London
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Sub Editor
D.L. Shannon
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Contact Details
For Sales
Tel: +44 (0) 208 744 0860
Cell: +44 (0) 7769 554 051
Email
Web
gwyn.winfield@cbrneworld.com www.cbrneworld.com
david.levitt@cbrneworld.com You can now subscribe
online
www.cbrneworld.com
60-63
CBRN CSI:
CBRNE forensics in
the Netherlands
Protect and survive:
Nano-tubes, phase change,
Epidarm and QCM
65-77
Advertiser Index
Ahura Scientific
55
Argon Electronics
17
Avon Protection
55
Blucher
73
Bruker Daltonics
23
CBRNe World Convergence 09
CBRNe World Prints
36
Counter Terror Expo
20
DSEI
64
Dycor
24
Foster Miller
67
Genencor
Capability Profiles
78-89
Book review and
Crystal Ball
90-93
Dosimeter Roundup
and Prairie Dog
94-96
7
IFC, 11, 13, 15
General Dynamics ATP
43
General Dynamics Canada
51
Global Security Asia
45
Idaho technology
35
Intelagard
OBC, 47
Meridian
33
MSA
18
NBC Sys
73
Nutwell Logistics
77
OWR
27
Paul Boye
9
Proengin
31
Remploy Frontline
59
Smiths Detection
IBC
TSI Inc
75
Washington Security Group
61
Legal Niceties
Reproduction in whole, or part, of any content of CBRNe World, without prior permission, is strictly prohibited.
Any correspondence should be addressed to The Editor, CBRNe World. We acknowledge the assistance and hard
work of many individuals, associations and organisations who have contributed to this magazine. The information
published in this magazine has been published in good faith and the opinions contained in the article are those of the
author and not Falcon Communication Ltd. Photos are credited individually, non attributed articles are from the
CBRNe World archive. © Falcon Communication Ltd 2008
Front cover illustration courtesy of Dave Frewin.
www.cbrneworld.com
Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
3
CBRNews
PRODUCT WATCH
Indra launch CBRN arm
Indra, Spain’s largest defence company,
has decided to involve itself in the
CBRN market. They have launched a
R&D programme with projects in standoff detection, radiometers, field labs
and early-warning systems. They have
also launched their own CBRN recce
system, which has been developed for
Spain’s Civil Guard, a mobile lab for the
Spanish army, as well as their C4i
system. CBRN has always suffered (or
enjoyed, depending on your viewpoint)
from a shortage of major defence
players (Lockheed Martin being the
exception), so it will be interesting to
see how well Indra survives on the
small-fry contracts of the CBRNE world.
Sold!
Bruhn Newtech announced both new
owners and a new direction, when they
were bought in the middle of October.
A group of private investors, which
included the management team of
Bruhn, a software company called
Gatehouse, a piezosensor company
called Ryan Holdings and the IMK
private fund, have decided that they will
strengthen their C4i products and to
increase their share of the homeland
security market. This decision is to
bring their “solutions based on
experience and technological
leadership,” said their CEO, Jacob
Nielsen, yet presumably this will revolve
around their warning and reporting and
software systems. This is always going
to be a tougher market to crack. Nato,
with its A E/T P45, allows a certain
amount of framework that companies
can base their products on – and this
has been the basis of Bruhn’s military
success – but this is missing in civilian
requirements and will see Bruhn taking
on a far wider, and less specialised,
group of opponents.
As evidence of this new focus,
Bruhn announced their participation in
an EDS-primed project called
Firecontrol. This will see Bruhn get a
share of the £300 million contract to
provide their hazard prediction software
to the UK’s nine regional control
centres.
Smiths Detection News
Smiths announced that they would be
providing Advanced Air Cargo Security
Equipment for Lufthansa Cargo at all
of its 19 US airports. Lufthansa would
be deploying the Ionscan 500DT as an
explosive-trace detector. Lufthansa is
following directives set down by the
TSA to ensure that all cargo aircraft are
scanned. They also launched their
FirstView iSC3 (Intelligent Sensor
Command, Control and
Communication) platform for
controllable cameras and sensors at
critical infrastructure. Currently in use
by the DHS and DoD, it can integrate
legacy systems – CBRNE, Access
Control, Video, CCTV etc – to allow a
seamless security package. HPRID,
their High Performance Radio Isotope
Identifier, was also unveiled at the ASIS
show. HPRID allows the user to
differentiate between benign radiation
and “threat” radiation, even if the
latter is hidden behind a “hot” source
of the former.
In a busy month for Smiths, they
also launched their MMTD – Multi
Mode Threat Detector. MMTD is an
explosive, narcotics and chemical
detector that can also be used to
detect peroxide explosives and will
provide results in less than 10 seconds.
Finally, there was the launch of new
Sabre Centurion II, which allows CWA
and TICs detection. Centurion II is a
fixed-site IMS detector that can be
networked with up to 70 other sensors
and the FirstView system. Centurion II
is supposed to be easier to maintain
than its predecessor and comes with an
extended library. They also, finally,
announced a $6 million order from the
Transport Security Administration for
their IonScan 500DT explosive detector
for US airports. The IMS desktop device
was the first dual explosive detector to
be placed on the TSA’s Qualified
Products List.
Air cooled
Wl Gore launched their Active Cooling
vest, a two-layer ensemble that has air
pumped through the layers to lower
the thermal load. The air is cooled by
a 150W blower and offers 8.5 hours of
battery-powered cooling, and has a
low audio signature. The vest can be
integrated with other garments and
even worn under body armour.
The new series of ER!
Inficon have introduced their new
Hazmat ER VOC detector. Hazmat ER
now determines the correct sampling
distance to get high-quality results; it
also offers sample inlet options with
pre-installed operating methods and
also has a shorter run time and lower
consumable usage. They also
announced an order from DoD for an
additional $1.65 million worth of
their Hapsite chemical detectors. This
is part of their “Hot Swap”
programme that allows them to
maintain operational readiness of
Hapsite and Hapsite components in
the field.
©Inficon
MSA News
MSA launched two new products too.
The first was their Altair 5 multigas
detector, which also has a motionalert sensor fitted. The latter, when
enabled, allows a “man down” alarm
if there is no movement for more than
30 seconds, and has only three
buttons for ease of use with thick
gloves. Its miniature catalytic
combustion sensors will detect 100%
of combustible gases and its
electrochemical duo-tox hydrogen
sulphide/carbon monoxide sensor
also allows another sensor slot – such
as ammonia, chlorine, phosphine or
cyanide etc.
MSA also launched their AirHawk
II respirator, which is mainly for
industrial applications, but is a lowcost product with the option of using
advanced features such as twin
Advantage canisters and an audible
end-of-service-time indicator.
Tide is high
Veritide announced their new
handheld biological detector – a new
company and information can be
found on www.veritide.com. Their
”Ceeker” uses non-invasive UV light
and detection algorithms to identify
bacterial spores. Developed to deal
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
4
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
www.cbrneworld.com
with white-powder threats, it already
detects anthrax and the team are
hoping to adapt it to detect
botulinum toxin and ricin.
Tex appeal
Bluecher, manufacturers of Saratoga,
announced that they had bought the
semi-permeable membrane company
Texplorer. This will give them feet in
both the SPM and carbon markets (if
they can get an impermeable suit
then they would have the unique
ability to have a ”foot” in three
markets!) and will give them an
indomitable position in the future
soldier (IDZ) project in Germany.
Valour – IT
Previously we have given
recommendations on other charities,
and CBRNe World would like to offer a
similar recommendation for Project
Valour IT (http://soldiersangels.org/
index.php?page=project-valour-it).
Project Valour IT produces voicecontrolled laptops to soldiers that
have had hand/arm wounds or other
serious injuries. Considering how
many casualties of the sort are
caused by IEDs we would recommend
that people dig deep. The problem is
not going to go away.
THREAT WATCH
Chemical Tiger?..
There is no doubt that government
forces in Sri Lanka have put the LTTE,
or Tamil Tigers, under extreme
pressure and that this might bring an
end to conventional military
operations. As a result of this
pressure, the Sri Lanka Daily Star has
quoted army sources stating that the
Tamil Tigers have launched “poisonous
gas attacks” to try to retard the army’s
offensive. The same sources suggested
that this “poisonous gas” had been a
riot-control agent, which the troops
had withstood. LTTE sources have been
promising gas attacks, and doomsday
weapons, on government forces for the
last 18 months and we hope that this,
if true, is the limit of them.
Porton’s away-days
Brigadier Chip Chapman, Director of
Counter Terrorism and UK Ops, told
the UK’s House of Commons Defence
Committee that Porton’s Immediate
Response Teams had been called out
“a number of times”. Quite what this
number was, and under what
circumstances, he was not able to
confirm for “security reasons.” Lord
West, the security minister, said that
he didn’t know where all the troops
that could be deployed on operations
were, but was sure that he could
“straight away” if needed in an
emergency. He also stated that he
didn’t know how many hospital beds
would be made available for a masscasualty event – but that the
Department of Health would know.
Wonderful old “muddle through”
Britain. Sadly the Committee didn’t
ask what these military troops were
going to do and whether they were
suitably trained, neither was Lord West
asked how many intensive-care beds or
isolation wards there were or even
what would happen to all the previous
owners of those beds. “Make Do and
Mend” shall be our watchword...
Going down?
Mafalec, a French company involved in
the manufacture of lift buttons,
sparked a national scare after 600 Otis
lifts were refurbished with new cobalt
60 buttons! The cobalt is alleged to
have been part of a shipment of
contaminated material from India and
20, out of 30, workers at the plant
were found to have radiation higher
than legal safe limits. I wonder how
many ports with radiation detectors
those buttons went through...?
Number Two!
South Korea became the second
possessor state to destroy its stockpile
of chemical munitions in October.
Albania was the first, and now South
Korea is leaving India, Libya, the US
and Russia in its wake. Admittedly
Albania destroyed 16 tons, and South
Korea a little over 3,000 tons
(compared to stockpiles in Russia,
40,000, and the USA, 31,000), but
this is still a major feather in OPCW’s
cap and a real benefit to the region. It
will certainly put increased pressure on
North Korea to follow suit – or at least
to do something positive!
Meanwhile the OPCW announced
that Russia had destroyed 30% of its
CWA, Russia claimed that it was “the
highest among other states”. The
USA’s comments on this last claim
were not recorded.
Dead Man’s Chest
Whatever was in the ship MV Iran
Deyanat, it was certainly not pieces of
eight. What is known is that the ship
was captured by Somali pirates on 21
August and unloaded in Rotterdam, via
Oman, on 11 November. The bit in the
middle seems to be a froth of theories.
Certainly one of the most popular is
that there was radioactive sand sold to
the Iranians by the Chinese, with the
plot uncovered by Russian media. My
word Moneypenny! This sand was to be
exploded once exiting the Suez Canal,
thus covering Israeli cities with
radioactive material. Apart from the
probity of the Russian media, the
other “confirmatory” factor was the
“fact” that 16 Somali pirates died –
after hair loss – following their opening
of sealed drums in the hold. These
“facts” were touted by Puntland’s
Minister of Materials and an online
blog quoting unnamed sources. Lloyd’s
List however denied, according to the
Charterer, that any pirates fell ill and
that the Deyanat unloaded food and
minerals. Clearly there could be no
Intelligence agency at work suggesting
that Iran, with China’s help, might be
about to attack Israel with radioactive
sand. While there might be something
murky going on, it is more likely to be
black propaganda.
If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck…
The IAEA said that the building in Syria
bombed by the Israelis in September
had features resembling those of a
nuclear reactor. While they suggested
that the al-Kibar site could have been
used for other, non-nuclear, purposes,
it was difficult to ascertain as the
Syrians had now built on top of the
site and were denying any more
investigative trips – clearly a sign of
innocence! Syria has also not produced
the documentation that the IAEA has
requested (still waiting for the ink to
dry no doubt), but it appears that the
uranium found at the site was not used
in weapons’ production. Since the site
was not operational, this is not a
surprise, and Syrian agencies have
suggested, and common sense avers,
that the radiation came from the type
of munition released by the Israeli air
force (some form of bunker buster
with DU elements would seem likely).
The IAEA is still asking for
transparency from all parties involved,
but this can only be seen as a vote for
military action and against the IAEA.
The system works...
A Texas man, Jeffrey Detrixhe, pleaded
guilty, and faces 25 years in prison for
trying to sell a 25-gallon drum of
sodium cyanide. What Detrixhe didn’t
know was that he was selling it to a
FBI agent – along with a thermal
imager and assault rifle (surely no
good Texan could be without an
assault rifle?) – for $10,000. This is
good news all round. We hope the
message will go out to all the various
nuts and criminals who are trying to
make a buck out of “WMD” that there
is a good chance of getting caught.
Next stop the Hague ©CBRNe World
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
5
CBRNeWORLD
Lieutenant Colonel Xavier Lefebvre, Commanding Officer of the
French Dragon Regiment, explains to Gwyn Winfield how
the new White Paper on defence will impact on his command
Thanks to the new Defence White paper CBRN defence in France is
likely to become much better ©CBRNe World
Paper
Dragon
It is very easy to be blasé about defence
White Papers: they tend to appear in one
country or another with depressing
regularity, often offering a bland
repetition of well understood facts and at
such a grand strategic level that CBRN is
not even considered. The French White
Paper that came out in the Summer this
year confounded both expectations,
outlining a cut of 50,000 defence jobs
and putting CBRN defence right at the
core of the French MoD’s mission set.
President Sarkozy instigated some of the
broadest changes in the French MoD for
a generation, and far from CBRN being
the love child of NBC (No Body Cares) it
has become the prodigal son.
While France has promised an
increase in the military budget in 2012,
it is lean times for most of the French
armed forces – with the exception of
ISTAR (Information, Surveillance, Target
Acquisition and Radar) assets which will
be expanded for their Intelligence role.
While CBRN might not be at the same
level, the fact remains that it is only one
of two army branches that will be
expanded. As Lieutenant Colonel
Lefebvre explained, “The White Paper was
fundamentally a funding document. It
highlighted the need for Intelligence, but
also identified the threat and risk of
CBRN as one of the two major challenges
that needed to be dealt with – and this
was the first time it was recognised as
such. President Sarkozy on 17 June
mentioned that the terrorism, including
the use of CBRN, was the most likely
threat, particularly for the national
mission. He commented on the
proliferation of WMD and also
highlighted the problems of TICs and
environmental health hazards – but also
pandemics. This was interesting as the
White Paper is all about the global
approach, spanning both defence and
homeland security. The consequences of
that for the Regiment was that CBRN
defence is going to be part of the effort to
improve homeland capability and it
confirmed the expected expansion of the
Regiment. After the White Book and the
Reform of the Armed Forces – that
happened on 24 July – there were some
capabilities that would be preserved
(infantry), some that would be reduced
(armour, artillery, engineers, antiaircraft) and two capabilities that would
be reinforced (Intelligence and CBRN).
As far as the Regiment is concerned the
growth that I spoke about in March [See
CBRNe World Spring 2008] has been
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
6
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
www.cbrneworld.com
First Notification
CBRNe Convergence: 28 – 30 October 2009
More information available on www.cbrneworld.com
CBRNe
CONVERGENCE
Growing closer, staying distinct: merging civilian and military
response to CBRN and IED threats
2nd Annual CBRNe World Conference and Exhibition
28-30 October 2009,World Forum Centre, Johan de Witlaan,The Hague, Netherlands
The Hague is the “City of Peace, Justice and Security,” as well
as being home to the International Criminal Court, the
Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons
(OPCW)and Europol; a host of other international and
European organisations make The Hague their home. It comes
as no great surprise then that CBRNe World has chosen The
Hague as the venue of their next CBRNe Convergence
conference.The first conference was a great success (see
pages 22-27) and as Major General Steve Reeves, Joint
Program Executive Officer for Chemical and Biological
Defence in the US, stated in Bucharest, “The notion of
convergence has been around for a while, but to my
knowledge this is the first time that there has been a
conference to address it.”
The Netherlands is an obvious choice for a CBRNE
conference.The Dutch have a number of excellent ideas and
their work on civil-military cooperation in homeland defence
epitomises much of what CBRNe convergence is all about
(more information can be found on pages 60-63 and the
Spring 2008 edition of CBRNe World).The conference will again
host sessions on the challenges that face responders and
agencies worldwide – forensics, bio detection, IEDs, counter
narcotics, decontamination and protection – and will be a
streamed event to allow you to maximise the benefits to your
organisation. As with the previous event, these speakers will be
picked individually by Gwyn Winfield, editor of CBRNe World, to
represent the best thinking and developments in CBRN.
CBRNe Convergence 2008 had the largest exhibition of
CBRNE equipment in Europe this year, and we feel confident
that 2009 will deserve the same accolade.This will give you a
chance to see the latest technology in the market and gauge
your needs for the next five to ten years.The conference will
also run a spouses’ programme and a third day of events and
workshops is currently under negotiation.
Register now for the Early Bird discount on
www.cbrneworld.com, and check the site for regular
programme and exhibition updates.
2nd Annual CBRNe World Conference and Exhibition
CBRNe Convergence: 28 – 30 October 2009,The Hague, Netherlands
www.cbrneworld.com
CBRNeWORLD
Paper Dragon
confirmed. The announcement stated
that the Regiment would get their
additional decon Squadron, would
reinforce their light role teams up to 12
and would have our new Detect Bio
system. We currently already share one
bio detection system with the air force,
the EFABT, Theatre Bio Alert. This
system is not identical to Detect Bio, it is
an earlier incarnation; but it is similar
enough to allow us to train on it with the
air force. In the middle of 2009 we will
have a new decon facility, which will
allow us to train with different decon
solutions. It has been brought forward
from 2010 because of funds made
available by the reform, as has the new
squadron’s building. All the new
infrastructure on the Regiment’s base
will be completed by 2010.”
Like many countries, the French
MoD had provision to provide forces for
civilian authorities if requested. Under
the Vigipirate security system, created in
1978, there was a mechanism for
military aid to a civilian authority, but
this had never been fully explored.
Despite this, the French MoD has
perversely close links with first
responders. Like the US Coast Guard,
units such as the Paris Fire Brigade
belong to the engineers and the
Gendarmerie (who are under military
control and are responsible for
approximately half of France’s national
territory – those areas with a population
under 10,000). This provides them with a
large amount of strategic, if not tactical,
linkage. The White Paper has decided to
drive these strategic links down to the
operational level, and this will provide
France with an integrated national CBRN
defence system.
“The White Paper also had an impact
on non-military defence forces though,”
Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre continued,
“so all first responders, fire and civil
security units [that belong to the
Ministry of Defence] will have increased
CBRN capability. Areas outside MoD
control – such as hospitals in each
regional department – will have a new
decon capability, and there will also be a
recce capability for [civilian] fire assets.
Hospitals will also get a new pre-hospital
decon system. This will be rolled out in
the Western Administrative region first
[which the Regiment in Fontevraud
inhabits], but all hospitals will have this
capability. The Regiment will continue to
contribute to national security and will
work at exchanging experience with
civilian units; we will contribute to
exercises, as we did at Rennes recently,
and police and Gendarmerie will be
equipped with CBRN protection, allowing
them to operate under CBRN conditions.
The mission of the Regiment won’t
change, however. Our primary mission
will remain the deployed support mission
and the second mission will be in
support of the civilian population –
including the national theatre. So while
it doesn’t change we do have unique
capabilities that the civilians don’t have –
heavy decon for vehicles and
infrastructure, for example. And we will
support the first responders when they
get exhausted or overwhelmed. It is
estimated that after 12 hours the fire
fighters would need to be relieved.”
Personally, I think these
developments are hugely important for
French national CBRN defence.
Previously I have criticised the French
national CBRN defence system as too
little and relying on pockets of excellence
– such as Paris and Marseille. But
improving the equipment and also the
training (according to the White Paper a
new joint civil/military CBRN training
school is likely to be created) will bring
France up to the level that the threat
demands. What is surprising is that this
is happening at a time of constriction
within the French army, and it is a sign
of the political support this has that
traditional favourites – such as engineers
and cavalry – have been eclipsed by the
CBRN soldier.
Wider political integration has also
been at the heart of the White Paper, as
Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre explained:
“We are also to improve our
interoperability with civilian response
organisations at the administrative zone
Level. A military defence zone staff
(MOD) is already co-located within the
admin zone staff (MOI), so there would
be a joint military-civilian staff at the
zone level. At an incident there is an
Event Director, who is be a civilian, and
military units must be able to operate
under his directions; so we need the
communication and information systems
(CIS) and procedures to allow this. We
already cooperate with fire assets, but
this will improve throughout the whole
territory. The Regiment is already ahead
of the curve in this respect, but the
White Paper is going to force the rest of
the army to be more interoperable. And
this will also be the task of the civilians;
it has to work at both ends. Wherever a
military unit is deployed on national
territory it will be under military
operational command, but civilian
tactical command. The White Paper
outlines that there must be 10,000
people dedicated to homeland security.
But this is a capability rather than a
designated unit – so it will be composed
of Infantry, Intelligence, CBRN etc. This
is new. Previously there was contingency
under the VigiPirate plan for this, but it
had never been clearly established. This
now needs to be taken into account and
we must ensure that we are
interoperable. It is not just the civilian
mission that has been outlined, the
operational contract of the army is the
ability to send 30,000 troops on one
major operations out to a maximum
distance of 7/8,000 km. Our Regiment is
sized to be able to support this force of
30,000, but also has to be able to provide
the capability to contribute to supporting
a high-readiness force of 5,000. We will
be sized, equipped and trained to fulfil
both missions at the same time.”
Training is another major change
enshrined in the White Paper. Previously
the School was based in Draguignan, in
the South of France, while the CBRN
regiment is based in Fontevraud in the
North. Now the two bases are going to be
brought far closer together, with the
School being based at Saumur –
approximately 10 miles from Fontevraud.
Saumur has had a long history in the
French military, being the historical
home of cavalry training, and will now
generate benefits to France’s CBRN
defence – at home and away. “The centre
at Saumur currently has armoured
cavalry and intelligence education and
training centres (or, to give them their
French acronyms, EA ABC and CEERAT,
respectively). The NBC defence schools
will join them next year and in
2011/2012 will be joined by the Junior
Staff Officers College (EEM), which is
currently in Compiegne – 60 km north
east of Paris. This facility educates army
captains and is mandatory education
before becoming a senior officer. So
eventually there will be four schools in
Saumur, and all of them and the Dragon
Regiment will have common support – a
land defence base – and be one of the 90
defence bases of the armed forces. All 90
of them will share support assets, from
2010, so this will mean that the
Regiment will just be the deployable
part. All the base logistics the Regiment
currently has will be placed in this pool.
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CBRNeWORLD
Paper Dragon
This will be the same principle for all
army regiments; all non-deployable parts
will be shared in the Defence Base
Support Group.”
As is often the case, the School and
the CBRN regiment have close ties, and
Lieutenant Colonel Lefebvre outlined
some of the advantages that having the
two closer together would bring. “This
will create a CBRN centre of excellence.
The NBC Defence Centre is not just for
the Regiment though – that only makes
up about 25% of the school’s output –
but it will have the advantage, for
example, of bringing the new training
and education facility for the VAB [the
French equivalent of the Fuchs/Fox
Recce Vehicle] – which is currently in
Draguignan – much closer and allow us
to vastly improve our VAB training; but
this will be one of the last elements to
join the centre. Their proximity will also
allow us to train in their lab, which is
where we can use Yperite and bio
simulant, and that will be a big benefit,
as opposed to having to send people
1,000 km to the south. Currently we
have two VAB and two decon assets
deployed at the School for training
purposes, and this will mean that they
will be much more available if we need
them. It will also allow us to send troops
to train more frequently – officers and
NCOs. It will be more convenient for
both, it will allow them to improve the
quality and content of courses and
education; we will have direct contact
with instructors, and this will benefit
both sides as it will allow a more fluid
exchange of ideas. It will be the same for
the doctrine side. So for field manuals for
the Regiment, which they do –
implementation of recce platoons, for
example – they will now have a
permanent contact with us.”
As with many White Papers much of
the funding comes out of the cost
savings, and the rationalisation of the
force and the army bases is going to
provide a great deal of the increase.
Some of the increase will also come from
the new support mechanism that the
Colonel mentioned, where the only
troops under Lieutenant Colonel’s
Lefebvre’s command will be the
deployable part. Everything else would be
shared amongst the new, smaller number
of bases. This would seem to be a
negative, forcing an increased amount of
operational imperative down to the
lowest level, yet the CO suggested that in
many respects it would be a good thing.
“As a regiment commander it will allow
me to focus on operational issues, far
more than I can do now. It is difficult to
say quite how much impact it will have
as it is only a concept at the moment.
We will have to be careful about the link
with the Defence Base Support Group.
Feeding, non military vehicles, clothing,
human resources and budgeting will be
taken out of my hands, except for
training. It will allow us to be more
active, currently 75% of my time is
taken up on human resources – though
I will still have the responsibility to
manage and nurture my men – and that
will still take up a majority of my time
on a daily basis.”
There is no doubt that all of this will
be a major shot in the arm for French
CBRN and it could well see France
becoming the leading nation on the
Eastern Atlantic for CBRN (since the UK
seems dead set on imploding its
capability). The fact that its CBRN
soldiers now have a defined role in
homeland security is also a major
advantage and one that will be
compounded by the location of the Army
NBC Defence School. By the time the
last elements of the School are in place
the strengths, and weaknesses, of the
new shared support system should have
become apparent and it will be
interesting to see how French CBRN
defence in general, and the Dragon
Regiment in particular, develop the
advantages from this White Paper.
This is not very clear yet. Its is
understood as an apart training center
dedicated to the improvement of the
interoperability between MOD and
MOI. The possibility of a merging
process for the services’ own centers is
still under study.
The increase in the Regiment's decon troops was confirmed by the White Paper
©CBRNe World
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In this first of four articles,
Lieutenant-Colonel Rick Barker dispels some
common misconceptions about CBRN Defence
Myths and
Misses
Perhaps the most common and
potentially dangerous ‘miss’ that I
encounter is hearing someone say
that they will place their sensors
upwind of the protected area. The
problem here is that they base
‘upwind’ on the prevailing winds of
the region in question. Prevailing
winds are useful for orienting
runways and deciding which side of
your house to plant trees on, but of
much less utility when establishing
CBRN protection.
Thanks to such factors as the
rotation of the earth and the
temperature difference between the
equator and the poles, high-altitude
winds in the northern hemisphere
tend to be northwesterly. Due to
friction between these winds and the
earth’s surface, winds at and near
ground level tend to follow suit. Sure
enough, most runways are aligned
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Learn more at...
Having entered the CBRN business six years ago after 29 years of
diversified military assignments, I have noticed a number of widely
held beliefs that prior experience tells me are off-target. This and
subsequent articles will examine a number of misconceptions and offer
suggestions to contribute to the efficiency of CBRN defence.
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The Winds of Change
CBRNeWORLD
The Winds of Change
along headings from westerly to
northwesterly.
Of course, a runway that faces west
also faces east and while aircraft might
most often land on a westerly heading,
when bad weather approaches, the
associated frontal passage often causes
the surface wind to swing to the east,
forcing a 180 degree turnabout for
landing and departing aircraft.
The dusk to dawn hours normally
bring a cooling effect to the layer of air
closest to the surface, particularly when
a clear sky allows radiation cooling.
Because of this inversion (the air at
ground level is cooler than that above),
air at the surface does not rise and mix
with air and winds at higher levels and
does not ‘borrow’ their kinetic energy.
The result is that winds in the hours of
twilight and darkness are often light
and variable, meaning that they are
below 5 mph (8 km/h) and subject to
frequent directional changes.
Cloud cover, surface heating,
proximity of bodies of water, frontal
passages and other factors can also
affect the direction and magnitude of
surface winds. The figure right is a
simplified but typical rendition of a
wind rose that aviation authorities
use to plot winds at airports. The
longer lines radiating outwards from
the centre represent a greater
incidence of winds from the direction
that they represent. This diagram
shows a typical European or North
American plot with a predominance
of westerly and northwesterly winds,
but also a significant occurrence of
winds from all directions and notably
from the east.
The folly of concentrating sensors
along the NW-SW arc should be
apparent at this point. Similarly,
programming standoff sensors to scan
primarily in this direction could have
unfortunate consequences if they cannot
react promptly to a directional change.
If sensors abound, manpower is
readily available, and significant
changes in wind direction can be noted
in real time, then detectors can be
moved and standoff sensors can be
reprogrammed in response to a
directional shift.
Unfortunately, these conditions
rarely reflect reality. Biological sensors,
in particular, are expensive and thus
few in number, and not easily moved.
Having a team of workers standing by
to rapidly shift sensors around a typical
two-mile (3 km) perimeter, over
varying terrain, is a luxury that few can
afford. Changing locations also
requires reconnections to the sensor
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generally have them working in
tandem; this allows one sensor to
concentrate on an arc corresponding to
the prevailing wind and the other to
conduct a continuous 360 degree sweep
of the area. In this arrangement,
adaptations could be effected with
minimal urgency.
This overall situation argues
strongly in favour of a system of layered
defences: a perimeter array of point
detectors, additional fixed sensors within
the perimeter to guard against releases
that evade the perimeter (as in delivery
by indirect fire), and a complementary
sub-system of standoff detection.
The last bit of good news is that
costs continue to come down as new
systems leave the R&D world and find
their ways into the marketplace.
Biological sensors are cheaper and
smaller, and operationally ready
standoff detectors will soon be ready for
purchase. In the meantime, the myth
of the directionally stable prevailing
wind is one that planners and defenders
should be aware of.
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network, and calculation and
inputting of the new location of each
transplanted sensor.
Further, this less-than-ideal
solution accommodates only a
relatively stable change in wind
direction. When winds are light and
variable, changes could be continuous
over many hours and reaction would be
next to impossible. The good news is
that conditions of light winds would
allow for more warning before the
release reaches the protected area.
The bad news is that the only
apparent solution to all situations is
to field more sensors, providing
complete 360-degree coverage. This
is not financially attractive but is
better than having to explain why an
already expensive protective system
was not able to provide warning
when it was needed.
Standoff detectors would normally
be fixed in central, protected locations
and operators would have to adapt their
arcs of scan to any new wind direction.
Concepts of use for standoff sensors
CBRNeWORLD
©Serbian MoD
The CBRN Country
that came in
from the Cold
Lieutenant Colonel Ivan Lazarevic presented to CBRNe World details
on Serbia’s current and future plans for CBRN defence
There is a direct correlation between
those countries that have used, or
suffered, CBRN weapons and modern
competence. The UK, and, because of
the special connections, Canada and
Australia, Germany, the US, France and
Italy all have their roots in their
chemical weapon experience – their
experience of the offensive side of the
game allowed them to develop their
defensive capability faster. Serbia is a
late entrant into the same field. Ever
since the late 1950s Yugoslavia, as was,
was producing chemical agents in
Mostar, while Croatia and Montenegro
also have some of this legacy. Serbia,
like the Czech Republic, seemed to
inherit the lion’s share of CBRN when
their respective countries were created.
Unlike the Czech Republic, however,
Serbia did not see independence as a
time to stop its involvement in any
offensive weapons programmes, instead,
it is suggested the Allied air campaigns
in 1999 provided the full stop.
Yet the Serbian Republic is a very
different country than it was in 1999. It
has worked hard to be recognised as a
potential EU member, while it became a
Partnership for Peace country within
Nato in 1996 and it wasn’t until the
arrest and removal to the Hague of
Radovan Karadzic in July 2008 that
there was an increase in international
warmth towards Serbia. Serbia should
be a good port of call for any CBRN
nation interested in furthering its own
defence, if only in the beating swords
into ploughshares mould – but there is
also a lot of experience that Serbia has
that is useful. Serbia is now a fully
signed-up member to the CWC (and
more on their relationship with OPCW
later) and, as such, has dismantled all
its toxic production plants, it has
decontaminated the south of Serbia that
was contaminated with depleted
Uranium rounds (DU) and it has also
gone through a transformational
process for its armed forces.
It is the legacy of Serbia’s NBC
experience that makes it an interesting
partner, however. The NBC Training
Centre at Krusevac is now being offered
to other nations as a training facility
and has aspirations to become the
Regional Chemical Defence Training
Centre for all south-eastern European
countries. Krusevac already trains to a
high standard its own NBC officers and
soldiers, it has its own radiological and
chemical lab, the ability to do modular
courses and there is also a 96-hectare
training facility with the ability to do
limited live-agent training. Serbia has
already offered the facility to OPCW and
personnel from North African countries
for training purposes and been
accepted. Serbia is expected to provide
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CBRNeWORLD
The CBRN Country that came in from the Cold
three training courses for OPCW
inspectors and two courses for the
North African states. The latter courses
are provided under OPCW auspices,
funded by the EU, and are an attempt
to provide some form of training for
North African first responders to be
able to deal with a CBRN attack on
their homeland.
This outreach is not the only
international activity that Serbian NBC
forces are involved in. As well as
attending the Joint CBRN Commanders
and Commandants Conference in
Liberec in October 2008, Serbian CBRN
soldiers have travelled to Rieti and
Civitavecchia (Italy), Romania and have
been visited by the Germans, US,
Romanians and OPCW. It is all part of
the modernisation programme, to share
the experience and training of other
nations and to try and promote the
experience that Serbia has. This
modernisation is not just on the world
stage, they are also practising it closer
to home. Like many comparable forces
they are currently drawing down on
numbers and the amount of NBC
defence battalions is being cut to two –
the Training Centre and the 246 NBC
Defence Battalion. Serbia has also
disbanded NBC defence as a separate
arm, incorporating it as a general
purpose service and removing the
administrative chain of command.
What is left might be smaller, but
investment has been poured in to
improve capabilities. So they have
invested in new chemical detectors –
LCD, CAM2 and Raid M – new radiac
detectors – SOR/R, AN/PDR77, Digi
Dart MCA and RDS200; they are also
looking to update their recce vehicles
and decon capability.
One different capability that the
Serbians have is the ability to train with
less-than-lethal devices – particularly
non-lethal chemical weapons, such as
CS, CR and OC. As opposed to many
countries that disdain research in this,
perhaps because of Serbia’s history with
agents such as BZ, they have an active
programme looking at new effects for
temporary disablement, new (nonprohibited) chemicals for disablement
and new delivery devices – such as a
multi-calibre chemical-device launcher,
their ‘Non Lethal NBC Gas Gun.’ The
Training Centre regularly trains Serbian
police in the use of such devices and is
keen to offer itself to other nations that
have a similar need.
Disregarding the politics of the
situation, Serbia certainly has a need for
a strong CBRN defence. Relations
between Serbia and Kosovo are not
good, and Kosovo is not too far from
“failed state” status and, with means
and the will, a non-conventional attack
would not be out of the question. With
this in mind the Training Centre has
undertaken to train the civilian forces
and also to integrate military forces into
the civilian structure to help risk assess
home industry. The Training Centre is
looking to expand and has asked the EU,
and other interested states, for funding.
The figures are fairly small – €90,000
for the construction and refurbishment
of accommodation – down to €10,000
for modernisation of the labs, but there
will be an opportunity missed if the
investment isn’t there. Nato and the EU
stands a good chance of reaping some
benefits out of the old offensive
programme. The levels of training,
experience and research, are still there
– but as the individuals age so does the
opportunity. The improvement in
quality of equipment and training that
has been invested will only be of
benefit to Europe, and potentially to
the wider world through the OPCW. As
long as the political thaw continues, it
will be nice to see Serbia welcomed
back into the warm.
Serbia is reaching out to countries such as America, Romania and the Germans ©Serbian MoD
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Lieutenant Colonel Nate Michaels, CBRN Officer for the
8th Army in Seoul South Korea, tells CBRNe World about how they
are preparing for the high-intensity NBC conflict.
The land that
CBRN forgot
CW: Can you give us an idea of what is
the role of US Army chemical soldiers
in Korea? South Korea (or Republic of
Korea, ROK) still faces a Cold Warstyle opponent in the shape of North
Korea – which is expected to still have
traditional Chemical Warfare Agents
(CWA)and their delivery mechanisms –
artillery delivery of thousands of
gallons of agent. Is it this still the
case, a throwback to Korean war
models or has it been updated?
NM: A lot has happened since the
Korean War! Our equipment and quality
of Soldiers has improved significantly
but more notably, CBRN Soldiers
assigned to Korea are prepared to fight
and win in a chemical environment if
called upon on the Korean Peninsula.
CBRN Soldier’s roles and
responsibilities in Korea vary from a
Battery CBRN Room Specialist in an
Artillery Battalion, a Decon Squad
Leader of a Heavy Decon Platoon in 4th
Chemical Company, to a Special Staff
Officer on a Heavy Brigade Combat
Team (HBCT) staff. No matter what
position they hold, they are considered
the CBRN experts and advise
Commanders at all levels.
The ROK CBRN Defense capabilities
have rapidly matured over the past 20
years and have markedly reduced their
tactical and operational dependence on
the United States. Consequently, U.S.
Army CBRN Soldiers stationed in Korea
in 2008 play a significantly greater roll
in facilitating the development of ROK
Combating WMD policies, technologies
and theatre strategic capabilities then
they did just 5 years ago. The ROK/U.S.
alliance has benefited enormously from
the transformation taking place within
the U.S. CBRNE community and is
adopting many of the concepts the U.S.
Army has validated during the Global
Old-fashioned decon the Korean way! ©DoD
War on Terrorism. The GWOT has
forced CBRN Soldiers to think
differently about Combating WMD, and
our new, more multi-dimensional way
of thinking applies surprisingly well to
the Cold War threats we face while
stationed in the ROK .
CW: While that is the overview, are you
still looking at the Cold War threat,
gallons of CWA, rather than the CBRN
threat, which spans biological and
radiological agents, as well as toxic
industrial chemicals etc.
NM: Yes, we are probably the last
theatre that still fights the highintensity conflict. The last time it was
topical was prior to the Berlin Wall
coming down in 1989 and the Soviet
Union existed. Here we are still fighting
the traditional, generation one agents,
while defending against it in a
conventional Chemical Corp way: Large
Area Chemical Reconnaissance and
Heavy Decontamination. It is much
standardised and, while not necessarily
“old school”, it is the way that we have
traditionally been trained.
CW: In that way you are probably in
dissonance with the rest of the US
military, who have moved on from that
threat. How do you ensure that your
mission remains catered for, that new
TTPs for dealing with CWA are devised
in the same way threats in OIF and
OEF are – dealing with chlorine, for
example? How do you ensure that
equipment and training for your
mission is given equal priority?
NM: There is constant exchange
between 8th Army, USFK, the ROK, 2ID
(Second Infantry Division) and the
CBRN School for updated and relevant
TTPs and equipment. The threat from
North Korean WMDs is different than
the threat our Soldiers are facing in
Iraq and Afghanistan, but no less
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19
Countering the Global Threat
● Unique, dedicated exhibition
of companies showcasing
specialist security technologies
and solutions
● High-level conference with
multiple streams featuring
over 50 leading international
speakers
● Comprehensive programme
of 30 free to attend
technology Workshops
● Live technology and practical
demonstrations
● Networking Functions
For more information on visiting the
exhibition or attending the conference
please contact: Nicola Greenaway
Tel: + 44 (0) 208 542 9090 or
Fax: + 44 (0) 208 542 9191 or
email: ngreenaway@niche-events.com
w w w. co u nt e r t e r ro rex p o. co m
relevant to the U.S. Army. Soldiers
assigned to the Republic of Korea train
to defend against what the U.S. would
consider a very traditional WMD threat
from North Korea. For first term CBRN
Soldiers, the training we provide
establishes a solid baseline
understanding of CBRN Defence
Principles. We stay relevant and
updated against non-standard
precursors by receiving additional
training, such as the hazmat training
that is being taught at the CBRN
School in Fort Leonard Wood and cross
training with the installation fire
departments. Additionally, as CBRN
Soldiers rotate into the Korean Theatre
of Operation (KTO) from CONUS based
units, they bring valuable skills they
have learned elsewhere.
CW:In light of the Army’s
transformation plan, has the latest
CBRNE Defense Equipment been
fielded to the Korean Theatre of
Operation at the same rate as
elsewhere in the world?
NM: I would suggest that Kim Jung Il is
not the only world leader who presides
over enormous stockpiles of Chemical
and Biological weapons. Despite its
limited application in Iraq and
Afghanistan the development and
procurement of the Nuclear Biological
and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle
(NBCRV) and its modifications to be a
useful enabler, is an indication that the
Army has an enduring and healthy
concern for any number of countries
who possess the ability to create large
areas of gross contamination using
rockets, missiles and artillery. Our ability
to think beyond the current conflict will
continue to serve our Army and our
allies well.
Joint Program Managers are
receptive to our specific theatre
requirements, which allow us to leverage
emerging technologies that may apply
uniquely to threats in the KTO. As an
example, Heavy Decontamination and
Wheeled Reconnaissance remain relevant
CBRN Defense missions in the KTO. As a
result, Program Managers are eager to
establish test bed relationships to further
develop and enhance the systems that
support these missions.
CW: In terms of your role on the
Korean peninsula, are you there to be a
large-scale liaison point for ROK
CBRN forces, to provide a specific
capability (such as bio detection), to
have a role in Korean homeland
security, or just to provide CBRN
defence to US assets?
NM: Our relationship with ROK forces
is very strong; our Chemical Company
routinely trains side by side with the
ROK Chemical Companies and
Battalions exchanging Decon and Recon
TTPs. The CBRN Cell Staff members at
Brigade, Division, and Army level
frequently conduct CPX (Command
Post Exercises) with our ROK
counterparts These CPXs exercise the
ROK and US CBRN Cells since there is a
great deal of Chemical and Biological
scenarios injected. Moreover, side by
side on a daily basis are the Korean
Augmentation to the US Army (called
KATUSAs) – these KATUSA Soldiers are
with us 24/7 for two years at a time. I
have two CBRN KATUSAs in my cell
that have been trained on the Joint
Warning and Reporting (JWARN)
Software which provides a Common
Operational Picture of contamination
on the battle field. USFK and the
Combined Forces Command are
charged with working with our ROK
partners to develop theatre strategic
level plans and policies. Two recent
examples of ROK/US efforts include the
development of a combined WMD
consequence management working
group and combined Pandemic
Influenza response planning. These
initiatives integrate ROK and U.S.
Military, Civil and Interagency
authorities and capabilities to optimize
our ability to respond to shared threats.
CW: What do you think are the
challenges that are facing your force
in the next 5-10 years? What are
your priorities in terms of training
and equipment?
NM: We will continue to train with the
ROK Army – that is the number one
priority – we must maintain our well
established strong alliance. The alliance
has been going on for years and we have
gained a lot from it, an ongoing
exchange of TTPs in decontamination
CBRNeWORLD
The land that CBRN forgot
and equipment technology
improvements. The number two priority
would be increased hazardous materials
training. This training will come when
the Chemical Company in Korea will be
fielded the light reconnaissance
package, which will enable the company
to conduct site characterization and
assessments. Lastly, a key to continued
success beyond 2012 is the
establishment of the Combined Joint
Task Force Elimination (CJTF-E), whose
wartime mission is to Locate,
Characterize, Secure and Disable
WMDs. The ROK’s interest in
developing their own WMD Elimination
capability has led to recently established
team training and participation in
theatre level exercises. As the ROK
transitions to assuming wartime
authority of its military forces, our
challenge will be to maintain the
momentum of current priorities,
policies and initiatives critical to the
safety of the Korean people and their
infrastructure. Defending the Republic
of Korea will continue to be the U.S.
priority for as long as there is a threat
to defend against.
US forces and ROK forces have very
close collaboration ©DoD
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
21
CBRNeWORLD
Gwyn Winfield reviews the
CBRNe Convergence Conference in Romania
Converging
on Bucharest
Nearly 250 participants converged on
the JW Marriott on the 22-24th
September in Bucharest for CBRNe
World’s CBRNe Convergence
conference. The aim of the conference
was to bring participants from the
civilian and military sectors together
to exchange information on some of
the growing threats and challenges to
CBRNE professionals. There were
presentations on topics such as
counter-narcotics, forensics and
CBRN-IEDs, as well as more
traditional subjects such as protection,
detection and decontamination.
As you would expect from an
event that comprises CBRNe World’s
readership, this was a truly
international event, with participants
coming from 24 countries and many
more organisations: including
Singapore Police Force, UAE MoD,
JIEDDO (US), DRDC, DSTO
(Australia), OPCW, DoD (US), MoD
(UK), JIRU (Canada), USAF, Kogi
State Government (Nigeria), RCMP,
Finnish MoD, Rotterdam Fire, TNO,
Public Health Canada, Philippines
Police, German air force, Royal
Dutch Navy, Spiez Lab, Hong Kong
Police, Dutch MoD, SCDF and many
different manufacturers. As well as
35 speakers in parallel streams the
Ah, Mr Harker, we've been expecting you... As well as the CBRNE exercise delegates were treated to a visit to Bran Castle
©CBRNe World
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22
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
www.cbrneworld.com
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CBRNeWORLD
Converging on Bucharest
250 Delegates from 24 countries and a wide variety of ranks attended the CBRNe Convergence Conference in Bucharest
©CBRNe World
delegates also got the chance to see
one of the biggest CBRNE
exhibitions in the world, with nearly
40 exhibitors: including Draeger, GE,
Mira Telecom, Enigma, Portsmouth
Aviation, Markes International, Marc
Tel, BioTrace, Telerob, Vojensky
Technicky Ustav, Environics, Avon,
Scott, Dycor, Foster Miller, Bertin,
Remploy, Idaho Technologies,
Genencor and Bruker (a full list can
be found at www.cbrneworld.com/
exhibitors_2008.html)
Delegates were treated by a
variety of sponsors, with a drinks
reception on the first night provided
by Scott Health and Safety, the whole
third day (lunch, buses and
excursion to Bran Castle) by Bruker
Daltonics, a conference bag by
Genencor, the DVD by Dyctor/TSI
and a memory stick by Intelagard.
This was also an event that was
graciously supported by the
Romanian MoD. The third day was an
exercise in showing just how much
work new Nato nations have done in
CBRNE defence. This saw all the
delegates – and spouses – taken to
the military training area in
Campulung and being provided with
a three-hour demonstration of the
Romanian CBRN defence capability.
The exercise started with a terrorist
attempting to set off a number of
radiological IEDs – his attempts to
do so were thwarted somewhat by
the timely arrival of Romanian MoD
special forces. One device managed
to explode, but the others were
rendered safe by the appearance of
the Romanian EOD squad, which has
been trained in CBRN EOD. The
classification and identification of
the device that had exploded was
dealt with by the Romanian MoD.
Unfortunately the terrorists wouldn’t
accept when they were beaten and
launched a series of chemical attacks
on the military facility; this caused a
large number of (simulated)
casualties and saw the deployment of
Romanian health assets, as well as
military police and the new CBRN
reconnaissance vehicle. All of the
events were followed by the new
Romanian surveillance and early
warning system that networks a
nationwide family of chemical and
radiological sensors into a warning
and reporting system. The exercise
was concluded with a demonstration
of Romanian decon – both military
and civilian – and also of their heli
medevac capability. While the
delegates were intellectually
digesting this they were provided
with a sumptuous local buffet lunch,
provided by Bruker, which saw a wide
variety of local specialities –
including brandy!
The speakers came from a wide
variety of backgrounds and
specialities, but all were united in
being experts in their fields. The first
day was opened by Corneliu
Dobritoiu, the Romanian State
Secretary for Defence (who also took
time out of his schedule to visit the
exhibition) while the second day was
opened by Major General Steve
Reeves, the Joint Program Executive
Officer for CB Defence in the US, and
between the two of them they
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
25
CBRNeWORLD
Converging on Bucharest
showed what dedicated defence
departments could do in CBRNE
defence. Deputy Commissioner
Benedict Lim, from the Singapore
Civil Defence Force, was a highlight
of the event, as was Colonel Phil
Visser, from the US 48th Chemical
Brigade, who were both able to give
some solid lessons learned and
experience from the GWOT from
both home and operations abroad.
Equally there were lessons learned
from real radiological incidents:
Duncan McClure of the UK’s Health
Protection Agency was able to offer
his insights into the Polonium
poisoning of Litvinenko, and Juraj
Vaclav from the Slovakian Nuclear
Authority talked about foiling the
HEU smuggling ring. Some of
Nato’s most capable CBRN EOD
countries also gave presentations
with Smgt Ribeiro from Portugal
and Major Luc Moerman from
Belgium provided insights into this
hugely difficult but timely issue.
There were also a range of
Romanian presentations, from Dr
Stan on his new in-vitro radiological
decon system to Lieutenant Colonel
Deliu on Romania’s new surveillance
and early warning system.
The feedback from delegates was
astonishingly positive: 80% of
attendees voted the conference as a
four or five out of five, 82% of
delegates though that the pre-event
organisation was a good or excellent,
and 88% thought the same about the
organisation on the day (with an
astonishing 48% thinking that the
organisation on the day was
excellent!); 85% thought the topics
were a four or five out of five while
79% felt that the speakers were good
or excellent.
Finally, CBRNe World would like
to pass on their thanks on to the
Romanian MoD for all their help and
support, and especially to The
Conference People (TCP), who were
responsible for much of the praise
about organisation, and to Sarah
Winslett and Matt Wilson from TCP
who helped us out enormously
(though Sarah and Gwyn would like
to state that even though they both
have red hair and surnames starting
with W they are not married – despite
the best wishes of some delegates!).
Scenes from the exercise on the third day ©CBRNe World
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26
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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WORLDWIDE LEADER
IN NBC DECONTAMINATION
NBC decon system
for World Cup 2006
Decontamination of
injured and non-injured
persons simultaneously
Fully operational within
15 minutes
Welcome @ owr.de
[www.owr.de]
CBRNeWORLD
Singapore Workshop provides great insight for delegates
Made in
Singapore
CBRNe World’s CBRNe Focus: Workshop was held
in the Civil Defence Academy of the Singapore Civil
Defence Force on the 12th and 13th of November.
Nearly 50 participants from Singapore and beyond
sat in on a range of presentations from Singaporean
agencies. The presentations spanned the whole range
of defence from science and technology preparedness
to clean up after an event.
Eight agencies were involved, the Ministry of
Home Affairs (MHA), Singapore Civil Defence Force
(SCDF), Singapore Police Force (SPF), the National
Environment Agency, Immigration and Checkpoint
Agency, the Office of the Science and Technology Officer
(OCSTO), Defence Science Organisation (DSO) and the
Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA). The
event was started by Eric Yap of the MHA, who provided
an overview of the threat facing Singapore and an idea of
how all the government agencies meshed together.
Following him was Lt. Col. Teong How Hwa, of the SCDF,
the SCDF is the lead agency in any CBRN attack, and he
outlined their capability, command structure and gave an
idea of the development path of the force. Dr Lee Fook
Kay, of OCSTO, presented after Lt. Col. Teong, and
brought his team to the CDA to showcase some of the
new work that OCSTO is doing and how it will fit into
the other research agencies. The last speaker on the
first day was Tan Quee Hong of the National
Environment Agency, Singapore having a large
area of high value buildings needs to have a
highly competent decontamination capability
and Mr Tan explained how they managed this.
Day Two started with Assistant
Superintendent Wendy Lee of the Singapore
Police Force. Singapore has foiled a number
of terrorist attacks and she went into detail
of their capability and training programme
and discussed some of their innovations
like the Clipper bus system. The
penultimate science paper was given by
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CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CBRNeWORLD
Sng Mui Tiang of the DSO, after an overview of the
Organisation she was able to show some of the
fascinating research that they are working on in
areas such as agent fate and modelling and
simulation. The first speaker in the afternoon was
well known to old Singaporean hands, Ho Kong
Wai of the DSTA used to be CO of the Singapore
Armed Forces CBRE response, and how outlined
the work that the DSTA is doing in research and
acquisition for the armed forces and outlined the
types of devices he wanted to see from industry.
The last speaker was Danny Ng, of the Immigration
and Checkpoints Authority, an agency that has to
maintain security over the world’s biggest port. As
well as explaining some of the radiation portal work
that they have developed he announced the
creation of the ports new chemical and biological
laboratory for the screening of suspect packages.
The whole event was supported by the SCDF,
not only the venue and the catering, but also the
tour of the facility and a demonstration. The
former showed why the UN has approved of the
CDA as one of the leading urban search and rescue
facilities in Asia, as well as the outside chemical
factory and oil storage tanker the facility has a
building that they call the furnace. The ‘furnace’ is
a nine storey building that is split into a range of
rooms such as a chemical storage facility, bar,
karoke room, restaurant kitchen, here trainee
firefighters can be educated in the right way to
fight fires – and if they take too long the fire
spreads. This became abundantly clear to the 6’3”
editor when the roof of the karoke bar caught fire,
since he was only three inches beneath the roof he
had to take emergency evasive action before what
little hair he had was immolated. The exercise and
demonstration underpinned everything that Eric
Yap and Lt. Col. Teong How Hwa had said about
Singapore and the SCDF’s capability. Speed and
polish are the watchwords, and from stretcher
‘mopeds’ taking casualties out of the hot zone (two
non ambulant to each one man moped), to the
decon bus that can start it’s unpacking procedure
while still on the move, to allow quick set up.
Despite the 40 degree heat, the Level A team went
through the procedures at an admirably cautious
pace and dealt with device mitigation. The static
demonstration was also an eye opener for the
amount of assets that the SCDF has, from bio
detectors like Smiths SBS and Scott’s Prime Alert,
to a mobile radiological laboratory and RDD
mitigation chamber.
CBRNe World would like to pass their thanks
onto Col. Christopher Eng Kiong, CO of the CDA,
Major Esther Low, our liaison at the SCDF for their
help and support, all the speakers for their time,
and especially Karen Connelly and Gerard Tan for
all the excellent work that they did on the two days!
Singapore's casualty extraction utilises PAPR respirators and a
motorised scooter for the non ambulant ©CBRNe World
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
29
CBRNeWORLD
Gwyn Winfield reviews this year’s conference in Liberec
Commandant and
Commanders
Conference 2009
This is the third in the series of closed
conferences, the CBRN Commandant
and Commanders Conference, the other
two were held in Sonthofen and Panama
City (see CBRNe World Winter 2007).
This year’s event was held in the Czech
city of Liberec, which is also the home
of the Czech CBRN Corps, and brought
together participants from 16, mainly
Nato, nations. Previously General
Spoehr had set out that the
Commandants’ conference should reach
out to Asian and Pacific Rim countries,
and evidence of that was there in
Japan’s presence.
The conference itself is aimed at
senior CBRN officers, mainly
Commandants of NBC schools and
Commanders of NBC units, though
their staff also attend. Last year was a
“role” call of what the various nations
were doing in terms of CBRN defence,
and there was a certain amount of that
this year too. So delegates learned from
Colonel Utsunomiya of the work that
the new Central Defence Unit would be
doing in Japan, as well as reports on
some of the work that Nato and Shape
were doing from Dusan Lupulev, David
Lindsey and Marius Wojnar. There was
also a report on some of the JPEO
CBD’s projects from Jessee Wright and a
status update from Michel Desgranges
on the work of Nato’s Defence Against
Terrorism (DAT) CBRN.
While there is some benefit from
learning what new Commandants, such
as Colonel Les Smith, have to say, there
needs to be a format for this annual
conference to ensure that the event
doesn’t turn into a status report. This
was recognised at last year’s and also at
this year’s conference, that there needs
to be a theme to try and drag some of
the best learning and experiences out of
the participating nations. There are a
great deal of conferences in the circuit,
and to ensure that this select, closed,
meeting adds value it will need to evolve.
The Czech Republic, as you might
expect, were excellent hosts, the
Babylon Centre Hotel was an interesting
choice (with a Gormenghastian choice
of lifts – who knows where you might
end up!) but what made the event
especially worthwhile was the chance to
visit the BSL4 facility at Techonin and
the exercise at Liberec. The Czech
Chemical Corps are more of a feature on
the international circuit than the
Central Military Health Institute, which
handles the Czech military biological
defence piece, so it is a rarer
opportunity to hear from them. While
they have a great deal of equipment and
capability, one of their most valuable
assets is the Bio Defence Centre at
Techonin. This is their “Specialised
Hospital for Infectious Diseases”. While
there has been a facility here since
1958, its role as an isolation hospital
and centre for outbreak control is a new
one. The facility has approximately 50
BSL4 isolation beds, a built-in large
expectation capacity, the BSL4 lab, a
clinical lab and mortuary. While the
system will have a “tick-over” capability
for those soldiers who return from
operations with a suspected exotic
infection, its core role will emerge
during either a bio attack or a naturally
occurring outbreak. It is a modern, well
equipped and serviced facility that is
keen to find a larger role in both EU and
Nato plans – well worth a visit!
Equally of value was the
demonstration that the Chemical Corps
put on. This was a repeat of the
demonstration that they put on for DAT
CBRN, and was an example of why the
Czechs are so highly regarded in Nato.
While they have a historically recognised
capability in decontamination and
detection, the demonstration also
showed their mass decontamination and
high-level casualty-extraction capability,
which have been added on to their
traditional military skills.
Next year’s event will be hosted by
the Bulgarians, and this will be an
interesting challenge. Previous events,
Germany, the US and the Czech
Republic, have managed to overcome
some of the shortfalls in the conference
by demonstrations of their own
impressive capability. The Bulgarians are
not in the same league as the previous
hosts, and there will have to be some
solid work done on the theme of the
conference and the spread of the
delegates to ensure that the event is kept
relevant. There is no doubt that the
audience can provide presentations of
interest to each other, the difficulty will
be in teasing out what they are and
presenting them in a coherent approach.
The Czech forces laid on helicopters to take all the delegates to their BSL4 facility
©CBRNe World
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CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CBRNeWORLD
Charlene “Bess” Jensen, Director of CARA, tells
CBRNe World about the work they are doing on chemical
remediation and analytical labs
Mediating the
remediation
CW: CARA is a relatively new
organization. Can you let us know how
it fits into the US Army force structure
and what its mission set is?
CJ: The Chemical, Biological,
Radiological, Nuclear and High Yield
Explosives (CBRNE) Analytical and
Remediation Activity (CARA) is the only
all-civilian unit of the US Army 20th
Support Command (SUPCOM), US Army
Forces Command. CARA is part of the
20th’s CBRNE force pool and was
established in May 2007 as a provisional
unit. Our Civilian Concept Plan was
approved by the Department of Army
June 2008, with an effective date of 1
October 2009. We have three military
members attached to CARA and the
majority of CARA personnel are
deployable with approximately 75
percent of our workforce either prior, or
retired, military. We support both the
Warfighter and Homeland Defense. We
were formed from the realignment of
existing civilian authorizations and the
transfer of associated missions including
those from the 22nd and 110th
Chemical Battalions (Technical Escort),
and from the 20th SUPCOM (CBRNE)
Laboratory and Monitoring Section and
Aviation Detachment.
CW: Since some of those units already
exist, what new capability will be added
in the meantime?
CJ: Let me first begin by explaining the
organization. CARA has four sections, two
Remediation Response Sections (RRS),
RRS-East is located at Aberdeen Proving
Ground (APG), Maryland; and RRS-West
is at Pine Bluff Arsenal, Arkansas. The
majority of personnel in these sections
are Chemical Engineering Technicians
and Unexploded Ordnance Technicians.
The sections are fully operational. They
conduct site characterization,
assessment, demilitarization and
elimination of recovered chemical
warfare materiel (RCWM); site
remediation projects; emergency
response to RCWM incidences; conduct
technical escorts of chemical surety and
non-surety material; and support Army
Stockpile and Non-Stockpile operations.
There are other organizations that do
similar work; however, we deal with live
chemical warfare agent on a regular basis
and this experience is what sets us apart
from others. Our Aviation and Mobile
Expeditionary Laboratory (MEL) Sections
are also located at APG. The Aviation
Section has very experienced dual rated
fixed and rotary wing pilots. Their
mission is to transport chemical surety
escort teams; RCWM emergency response
teams; and 20th SUPCOM’s response
teams. The new capability resides in our
lab. The lab has three teams, chemical,
biological and monitoring. They are
staffed by highly skilled, certified
scientists and physical science
technicians. The lab’s mission is to
conduct field confirmatory chemical,
biological and explosive analysis; and near
real-time chemical air monitoring. The
new capability is our tactical, mobile
expeditionary labs which will deploy
anywhere, anytime, in any environment
to bring our analytical capability to the
Combatant Commander and support
Homeland Defense.
CW: What is CARA’s core mission?
CJ: CARA’s mission is to deploy and
conduct operations in support of
Combatant Commanders or other
government agencies in order to counter
CBRNE and WMD threats in support of
National Combating weapons of mass
destruction objectives. This includes
both CONUS and OCONUS. CARA is the
only organization within the Department
of Defense authorized to escort chemical
surety material off a military installation.
CW: What is the percentage split?
Presumably as the US becomes CWC
(chemical warfare convention)–
compliant, then this percentage will
diminish… What will replace it?
CJ: It is difficult to give you a percentage
split, but as that work decreases, we will
be available to perform remediation work
at Formerly Used Defense Sites (FUDS).
The Army is the executive agent for the
CARA's lab technicians will largely deal with chemical, biological
and explosive incidents ©20th Support Command
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Mediating the remediation
FUDS Program. The purpose of the
program is to clean up environmental
contamination at properties formerly
owned, leased, or used by the military
services or other Defense agencies. The
Army’s Corps of Engineers is the lead for
this work and CARA acts as one of their
contractors. We will continue to receive
calls to support an RCWM emergency
response. This type of work will be
around for a long time.
CPRP personnel comply with all local,
state and Federal laws and regulations.
They are highly trained and receive
refresher training in weapons
qualification, use of deadly force,
Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) Hazardous Waste
Operations and Emergency Response
(HAZWOPER), the Army School of
Military Packaging Technology, and
various other training.
CW: In terms of the capability for this
mission, what does CARA look like?
CJ: CARA has a high operational tempo.
During Fiscal Year 2008 CARA completed
118 technical escorts, 127 unexploded
ordnance projects, 37 aviation missions
with over 534 flight hours, nine
emergency response/chemical accident,
incident and response assistance (CAIRA)
missions, six major remediation and
non-stockpile missions and projects, and
one OCONUS mission. Our lab
participated in eight exercises/training
events, and CARA successfully completed
seven inspections, reviews and audits.
Much of CARA’s work is done on a
reimbursable basis, that is, customers
fund CARA for requested services or
solutions. A large part of CARA’s
workforce is in the Chemical Personal
Reliability Program (CPRP). Our work is
based on CARA’s ability to provide safe,
efficient and cost-effective services and
solutions to the Department of Defense
and other government agencies. The
work that CARA does stateside keeps us
trained and skilled for deployment
anywhere in the world.
CW: So what form of remediation
operations is CARA designed for? Is it
purely military? Do you perform
military-grade remediation, or is this to
civilian standards?
CJ: The majority of CARA remediation
operations are at FUD sites, military
installations, and Base Realignment and
Closure Act (BRAC) sites in support of
installation commanders, other
agencies, and the US Army Corps of
Engineers (COE). We comply with all
laws and regulations, and are experts in
the transport of hazardous materials. We
can conduct these missions both CONUS
and OCONUS.
CW: What is the CPRP?
CJ: CPRP is the Chemical Personnel
Reliability Program. The Army’s
chemical surety program requires
personnel who conduct any type of
chemical surety operations, and in our
case the technical escort of chemical
surety material, are required to be in the
CPRP. The CPRP is a system of control
measures designed to provide protection
to the local population, workers, and the
environment by ensuring that chemical
surety operations are conducted safely,
securely and the personnel assigned to
perform this work must meet the
highest standards of reliability. CARA
CW: So as an example, if munitions
were found on a new housing site in
Edgewood, would that be a CARA job or
could the local state decide to compete?
CJ: If the munitions were determined to
be military the nearest military explosive
ordnance disposal (EOD) unit would
conduct an initial assessment. If the
assessment determined the munitions to
be chemical, CARA would conduct the
emergency response. CARA is the 20th
SUPCOM’s lead for RCWM emergency
response. The CARA team is augmented
by the 48th Chemical Brigade’s EOD
personnel. EOD x-ray the items to
confirm if they have a liquid fill and
explosive components. If confirmed,
CARA would conduct a non-intrusive
assessment using the Portable Isotopic
Neutron Spectroscopy (PINS) onboard
the Mobile Munitions Assessment
Systems (MMAS). CARA operates the
MMAS on behalf of the US Army
Chemical Materials Agency’s (CMA) NonStockpile Chemical Materiel Project. The
MMAS Operators would send the PINS
data to the Materiels Assessment Review
Board (MARB). The MARB is a team of
experts in EOD, chemical and nuclear
physics who recommend disposition.
CW: How deployable are the remediation
teams, especially the MMAS analytical
platform? How do you ensure that they
don't get deployed on other operations?
CJ: Our teams are deployable CONUS
and OCONUS. We have supported 100%
of our CONUS requirements despite
having teams deployed OCONUS. We
look at deployments as another
mission/project and schedule
accordingly. CMA is the approving
authority for MMAS deployments.
CW: What has been your involvement in
legacy Iraq CW munitions disposal?
CJ: I cannot answer that question. We
conduct the same work OCONUS that we
conduct in CONUS.
CW: What sort of standard will the
exploitation labs be? Are you aiming for
BSL3 or 4?
CJ: Our mobile expeditionary labs will
have chemical, biological and explosive
field confirmatory (silver standard)
capability. For legal requirements, we
may use a national lab for definitive
(gold standard) analysis. As we continue
to build the capability, we plan to comply
with ISO/IEC 17025 (General
Requirements for the Competence of
Calibration and Testing Laboratories)
and a future goal will be to actually go
through an ISO 17025 Accreditation. The
biosafety level (BSL) for our labs will be
at a BSL2 level, up to a BSL3 capability.
CW: What is the role of CARA in bio? I
still don’t quite understand what you
provide that other agencies do not…
CJ: There are other labs with similar
analytical equipment, but different
missions, focus and priorities such as
force health protection, intelligence, law
enforcement, and criminal investigation.
Our mobile expeditionary labs provide
operationally required, state of the art,
high-throughput sample analysis
capability to the Department of Defense
and provide downrange tactical
proximity to Combatant Commanders.
CW: So as an operational scenario, 20th
SupCom units go into the field, find
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Limited edition prints
Dave Frewin, the artist behind many of CBRNe World covers has made
a reputation for himself as being able to capture the essence of
CBRNE. Before retiring, he made an impressive name for himself as a
designer and cartoonist in the UK Ministry of Defence.The series of
playing cards that he has designed have been a big seller on the CBRNe
World website, and had to go into two printings.
His latest work is a series of CBRNE-themed limited edition prints. Each
print is limited to 200 of each; there will be only one set made, and
each print is numbered and signed by both the artist and the editor.
Based on chess pieces, you have the chemical King, radiological Queen,
biological Knight, explosive Joker and nuclear Rook. Each chess piece
comes with an accompanying pawn, or two, that further ties the piece
in to the theme – the Nuclear Rook, for example, has one hand over
“the button” while the other moves aside to let an ICBM launch.
Each print can be bought either individually, or as part of a set, via the
www.cbrneworld.com website. Prices are £150 for one print, £300 for
three prints, or £350 for all five.These prints are strictly limited to 200,
signed by the artist and editor, and are likely to become a real CBRN
collectable. Inevitably some prints will become more popular than
others, so complete sets are likely to be a rarity.
Perfect for hanging in the office or as gifts for team members, these
prints are available only through the www.cbrneworld.com website
and will be sold sequentially – so book now to get the early numbers!
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CBRNeWORLD
Mediating the remediation
something suspicious, take a sample,
and that would be the silver standard lab
that it would go to…
CJ: Absolutely. Our lab could deploy any
where, any time to conduct field
confirmatory analysis, also referred to as
silver standard. There may be a
requirement for the analysis to go to an
international court of law, in which case
we would send samples to a definitive
lab, or gold standard, in CONUS to prove
out what our confirmatory analysis has
determined.
CW: How mobile are you expecting
them to be once in the field? Are they
going to be ISO-container-based or
truck-based?
CJ: The mobile labs can be relocated
once in the field. The heavy lab is for
longer duration missions, while the light
is for shorter missions. The light lab is
truck-based and mobile. The heavy labs
will use an expandable 20-foot
International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) containers pulled
by organic tactical vehicles. Once the
heavy lab is set up, it is intended to be
stationary for a longer period.
CW: Do you think that you will require a
number of different labs, bearing in
mind the difficulties that pathogens
bring? So one for radiological, chemical/
explosive/ narcotics and one for bio?
CJ: We have several platforms which will
allow us to setup different types of labs
based on our mission. We will not mix
chem and bio, each will be setup
separately. The radiological detection is
for screening and evacuation of samples.
CW: One of your goals is a biometric
capability. Exactly what are you looking
to build?
CJ: DNA and fingerprint forensic analysis.
CW: Apart from the weight and logistics
footprint, what will be the fundamental
differences in the heavy and light labs?
Is one likely to provide support to
deployed forces and one to HQ, or will it
be a qualitative difference?
CJ: The difference is in the number and
types of capabilities and analytical
equipment. The heavy lab is designed for
more extensive chemical and/or
CARA is hoping that it will be able, in the future, to provide forensic support
©20th Support Command
biological capability with an increased
number of technologies and can
therefore handle more throughput and
storage space. The heavy lab is also
better suited for extended theatre
operations, where the light lab is a
smaller footprint and is more rapidly
deployable, designed for smaller-scale
requirements. Both can be tailored to fit
the mission.
CW: So what are the challenges for the
next 5-10 years? What are your goals?
CJ: Our biggest challenges are staying
current with technology and funding.
The 20th SUPCOM has partnered with
the Joint Program Executive Office for
Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEOCBD) to fill this gap. The JPEO-CBD will
synchronize and integrate required
capabilities; and provide life-cycle
sustainment, replacement, new
equipment training, warranty and followon procurement. There is always a
challenge of maintaining skilled,
experienced personnel. As we transition
new personnel into the organization we
will provide them with the skills,
knowledge’s and hands-on experience
necessary to meet the CBRNE challenge.
My goal is for CARA to be the provider of
choice for CBRNE services and solutions;
continue to build our customer base and
partnerships; expand our capabilities as
our mission evolves; expand our forensic
skills and equipment; and maintain a
well trained, ready, and relevant
workforce. To continue to focus our
capabilities on supporting Homeland
Defense and the Warfighter. To provide a
more robust, mission specific, costeffective destruction capabilities to add
to our range of services and solutions.
Adding this capability to our emergency
response and remediation missions
would provide one stop shopping from
initial assessment to final disposition and
streamline the overall process.
The strength of CARA is built on the
dedication, talent and experience of our
personnel. Our Civilians are vital
members of the Army Team contributing
to the overall success of the Army’s
mission. It is an honor and privilege to
be the first Director of the CBRNE
Analytical and Remediation Activity
(CARA) and lead this great team. I would
like to thank the CARA Civilians,
Military, Contractors and their families
for their service and personal sacrifices. I
would also like to thank our partners
such as the CMA, Idaho National
Laboratory, the Army Corps of
Engineers, the Army’s Project Manager
for Consequence Management, the
Edgewood Chemical Biological Center,
and the many more who support us. We
have benefited from their intellectual
knowledge, and research and
development initiatives. We are part of
the Army Team and stand ready to
support the needs of our country.
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37
CBRNeWORLD
Lieutenant Colonel Juan Domingo and Major René Pita,
Chemical Defence Department of the Spanish NBC Defence School
on deployable labs
Analyse This!
At the summit of the North Atlantic
Council (NAC) in Prague on 21
November 2002, the heads of state and
government approved the
implementation of five defence initiatives
against nuclear, biological and chemical
(NBC) Weapons of Mass Destruction
(WMD). The creation of NBC Deployable
Analytical Laboratories (NBC-DAL) is one
of those initiatives and this article
discusses this.
The alliance wants to fight terrorism
wherever it is necessary and, in order to
do so, it needs to undergo a profound
transformation, capable of facing those
new risks and those new threats. In
Prague, we witnessed the birth of three
initiatives: the Prague Capabilities
Commitments (PCC), the Nato Response
Force (NRF), and the new Command
Structure of Nato.
The PCC were designed, among other
things, to improve the anti-terrorism
capabilities of the alliance and to ensure
that all European armies are equipped
accordingly, to be able to move “quicker
and further” and to use strength in an
effective way, guaranteeing selfsufficiency in combat. The commitments
consist of eight parts::
– CBRN defence;
– intelligence, surveillance, and target
acquisition;
– air-to-ground surveillance;
– command, control and
communications;
– combat effectiveness, including
precision-guided munitions and
suppression of enemy air defences;
– strategic air and sea lift;
– air-to-air refuelling; and
– deployable combat support and
combat service support units.
In addition, the leaders of the alliance
endorsed the implementation of five NBC
weapons defence initiatives, which will
enhance the alliance's defence
capabilities against WMDs:
– a NBC Deployable Analytical
Laboratory;
– a NBC event response team;
– a virtual Centre of Excellence for
–
–
NBC weapons defence;
a Nato Biological and Chemical
Defence Stockpile; and
a disease surveillance system.
The NBC Deployable Analytical
Laboratory (NBC-DAL)
What is a NBC-DAL? For Nato, an NBCDAL, based on STANAG 4632, is a highly
specialised complex, constituted by the
following elements: command-and-control
element; sampling teams; NBC EOD/IEDD
team; radiological, biological and chemical
labs and decontamination team.
According to STANAG 4632, the aim
of a NBC-DAL is to provide the
commander with the capacity to take
samples, analyse and identify in them
radiological, biological and chemical
agents, in order to carry out a quick riskassessment and confirm the presence,
type and consequences of pollution in an
actual or suspected contaminated area.
This support would be framed in a broad
range of military operations on land, sea
and in the air, as well as all kinds of crisis
situations that range from support after
natural disasters to large-scale conflicts.
The command-and-control team
works together with a consulting
element, the JAT (Joint Assessment
Team), which coordinates and satisfies
operational and logistic needs of the
NBC-DAL as a whole. It is made up of the
following elements: head of the NBCDAL, NBC Defence Health Service
(NBC/MED), administrative/supply
specialists, CIS/communication specialist
and transport specialist.
The sampling team must be
technically capable of collecting all kinds
of samples and, above all, capable of
doing it so as to fulfil all the SIBCRA
requirements (STANAG 4356, AEP-10
Handbook for the Sampling and
Identification of Biological, Chemical
and Radiological), in a way that will
allow it to prove unambiguously the first
use of this kind of agents by hostile
forces. Type, amount, method of
acquisition, preservation, transportation
and chain of custody of the sample
depend greatly on the aim of the
sampling. The process is started with a
clear purpose that incorporates a specific
request for analysis that, at the same
time, determines an appropriate
sampling plan.
The NBC EOD/IEDD team is made up
of a group of experts on explosive
ordnance disposal, specialised in
biological, chemical and radiological
weapons, whose mission is to support
the sampling teams. The NBC EOD/IEDD
team should be capable of supporting
simultaneously several sampling teams.
Radiological, biological and chemical
labs shall have sufficient material and
human resources to achieve a confirmed
identification of potentially dangerous
NBC agents. Because the range of
samples and substances to be analysed
may be very broad, STANAG 4632
annexes established minimum NBC
threats, in the form of lists of biological,
and chemical agents, and also ranges of
energy for the different kinds of radiation
(alpha, beta and gamma) and neutrons
whose analysis must be undertaken. If it
were necessary, the samples could be
divided and prepared to be shipped to a
reference lab for achieving an
unambiguous identification.
The decontamination team is
responsible for decontamination of
personnel, material, and equipment of all
components of the NBC-DAL. It must be
trained and equipped to fight against all
kinds of NBC and industrial pollution.
NBC Laboratories
Nato conceives the work of a NBC-DAL
as based on three independent modules
or labs: a biological lab, a chemical lab,
and a radiological lab. Each one of these
modules must be capable of working
independently from each other and be
transportable by land, sea or air, and
must have independent functionality for
at least three days after being deployed
with NBC protection against
electromagnetic pulse, and must be
provided with all means of
communication necessary.
In a real situation, wherever a NBCDAL is, the material subjected to analysis
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CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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will include a very small number of
samples from a supposed attack with
NBC agents. Most samples and most
analysis requests will relate to daily
hazards, so water will have to be
analysed in order to determine if it is
potable, soil analysis to assess its
potential pollution, and to evaluate the
risks associated to their use, air analysis
to determine indoor and outdoor
pollution, and even blood analysis or
urine analysis in extreme cases.
In any case, the importance of the
task to be done is such that analysis
teams must be updated to use state-ofthe-art technology. The staff in charge of
its use must be properly qualified.
Laboratory equipment
To be able to successfully analyse a wide
range of samples in the most unexpected
and complex analytical parameters’
range, the different modules should
include not only fixed, but also portable
instruments. Along with portable NBC
detectors, which would be part of the
sampling team equipment, their
functioning based on different kinds of
technologies to accomplish a confirmed
identification, it would be convenient to
incorporate some portable analysis
system, such a handheld Fourier
Transform Infrared spectrometer,
handheld Raman spectrometer, portable
XRF analyser, or portable real-time PCR
(Polymerase Chain Reaction) instrument.
For the biological module, besides
sampling and sample concentration
systems, with or without attached
detection systems (dispersion, laser,
fluorescent, etc), other different systems
for identification and analysis should be
considered, for example, Gas
Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
(GC-MS) and/or High Performance
Liquid Chromatography-Mass
Spectrometry (HPLC-MS), a system
based on Time Of Flight-Mass
Spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS), an UVvisible spectrophotometer with 96-well
UV plate reader, enzyme immunoassays
systems (ELISA) for high molecular
weight toxins, virus and bacteria, an
optical microscopy system capable of
working with different observation
modes, a system of analysis based on
PCR and, and, of course, a classic system
of microbiological culturing.
The chemical module should allow
for the most basic analysis, as well as
the most complex ones, both
qualitative and quantitative. In order to
do so, besides basic equipment such as
pHmeters, ion selective meters, UVvisible spectrometer and Fourier
Transform Infrared (FTIR)
spectrometer with different sampling
accessories, hyphenated techniques
such as GC-MS or/and HPLC-MS, and
an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer
must be considered.
The radiological module should
include not only alpha, beta, gamma and
neutron analysis. It should also be able
to determine total alpha and beta
activities, should include a liquid
scintillation counter, a portable highpurity germanium gamma-ray
spectrometer, a sodium iodide gammaray spectrometer, and dust and air
sampling equipment, among others. It
also could be provided with other less
frequent instruments, intended for the
measurement of electromagnetic fields
(300 MHz-40 GHz), or, for example,
dosimeters and dosimeter reader, gas
cromatograph with different injection
(that is, thermal desorption and head
space) and detection (FPD, MSD, etc)
systems and, finally, noise meters.
Is it necessary to deploy an
analytical lab?
Due to its functional features and human
and technical resources, an NBC-DAL
requires an expensive initial investment
and it has also high maintenance costs.
It needs to work in very safe working
conditions (adequate not only for the
appropriate performance of any lab
handling of very hazardous substances)
but also in a secure environment. It
should be taken into account that the lab
itself could become a target for a regular
attack or by special forces, so it must
always be located in the rear guard and
under suitable protection.
Reconnaissance teams should be
equipped with small portable
identification systems (Raman
Spectroscopy, Infrared and Mass
Spectrometry); much cheaper and easier
to use, they could achieve an
identification level comparable to that
obtained in a NBC-DAL.
Is it only for NBC agents?
A NBC-DAL, even though it is designed to
ultimately analyse NBC agents, will hardly
reach an unambiguous identification.
Thus, the definitive and crucial step is
sampling and sample chain of custody
until the analysis in a reference and
accredited laboratory can proceed.
Because, on the battlefield, the
information requirements are many, and
few are the events with “classical” NBC
agents, the lab will receive other very
diverse samples to analyse, different in type
(solids, liquids or gases, aqueous or oily,
inorganic or organic, etc.) and in the
parameters requested. Thus, a NBC-DAL
needs specially trained staff, capable of
performing very different tests in many
types of samples for very different purposes.
Laboratory tasks could range from a
simple drinking-water analysis to a
complex problem to the identification
and quantification of a polluting agent
for risk assessment. But what will
happen in the majority of cases is that
the analysis requester does not state very
clearly which parameters should be
determined in the sample, so this crucial
decision must be made by the head of
the laboratory.
Technical or military personnel, or
both?
This is the weak point of an expensive
and sophisticated system. If the price of
the different modules is already very
high, to deploy it means an enormous
expenditure, but also its functioning and
maintenance are considerable. Having
enough personnel with the expertise
required is extremely difficult but
essential. To think about good laboratory
performance, when its staff is only
military personnel without proper
training and updated scientific
knowledge (chemistry, microbiology, etc)
is wasting money and time.
The head of the NBC-DAL should have
not only broad and adequate technical
knowledge, but he should also have
enough and varied skills, because his/her
task is to lead a multidisciplinary team
involved in solving complex problems.
Vehicle drivers are not assistants for the
labs, but lab assistants may drive as well.
Assistants must be correctly trained and
experienced in order to develop the tasks
that have been assigned.
As a conclusion, putting together a
work team with these characteristics can
be achieved only with patience and time,
after adequate theoretical and practical
training and with enthusiastic and
professional personnel.
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CBRNeWORLD
Colonel John Pollock, Commanding Officer of CBIRF,
tells Gwyn Winfield about saving lives and taking names
CBRN
– ER
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The last time I interviewed anyone from
CBIRF – Chemical Biological Incident
Response Force – was 2004 and the
CBRN world was very different.
Colonel Trafton, the then CO
of CBIRF in 2004, was
very much the
US point
man for
CBRN, the civilian responders were
largely a long way behind the curve in
training and equipment, and CBIRF was
the band aid that had been stuck over
that wound since 2001 (though the unit
was first stood up in 1996). Since then,
first responders throughout the US
have embraced CBRN and, in some
cases, the skills that they have to offer
are of high value to the military –
especially in counter narcotics,
sensitive-site exploitation and forensics.
Yet it is not just the first responders
who have changed but also
CBIRF. In 2004 Colonel Trafton
suggested that it was one of
the roles of CBIRF to be able
to power into the hot zone
and lead by example – to
demythologise the CBRN
environment. Now CBIRF
has a far more defined role:
they are the CBRN searchand-extraction providers for
the CBRN Consequence
Management Response
Force (or CCMRF,
pronounced Sea
Smurf!), providing
search and extraction,
decontamination,
emergency medicine
and triage in the hot
zone.
CCMRF is also a new
development, first
announced in the
summer of this year
(coming to
international public
attention at the Joint
CBRN Conference in
Fort Leonard Wood).
This will provide a
range of forces, from
the conventional infantry brigades
through to specialist assets such as
CBIRF. Colonel Pollock outlined the
relationship between CBIRF and
CCMRF: “We work for the CCMRF
Commander. We just conducted an
exercise in Fort Stewart, Georgia, where
the scenario was a 10-kiloton nuclear
detonation in Indianapolis and how
would we deal with that. We conducted
the exercise with subject matter experts
from the first responder community,
FEMA and State National Guard as well
as bringing in the CCMRF, once the
state governor had requested that
assistance from executive branch of the
federal government through DoD. The
CCMRF executed operations with local
and state agencies to try and mitigate
the effects of the incident and we
learned a lot being the first time that
we were trained to that level.”
The Colonel added: “We are one of
the few standing organisations that will
continually belong to the CCMRF; the
vast majority of the units that fall
under CCMRF are on a one-year
mission rotation. For example, an Army
Brigade Combat Team is a major
subordinate element under the CCMRF,
acting as Task Force Operations – and
we work as a subordinate element
under Task Force Operations. The
challenge is that those units will rotate
out every year, but there are some
specialists like CBRIF and the USAF
Radiological Assessment Team that are
always part of the CCMRF and don’t
rotate out. We are one of the
foundational capabilities that will
constantly be resident under the
CCMRF concept, while Task Force
Aviation, Medical and Operations,
which are formed around Army
brigade-sized units, will be on a oneyear rotation and then relieved by a like
unit after 12 months.”
©CBIRF
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CBRN – ER
Yet there would seem to be a problem
inherent in this. CBIRF has prided itself
on its medical capability, for example,
and if it is going to be tasked only under
CCMRF, which has a Task Force
Medical, then it would seem that there
will either be duplication, or CBIRF will
have to shed capability. Does CBIRF
therefore have other non-CCMRF roles
that will allow it to keep this capability?
“We’ve got responsibilities under the
CCMRF and COCOM, under North Com.
That doesn’t correspond to CCMRF, so
we can also scale our deployments – so if
the CCMRF isn’t deployed, and there is
an incident that doesn’t require their
entire capability, we can still be called
out by a Defence Coordinating Officer at
a lower level instead of deploying the
entire CCMRF as we would for a larger
incident,” said Colonel Pollock.
There has been a change in mission
however, since the early days. At first the
role was to get there fast, as – depending
on where the incident was – there might
be no other capability there. Now, as well
as the first responders, there are the
WMD Civil Support Teams (CSTs) and
the CBRNE Enhanced Response Force
(CERF, or CERFP) who will be able to
field a capability faster than even the
ever-sprightly CBIRF. So does that mean,
since CBIRF will now inevitably be part
of a force package, that they have been
able to shed some capability – to make
room for the new – or does not knowing
what package you will have to plug into
mean that you need to retain everything?
“From an overall perspective it is a
good news story for the US,” said
Colonel Pollock, “as we as a nation have
made significant improvement in our
first-responder capability. We have seen
the National Guard CERFs and CSTs,
which has given National Guard and
state governors a tremendous capability
that is responsive to that state. As we
build more capability what does that
mean for CBIRF, as we are no longer the
single capability that deals with these
incidents? That is a good thing though!
We remain the only Title 10, active-duty
military component that deals with
these types of incidents, so local
government has their first responders,
State government under Title 32 has its
National Guard, and then Title 10, DoD,
has CBIRF. The trick is integrating those
capabilities, each with distinctive and
separate chains of command, and
synchronising and synergising the
operations of those different entities. A
lot of our exercises are focussed on
understanding how first responders
work, understanding how the CSTs and
CERFs work, so when we hit the ground
we can integrate our operations for
maximum effect by not creating gaps
and duplication of effort during a largescale event.”
CBIRF, while it is still counted as a
CBRN asset, has evolved past that, in
many respects, to a search and
extraction (S&E) and technical rescue
capability – the ability to go into
hazardous environments, whether CBRN
or conventional (collapsed buildings etc)
and rescue people and save lives. The
trouble with this is the fact that there is
usually, especially in CBRN, a very small
window for this sort of role, that dose
over time means that even with CBIRF’s
short notice to move period, that it is
unlikely that they will have much of a
role, unless prepositioned.
Colonel Pollock suggested that it
wasn’t that bleak, “There are some
variables in there that are hard to
determine, but you can find survivors in
a catastrophic incident like this well after
the time when most experts would say
that you are in the recovery phase, rather
than search-and-rescue phase. We also
have a role in high yield explosive events,
a scenario one could argue that the
casualty viability window would be
significantly extended. We always want to
get into the incident site as quickly as we
can but part of the calculus is geographic
distance – if an incident takes place in
California it will take us longer to get
there and save lives than if the incident
was 20 miles up the road in DC. So the
tyranny of time and space will challenge
us in some scenarios. The Request For
Assistance process from the State thru
the Federal government may also play
into the timeline, but if we can get there
within the 24/48 hour window we feel
confident we will be able to find some
viable casualties in the incident area.”
One of the complicating factors is
that if it is a CBRN incident it will be, at
best, a crime scene (though more likely
a terrorist scene – though the
distinction is blurred, and non-existent
in terms of CBIRF’s response), and there
is always a conflict between saving lives
and saving evidence. Firefighters often
get the brunt of this criticism, that in
their rush to save lives they destroy or
tamper with the scene in such a way
that evidence is useless – and
firefighters have the advantage of
working with their law enforcement
colleagues every day, which cannot be
said of CBIRF. So how do they manage
the crime scene, respecting forensic
highways and evidence while they are
barrelling in to save lives?
“That is something that we are just
trying to get our hands around,”
admitted Colonel Pollock. “Crime scene
and evidence collection hasn’t been
something that we have done a lot of in
the past and we want to bring in some
law enforcement expertise for training
on: how do we approach this as a crime
scene; how do we approach chain of
custody; sketching out the blast area;
marking components that might be
evidence. We don’t have a lot of
experience and see it as an area where
we can improve our capabilities. Last
week we worked with a team from
Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF)
during one of our internal exercises and
their insights were invaluable. Currently
when we go into a building and do our
primary and secondary searches we will
do a sketch of where we find the victims
in the building, to try and get something
to law enforcement to allow them to
build a case in terms of the incident, but
we need to do more.”
This would seem to be one of the
areas where there could be inter-DoD
support as the 20th Support Command
have done a lot of work on Sensitive Site
Exploitation and have a military
understanding of forensic highways etc
that would be useful to CBIRF. So has
there been any cross-pollination?
“We are not at the same level yet. 20th
Support Command, and some of the
other organisations that are involved in
that line of work, do a great job, but our
mission sets are a bit different. I view us
as a life-saving capability that operates
in a contaminated environment – our
real mission is search and extract, and
everything else we do enables that
mission. The primary mission is search
and extract of victims in order to save
lives and minimize suffering. We do
agent identification as an enabling
function, in order to make a
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CBRN – ER
determination on PPE, medical
treatment, and clean routes in and out,
we do decon operations in order to
mitigate the effects of the agent on the
victim and prevent the contaminants
spread, we do medical support in order
to stabilize the victims for follow on
treatment. We do EOD in order to deal
with threats that we find in the
battlespace, and we do technical rescue
for search-and-extract victims who are
incapacitated and in areas that are
difficult for us to get into with our base
search-and-extract capability. That is
different from what a lot of the
conventional chemical units have as
mission profiles.”
Technical rescue is a more advanced
form of search and extraction, so while
S&E training is provided to all Marines
and revolves around a basic operators’
course, technical rescue operatives are
trained in five of the six urban searchand-rescue (USAR) skill sets to provide
them with a more sophisticated
capability. While CBIRF has TICs and
CWA detectors, limited bio and rad
detection and EOD assets, as Colonel
Pollock explained, these are merely
enablers to allow them to rescue the
wounded – rather than skills and assets
in their own right. “It is all about search
and extract, we will do our best to
identify the isotope and levels of
radiation, for example, so we can work
out clean routes and areas to conduct
our operation, but the ability to identify
the threat is done to facilitate the
search-and-extract role. So if you need a
high level identification of the RDD, for
example, then 20th Support Command
is better suited: we don’t have nuclear
technicians in our organisation.”
While CBIRF is going to work on
their forensic training, one area where
they need investment is in communications equipment. “One of the things
that we need to do is improve our
communication capability. CBIRF has
been a first-responder organisation and
hasn’t had robust communications
capability. The XTS5,000 handheld
radio, which is interoperable with the
first responders’ capability, has been our
communications backbone. What we
have found as part of the larger CCMRF,
with its conventional military backbone,
is that we don’t have the capability to
satisfy communications interoperability
CBIRF is heavily involved in search and extraction, for both conventional
and non-conventional incidents . .©CBIRF
requirements that allow for the passage
of data intensive information between
the CBIRF and our higher HQ. This
requirement will require a much more
advanced equipment suite than what
the CBIRF currently owns, but the
solution has already been identified. We
will get the same type of capability that
the CERFs are using – the Unified
Command Suite and the Advon vehicle
which will give us a capability to access
email ,pass files and access military and
First Responder web sites. This capability also includes a down-range
camera system that can be taken into
the Hot Zone with the Identification
Platoon during their initial identification operations. This allows us to see
into the hot zone, at the Cold Zone CP,
or the feed may be accessed through an
IP address as streaming video by any
number of users.”
CBIRF’s new role is also analogous
to that of Australia’s Incident Response
Regiment (IRR – see CBRNe World
Spring 2007), who also had a major
CBRN role and have morphed into a
search-and-rescue (among other roles)
force with CBRN heritage – indeed,
CBIRF is going to send three Marines
out to observe their training in
November. It shows part of the
complexity and acceptance of the CBRN
challenge that units, as they mature,
become more complex and specific. So
all CBIRF personnel are now being
trained at DRDC to be able to deal with
wounds infected with nerve agent,
stabilising them and preparing them for
treatment – medical skills that are
unlikely to be found in general medical
staff. As well as the forensic and
communication skills that the Force is
going to improve on, the next challenge
will be to deal with some of the logistic
issues incumbent upon CBIRF being
part of CCMRF. “One of the things that
we saw when we ran this 10-kt
detonation scenario in downtown
Indianapolis was that the scale of the
disaster was so large that a single
Incident Response Force (IRF) from
CBIRF was just not enough. A 130- man
push downrange was swallowed up in
the magnitude of the event, so we
looked at pushing a follow on force
down range, another company of CBIRF
Marines, but that is something that we
haven’t exercised before. So now we are
looking at how we do command and
control when we have committed our
entire skill-set into the fight: how do we
exercise command and control under
CCMRF and furthermore under a
conventional Army infantry brigade? So
we need to expand our horizons within
CBIRF, and the communications piece
and information management is a big
part of it. Commanding two IRFs
simultaneously, while synchronising our
efforts with First Responders, CSTs and
CERF-Ps all under the CCMRF construct
is something that I want to focus on
during my time in command.”
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Gwyn Winfield talks to Ottawa and Toronto
Fire Services to find out whether they have great expectations
or a concern about hard times
Tale of two Cities
NBC has cast a long shadow over civil
responders. For the first years of their
life – whether that was 1995 or 2001 –
civil CBRN responders were always
toiling under the gaze of the military,
adapting what was of value and
sidelining what was not. Fire services
at first were the most quick to adapt,
many thought they already knew what
CBRN was, and some thought that
had been dealing with “CBRN”
incidents for years – they were called
hazmat incidents and happened on
roads and facilities the world over.
CBRN gained such tags as “hazmat
with teeth” or “hazmat on steroids”.
These phrases, and the military
doctrine that preceded them, have
been of limited value at best, and
downright dangerous at worst. Now,
however, first responders are casting
their own CBRN shadow; new lessons,
tactics, techniques and procedures
(TTPs) are emerging that show how
much they have developed.
Canada is one of the progenitors of
NBC lessons, one of the world’s big
chem/bio defence nations with both
well-established military research
programmes and facilities – and now
a burgeoning civil CBRN defence
capability. Kim Ayotte, Special
Operations Chief within Ottawa Fire
Services, explained where their
capability originated from: “Our story
starts in the early to mid-1990s.
Ottawa had a grass roots effort, the
fire fighters, police and paramedics
– and a whole bunch of other
people – met up and started
organising a hazmat response team.
As that developed it became a multiagency, multi-directional effort; and
NBC became a very large issue
following Tokyo and
the original World
Trade Center
attack. As a
result it became
a greater
concern and
Ottawa, as the Canadian capital, has a very well integrated response team ©Ottawa Fire Service
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Tale of two Cities
they started what became known as
the National Capital Response team.
This had representatives from seven
fire services – at the time there were
seven fire services, now we have
amalgamated and it is just one fire
service – they all had different
capabilities and materials, joined
forces, built this team and generally
did a good job. As you know when
you build something from the grass
roots up it is difficult to get buy-in
and funding unless you have people
in the know. And at the same time we
were challenged with the City of
Ottawa amalgamating all of the
principalities into one, so the political
pressure wasn’t on NBC but the
amalgamation, so there wasn’t a lot of
time devoted to CBRN. As a result of
the amalgamation the city decided to
give a large sum of money to an
emergency management programme,
which was an all-hazards-approach
programme and one of the projects
identified was a multi-agency,
interoperable CBRN response team,
from the municipal level. What we
did in developing that programme
and writing it up was identify the
need to use some of the technical
expertise that was devised by the
National Capital CBRN Response
Team, use the knowledge and
individuals to capture some of their
momentum to develop the team. We
furthered the project, put together a
programme and developed a multiresponse plan. We are now in the
implementation of that plan. We still
have some growing to do; however, I
don’t want to mislead the readers into
thinking there is no response, we
have had CBRN response since the
mid-90s and it is based on the first
responder response capability.”
As is often the case, the capital has
the jump on other cities in terms of
lead time because of the expected
higher threat, yet multi-agency is the
way forward for Canada. “We have
worked with Kim at a provincial level,
but there are some slight differences
in philosophy between Ottawa and
Toronto,” said Captain Bill Casey,
Special Operations CBRN POU for
Toronto Fire. “The team here is trying
A long experience of working together has sanded down most of the personality
clashes between services ©Ottawa Fire Service
to build a joint team model – fire
service, police and EMS – to bring
together multi-disciplines in the
team, so we can deal with a range of
incidents that could occur. We draw
on the specialists but have a lead from
fire, police and EMS who all work out
of the same office, even though the
operators work independently – so
the fire assets are based in fire
houses, EMS in theirs etc. When a
CBRN type call comes in, the three
groups bring their resources together
and work as one team.”
The multi-agency approach is not
unique to Canada, a number of
countries have tried something
similar (such as the UK’s MAIAT –
Multi Agency Initial Assessment
Team). Yet, as Orwell suggested, some
agencies are more equal than others
and many of these teams have been
beset by arguments over which is the
senior service. These tend, in time, to
bed down as the worst egos are
sanded down or removed and a
workable model approached. Has this
been the case in Ottawa?
“We have sanded most of them
down,” agreed Kim Ayotte, “though
we still have some minor
philosophical differences on who does
what at the scene. So while we are
still having active discussions we
would not see it as a feud, merely a
philosophical discussion. For
example, how many responders are
needed to go into the hot zone to do
the various tasks? We have looked at
other models, London, Singapore,
Toronto, Calgary, and a lot of them
seem to go towards a multi-agency
response with the agencies working as
a team, taking down barriers and
working in the hot zone. We are
working towards that end but we still
have a few discussions and differences
on how many people do you put in
danger to identify what you are
dealing with, for example.”
Decisions on how many people
enter the hot zone inevitably become
involved with what the role of the
people going in there are to do. This
is where Canada perhaps has an easier
time of it than their cousins south of
the border; the sheer abundance of
assets in the US can mean that
everyone enters the hot zone, as all of
them are equipped. Canada having
invested differently, in live-agent
training, for example, has fewer assets
per service, giving each agency
defined roles once they are in the hot
zone. “In general terms, detection
roles have been assigned to the fire
service,” said Captain Casey. “We train
together, however, and on arrival on
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CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CBRNeWORLD
the scene we create a reconnaissance
team to investigate exactly what we
are dealing with. The protocols here
call for a bomb tech from police,
hazmat tech from fire and maybe,
depending on the circumstances, an
advanced care individual from EMS.
These all go down range to investigate
whatever the event is. Therefore most
of the detection equipment is from
the hazmat tech: air monitoring, rad
detection etc.”
Kim Ayotte agreed, “Fortunately,
or unfortunately, depending on how
you look at it, we don’t have the
resources to make everyone a jack of
all trades, so we are very functions
based. Certain functions are the task
of certain agencies, and other
agencies play support roles and that
is how we manage the scene in
Ottawa. So the detection of an
incident is the responsibility of the
fire service with the support of police
and paramedics. Mass casualties, or
any patient care, is the response of
the paramedics; they are the key
responders and they have partnership
with the police. Crime scene,
evidence collection, explosives are all
the responsibilities of the police, and
to some degree a partnership with fire
and paramedics. It is function based
but the nice thing is we have 24/7
coverage, meaning that out of the fire
service we have people trained to the
CBRN/hazmat technician level
available on a 24/7 basis, not on call,
but on duty at all times.”
Part of the driver on training,
certainly within fire services, has been
the need to educate the base-level
user of the characteristic differences
between CBRN and hazmat, as Kim
Ayotte explained. “Personally I
understand why they talk that way as
the response protocols are very
similar between hazmat and CBRN.
There are, however, fundamental
differences that you have to recognise
and be familiar with to understand it
is not hazmat. You might be dealing
with mass casualties – the terrorists
aim is to get mass casualties – it is
likely to be a fast-reacting chemical
agent, so it has to be a fast response,
as opposed to hazmat which is about
slowing things down. So the
fundamental response philosophy is
different. You are also dealing with a
crime scene, whereas for hazmat it is
usually accidental in nature, so there
may be administrative investigation.
Crime scenes have different
considerations and you don’t want
criminals to get away with something
as a result of your inability to protect
evidence. It is also a major resource
requirement, many of our resources
will need to go on the road, so that
will stress the system, unlike hazmat
– CBRN tends to be a larger incident.
And finally the media, hazmat will
only bring a few media, CBRN will be
mass media and you need to have
systems in place to deal with that, you
have to expect them to be there.”
“There can be that [CBRN=
hazmat] mindset,” agreed Bill Casey,
“but because of the training we have
done we have been able to overcome
that. There are still those who are
going to stick hard and fast to the
‘fact’ that it is the same thing, but
once they get into the training they
realise the differences. One of the big
advantages is that when we work with
police and EMS counterparts we hear
it from their angle, and since they are
not exposed to hazmat in the same
way they are bit more open minded.
As a team we have been able to
overcome that mindset.”
Despite the attempts to decouple
the hazmat-CBRN mindset, the
detection tools that both fire services
have are both driven towards
traditional fire hazards – chemical
and radiological. Bio detection for
both cities falls down to the faithful
combination of hazmat ID and assay
strips to get a “Bronze-level”
confirmation before it is handed over
to labs for a positive detection and
identification. The other role that the
fire services have embraced is mass
decon, and both services have their
own decon assets. “It is based on the
location of the incident, we have both
capabilities [ability to set up
emergency decon and inflatable
structures]. If a large enough area and
people have been attacked then you
can easily knock sprinkler heads off in
car parks and have people go through
the garage and be deconned. We tend
to use our decon experts to ask them
in the first few minutes how can we
get the biggest bang for our buck. We
have access to inflatable tents and
decon trailers, but it all takes a little
longer to set up, and there is an
interesting system that we could
utilise here that we learned from
Montreal, where they take buses to
decon individuals by hooking up
water to the interior of the buses and
putting tarp over them you can deal
with different gender issues.”
Gender and ethnicity are going to
be the major bugbears of fire services
(or anyone else who has to do mass
decon): how do you manage people’s
beliefs in an emergency? There are no
solid answers to that. Chief Ayotte
admitted that they have reached out
into the various communities in
Ottawa, but that the take-up had not
been great – and this is true of most
multi-ethnic cities. One problem that
usually accompanies decontamination
– whether small or large scale – is the
destruction of evidence as water/foam
etc is sloshed around. This conflict
between saving lives and saving
evidence is a constant battle between
Toronto Fire has the majority of the
CBRN detectors
©Toronto Fire Service
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49
CBRNeWORLD
Tale of two Cities
police and fire and usually can only be
resolved through patient training and
explanation (though some nations,
such as Singapore, have allowed fire
personnel to collect evidence
admissible in a court of law). Ottawa
and Toronto deal with the challenge in
much the same way: by having small
multi-agency/disciplinary teams go into
the scene together, they can moderate
each other’s behaviour. “Our recon
team, the team that goes in to assess
what we are dealing with, will include
police forensic and bomb partners. So
we will go in with a paramedic,
forensics and a bomb tech, two hazmat
techs,” said Kim Ayotte, “and if the
forensic tech is not on scene right away
then the bomb tech will understand
forensic considerations; but we like to
go in with forensics as well. That said,
when it comes to deconning
individuals we have a system in place
where when we remove people’s
clothing we are bagging it and tagging
them so that further down the road the
police can assign the bag. We are also
working on a system where the people
coming through decon will be
photographed again for documentation
and security – but also for people’s
personal belongings for that matter –
and these images are secured by the
police service.”
While the multi-agency teams are
still relatively new, they are still being
improved on. “Right now we are
working with the federal government
on the CRTI research initiative and we
are also researching UAVs for use in
hazmat incidents. We understand that
there are some capabilities out there
that might suit our needs with the
detectors that we want to use, so we
working on future unmanned aerial
devices, either heli or planes –
obviously planes are a little more
difficult with sky scrapers – so we are
doing our background. Joint training
continues to be our focus and at the
forefront we are interested in pursing
more rapid response. As a fire service
we tend to have a rapid response, but
from a hazmat CBRN perspective not
so much; it is not as rapid as
everything else. So we are looking at
forward teams that can go in and do
a very quick assessment of what we
are dealing with in the first five to
seven minutes and update the hazmat
team as it comes forward and a rapid
decon capability so we can train
people to do good and rapid decon in
a short period of time as opposed to
the big inflatables.”
Toronto’s aims are a bit smaller,
“We need to keep on top of the
technology, there is a lot out there
Toronto Fire has the majority of the CBRN detectors ©Toronto Fire Service
and we need to decide what we need
for the city and what will work best
for our personnel and keep us safe.
We have been lucky with our system
here, we have had a lot of assistance
from federal and provincial
government as far as funding to build
a solid response through a lot of
training and acquisition of
technology, the biggest challenge is to
be able to move forward and maintain
the capability that we have.”
This concern over maintaining the
current level of funding and capability
is present in both cities, as Kim
Ayotte explained: “Complacency is
always a consideration, especially in
Canada. We tend to see ourselves as a
peaceful nation and if you ask people
in the street whether a terrorist attack
is likely in Canada they would say,
‘No, we are too nice for that!’ The
reality is that we know what lists we
are on and know it is a matter of time
and have to be prepared and not
complacent.“ As Captain Casey points
out, Canada has been lucky in that all
its terrorist plots have been detected
before inception, and that this tends
to reinforce a belief that it can never
happen. Regardless of public
perception, the work that is going on
at a municipal level, when combined
with some of the federal work
through the CRTI, but also
organisations like RCMP (Royal
Canadian Mounted Police) and JIRU
(Joint Incident Response Unit), means
that Canada has a very strong
response. The challenge seems to be
to maintain the evolution without an
attack. The military has the
“advantage” of being sent to places to
face opponents with these weapons,
forcing a constant evolution, while
the passive defence at home is more
at danger from inertia. Perhaps what
we are seeing is the last major
evolution of civilian CBRN, and that
further developments will be iterative
improvements on the fringes –
increases in decon solutions for
example. But to stretch the Charles
Dickens’ analogy, expectations will
now need to be managed to ensure
that complacency doesn’t entail a
bleak house.
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Gwyn Winfield looks at the current blossoming of popularity of Fourier
Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy technology
Fantastic
FOURier
FTIR is a technology for the
identification of hazardous chemicals
and well-understood (by scientists at
least). It gathers information on the
molecular vibration of samples after
interrogating them with an IR laser. The
detectors most commonly found on the
crime scene, or even battlefield, are
either Smiths Detection’s HazMat ID or
Bruker’s Rapid system. While the two of
them both use FTIR they are
fundamentally different detectors: the
former is a point detector that requires
the sample to be introduced to it, while
the latter is a passive stand-off detector.
The two of them they have constituted
the market for FTIR detectors for the
past five years – even to the extent of
Smiths and Bruker signing a marketing
partnership (for the promotion of each
other’s products) in 2003. Recently this
has changed – in a big way. Not only are
Smiths now competing with Ahura
Scientific for the point detection and
Bruker with Bertin and Avir Sensors on
stand-off, but Smiths and Bruker now
have competing products in each other’s
markets. What has driven this sudden
surge in the market?
It certainly isn’t the technology.
FTIR has been around for 40 or 50 years
in the laboratory, and even the rugged
field versions have been around for five
years. So while there has been some
work done on making it soldier/copproof, it clearly is not a case of the
technology coming of age.
“FTIR has been in use for quite a
long time, but the application for the
market that we are interested in has
only really emerged since 9/11,” said
Sebastian Meyer Plath, Managing
Director of Bruker Daltonics. “Before
that there was no need to deal with
white substances coming from envelopes
– that triggered it. What would be small
enough to be practical – and FTIR can
be done quite small – and can be used
without an inlet – like you need to with
IMS or GCMS? It can also be kept fairly
simple, decontaminated and rapid, so
that is why the technology came into
use. A few companies like SensIR saw
that quickly and came up with a
product, whereas other companies, like
Bruker, only became interested after the
other companies enjoyed their success.
Smiths, through SensIR, showed that
the market is quite big, which is why
Bruker became interested in coming up
with a product. Both Bruker and Ahura
have a ‘Me Too’ product.”
As Sebastian Meyer Plath suggests, it
is the market that has allowed HazMat
ID – and by extension FTIR – to become
mature. The need for on-site analysis
gave serious organised crime officers
and others involved in counter-terrorism
a need that FTIR could fill – that other
technology like IMS could not. The
sudden embrace of FTIR seemingly was
a bit of surprise to the big companies,
such as Smiths and Bruker, as neither of
them had organic products, and Smiths’
HazmatID came from the purchase of
the original producer of it – SensIR in
June 2004.
This ability to hit the ground
running clearly paid Smiths dividends,
since they managed to have the market
to themselves for four years – as Aaron
Gagnon, Smiths Detection’s Director
Product Management for Global Military
and Emergency Responders, agreed: “At
that point we had the right product at
the right time and we did fairly well.
HazMatID was sealed for decon, offered
a protein screen for biological agents,
and armed responder’s with confidence
to make decisions on-scene. All this
time we have been growing the IR
library on our own platform, which is a
proven strength. IR spectra are like the
FBI labs of fingerprints. Like
fingerprints, every chemical is unique.
To date, the HazMatID enables
responders to identify more than 34,000
materials in seconds utilizing its large
onboard IR database. This is an
important advantage in emergency
response and it has played a key role in
the product’s worldwide success. ”
In trying to differentiate between
Smiths’ HazMat ID, Bruker’s Mobile IR
and Ahura’s TruDefender FT, the
database is probably the easiest way to
do it. There is some value to using
quantity of substances identified too.
One of the main roles of these detectors
is to tell the user exactly what the
unknown substance is. While there
might be some consolation in knowing
that it is not an organophosphate, blood
or blister agent, there are plenty of toxic
industrial chemicals which are
unpleasant that don’t fit into those
categories – so the wider the net, the
better the detector. This is certainly the
philosophy that Smiths and Bruker fit
into. “Databases are critical to the
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52
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CBRNeWORLD
system,” agreed Aaron Gagnon, “and
that is why we work so carefully with
chemical companies to expand the
library to include explosives, narcotics
and chemical warfare agents. You can
also send it remotely, or wirelessly,
using the world-wide web, to our
reachback 24/7, 365 days a year, support
to further examine the data that comes
off the system.”
Bruker’s Managing Director felt that
the ease of availability of FTIR spectra,
however, stopped it becoming too much
of a distinguishing factor. “The databases
are readily available, standard FTIR
databases. You don’t need to tailor the
DB – you don’t need to measure all the
spectra, you can buy these and they
usually look the same. You can use a
commercially available FTIR database to
have a starting point and from there you
have to make a decision as to which ones
are interesting.”
Ahura, however, have a completely
different view of the issue. One of the
problems with FTIR as a technology is
that it is not particularly good at dealing
with mixes, or samples complicated with
other “interferents”. Ahura don’t try and
do the quantitative approach, countering
Smiths’ 35,000 samples with only 1,500;
for them it is a qualitative process. “The
meaningful analysis of data and analysis
of mixtures is what the product sells on,”
said Duane Sword, Ahura’s Vice
President of Product Management. “This
is where we will differentiate and put our
engineering effort – we can identify and
disseminate five mixtures. It could be
more but the library is built on spectral
information that has been built on our
platforms, and by design we cannot allow
importing of other spectral labs. There
are other vendors and equipment out
there that make the importing of
libraries into a feature, but you don’t
know under what conditions it was
collected, how it was calibrated, etc.
Every one of our library item has been
developed on our platform. It doesn’t
have to be developed by us, our clients
build more library items than we do. But
every time an item is added to the library
you are making the mixture analysis
more complex, because now you are
looking at all the peaks and all the
troughs of that spectral chemical
fingerprint, and all the combinations of
Ahura's TruDefender FT has taken FTIR down to its smallest size yet.
©Ahura Scientific
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53
CBRNeWORLD
Fantastic FOURier
chemicals, to make out what are the
unique attributes of the chemical
structure you are looking at. We can
continue to add libraries, but making
sure that we do not deteriorate the
mixture analysis is a fundamental part of
what we want to do. The other part of it
is speed. We are building libraries on
commercially available processors, so we
want to do it in seconds. It is not a list
of things that it could be, it is not a list
of things that it is probably, we want to
provide clear guidance without
ambiguity. If we can’t do that it will say
No Match Found, use reachback and
give answers in minutes.
“There are different philosophies and
it is difficult for me to say what is right
and wrong,” continued Mr Sword. “Our
target user doesn’t have a chemistry
background, they are in combat, or have
a lot of things going on, and want to
trust the instrument in their hand to
give them guidance so that they can get
out of there. Taking a sample, getting a
list of stuff that it might be... I am not
sure that that is so useful. Is there
everything in the library? No. Is there
everything that is predominantly out
there in the library? Yes, and if they are
not there from us then our three-letter
acronym customers will have put them
there based on their experiences. We are
not allowing third-party labs to import
spectra and never will as we want to
have the qualitative hit-quality index
answer and our philosophy is answers
with confidence rather than a degree of
probability. We add about 5-600 items
on the library every three months and
they are added to the product offering
free of charge.”
Ahura’s TruDefender FT uses a
chemometric system, to give clear,
colour-coded guidance to the user about
what he is seeing, as Duane Sword
explained. “Chemometrics allows us to
present meaningful information that can
be acted upon without extensive
chemical knowledge. Accuracy,
precision, and speed are the key themes
for our product development effort,
providing dependable guidance our
customers know they can rely on. At
Ahura Scientific, we haven’t just focused
on what’s inside the box; we have looked
at the box itself. This isn’t a lunch-box
sized instrument designed for scientists;
it is a handheld tool designed to give
guidance, quickly, to first responders in
the field.”
Bruker have a more direct approach
to what makes their Mobile IR a
competitor. “Bruker’s advantage is the
robustness of the system itself: we are
using the trademarked ‘rock solid’
interferometer. Price is another selling
point – we are cheaper than HazMat ID
– and the availability of special
software and algorithms which were
developed for lab use makes it much
easier to use the system in conjunction
with reachback,” concluded Sebastian
Meyer Plath.
Smiths is not sitting on its hands in
this market, however. Seeing which way
the wind was blowing with Ahura’s
TruDefender FT, they have also launched
a handheld FTIR detector. “We have just
released the HazMat ID Ranger,” said
Aaron Gagnon, “this is a smaller,
New Nato nations, like Romania, are procuring stand-off detectors far faster than
estabished Nato countries ©CBRNe World
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Fantastic FOURier
Smiths Detection's first foray into Stand off detection, with Telops, has stalled, who will
their new partner be? ©CBRNe World
miniaturised FTIR. We have shrunk the
IR tech and the electronics and made it
so that the system can then be more
portable and brought more easily to the
sample in extreme applications so that,
if the customer is using it in mountains
or deserts, it brings increased portability
to the HazMat ID family of products.”
Yet it is not just in the point FTIR
detectors that there has been increased
competition. In 2006 Smiths, in
conjunction with Telops - launched their
stand-off FTIR detector. This partnership
was, however, short-lived, but Smiths
remains committed to the stand-off
market, as Rod Wilson, Smiths’ Director
of Marketing, explained: “Stand-off
detection is a clear emerging capability
requirement for chemical detection. The
technology, however, is immature and
needs careful review and consideration
to meet the expectations of potential
users. There are opportunities in this
area if the right technology is available.
To this end the US DoD are formulating
a programme which takes a system of
systems approach to providing an earlywarning capability: a stand-off chemical
detector is seen as an integral part of
providing this capability. Our belief is
that Stand Off passive Infra Red
technologies are the best match to this
problem currently available and we have
been interested in this technology for
a number of years. Smiths are very
keen to be involved in this programme
and are actively putting together
our approach.”
While Avir Sensors, Bertin and
Vojensky Technick Ustav are marketing
stand-off detectors, Bruker retains the
most dedicated and mature passive FTIR
product. Yet, while the US DoD tinkers
around the edges, there are very few
Western European Union countries
(usually the second biggest market)
embracing stand-off. Many of them
seem to put the tick it the “Would be
nice to have” rather than the “Must
Have” box.
Sebastian Meyer Plath disagreed:
“There are countries that are using
stand-off and they have it in their ‘must
have’ requirement box. That includes
UAE, Japan, India – they all have
military stand-off tech as a must have.
Also new Nato countries Romania,
Poland, Slovenia all want it or have it.
Their motives from country to country
are quite different, however. If you take
India, they have tried to get their
indigenous chemical detection
capability to do it for decades without
success; now they have made the
decision that they need to get
technology in from outside and then,
based on their experiences on that
foreign technology, will build their own
in the next 30 years. So they want to get
the most advanced tech into their
country as quickly as possible, which is
why they are looking at state of the art
in terms of application. New Nato,
because they didn’t have anything up to
Nato standard, were more flexible in
regards procuring new detector
technology. They were also the flexible
components in making sure that Nato
doctrine was adapted to use these new
detectors – as opposed to when we
launched our Bruker Rapid a couple of
years ago and Nato sloped shoulders and
said we don’t have the right doctrine
and tactics to use it. That meant
everyone turned away and said, ‘No Nato
country will buy that.’ That changed and
one of the reasons for that is new Nato
countries embraced new technology as
they had nothing and have gone a
further step, while established countries
are more fixed in procedures and can’t
be that flexible.”
Rod Wilson stated that, in his
opinion, the US would be the most
significant opportunity for this product
type, and this would be where Smiths
would be putting their efforts, and it is
easy to see why. The US certainly has an
infatuation with stand-off, whether it be
CB or R, and the money is there to fund
further research – as opposed to off-theshelf products. FTIR is generally seen to
be a complementary product, however,
as it does have well-understood
drawbacks. So at point detection it is
usually used in conjunction with raman
spectroscopy and currently for stand-off
the needs of triangulation, and
eradication of false positives, means that
the system is used in pairs – but in the
future it may well be that there is a
combination of passive and active
systems (to allow greater interrogation
of the cloud). Much like IMS there is
little more that can be done on FTIR,
some tinkering around the edges, but it
is certainly not going to be “the detector
of tomorrow”. Instead, it is a technology
that has been market driven. But now
that the market has its foot on the
accelerator, industry will, no doubt,
increase invention to differentiate and
capture market share from their rivals.
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56
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Nato troops engaged in overseas
operations can face terrorist actions and
an important question is: are these
troops ready and well equipped for such
events? To answer this question the Nato
Conference of National Armaments
Directors (CNAD) decided in 2004 to
launch an initiative called Defence
Against Terrorism (DAT). Eleven groups
have been created covering a wide range
of possible terrorist action such as
terrorism against infrastructures,
harbours, helicopters etc. Every one of
the 11 initiatives had a lead nation to
conduct the programme.
One of these initiatives, the
DAT–CBRN, Detection, Protection and
Defeat of CBRN weapons, is led by
France. The CEB (Centre d’Etudes du
Bouchet) which is the technical centre
of the French MOD–DGA (Délégation
Générale pour l’Armement) and in
charge the CBRN defence, has been
designated to lead this initiative. To fulfil
this duty, France has the opportunity to
co-operate with the Czech Republic, who
are France’s official support nation in
this DAT initiative.
To achieve the DAT objectives,
France relies on the knowledge and the
support of the Nato JCG-CBRN Defence
(Joint Capacity Group). The aim of this
DAT–CBRN is to identify if the alliance’s
CBRN capabilities are sufficient to face
a CBRN terrorist attack and to assess any
CBRN shortfalls.
To answer this question a list of Nato’s
CBRN capability weaknesses will be
produced. To improve the situation either
off the shelt solutions, or potentially
useful studies will be proposed.
A roadmap has been established for
the Nato DAT–CBRN and description of
the main steps is as follows.
Step 1:
2005 – Definition of a scenario of B and
C terrorist action with the WMD centre
participation.
Step 2:
May 2006 – Tabletop exercise in France
to play out the scenario. Establishment
of a first list of equipment shortfalls.
The scenario of the tabletop exercise
covered two terrorist actions (one Bio
CBRNeWORLD
Michel Desgranges, Coordinator CBRN DAT,
and Captain Laurent Robert, of CEB in France,
explain about CBRN defence against terrorism
DAT ol’
Black Magic
Nato's DGP influenced the choice of the stadium in the DAT field exercise
and one Chem). It was divided into
seven phases: three before the event, two
during the event, two after the event).
Before the event (phase 1) some
information gave indications of a
possible terrorist event. The exercise
was to see if the troops had the
possibility to exploit this information to
take preparatory measures to pre-empt
the terrorist event or to face it in the
best conditions.
During the event (phase 2), it is possible
to study if the equipment is convenient
for detection, protection and
intervention on possible contaminated
and/or injured people.
In phase 3, the equipment for
restoration were evaluated and a lack of
some devices was observed. Following
this a prepatory shortfall list of
equipments was established.
©CEB
Step 3:
October 2006 – Workshop on
conclusions of the tabletop exercise, in
Bucharest to finalise the shortfalls and
add recommendations.
During the workshop the shortfall list
coming from the tabletop exercise were
discussed and studied in details.The
detailed conclusions will be presented at
the end of the DAT-CBRN, but at this
step some improvements and
recommendation appeared:
– Improvement necessary for the
rapid detection and identification of
B and C agents.
– Need to have a detailed list of
chemical warfare agents and toxic
industrials agents
– Modelling to follow the event and to
take appropriate measures
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57
CBRNeWORLD
DAT ol’ Black Magic
– Improvements in special individual
protective equipment have to be
applied
– Detection of people infected with bio
agent was needed.
Step 4:
July 2007 – Field exercises in the Czech
Republic (Liberec) to increase the
shortfall list
To complete the information coming
from the tabletop exercise, one field
exercise in two parts was organised in
Liberec (Czech Republic). The first part
was dedicated to the defence group
proliferation (DGP) and consisted of a
chemical attack on a stadium with the
intervention of Nato troops . This
exercise was not exactly fully relevant to
the DAT mandate. The reason was forces
were used as first responders to come to
the aid of civilians while Nato requested
to focus our work on the protection of
alliance soldiers. Nevertheless, the
intervention of Nato troops as support
after the event gave interesting
indications on the equipment. The
second part of the exercise was totally in
the frame of the DAT–CBRN: an attack
on a Nato barracks with a radiological
dispersion by explosion.
Both exercises were conducted to
update the shortfall list. An effort was
made to express the capability gaps in
term of requirements.
Step 5:
March 2008 - Symposium organised in
France to have industrial and institutes’
presentations for potential solutions to
solve the shortfalls.
After the tabletop exercise and the field
exercise, the view of the deficiency of
equipment and capability gaps were
made clear. During the symposium in
France several presentations were made
by industries, institutes and laboratories
of several Nato countries to present
future solutions to improve and to
complete the equipment to face a CBRN
terrorist event. After the symposium,
the opportunities offered by the
industrial groups’ and institutes were
limited and Nato nations were asked to
complete the overview, sending fresh
contributions to improve the list of new
possibilities. This list will be divided
into quick wins, solutions for the
medium term and long term, depending
of the maturity of the technologies. This
task will be pursued in 2009.
– Final shortfall list – Integration in
the Nato ACAR (Allied Coordinated
Armaments Requirement)
document.
– Launching of studies to solve the
shortfalls through RTO.
Step 6:
April 2008 – DAT SIBCA (Sampling
Identification of B and C Agents).
Possible identification of new
equipment gaps for sampling and
identification.
Working closer with other initiatives:
If we examine the list of the 11 Nato
DAT initiatives the one concerning
IEDs and the one concerning the
infrastructures can have links with
the DAT–CBRN:
Improvised explosive devices can
have a C, B or R payload.
A first contact has been established
with the DAT–IED taking the
opportunity of a symposium organised
on this topic in Bourges.These contacts
will continue and a field exercise with
an IED with C or B or R payload will be
organised in 2010 in Suffield (CAN).
It is clear that when it is a question
of possible terrorist actions on
infrastructures the vulnerability of
such installations to CBRN possible
intrusion has to be taken into account.
It is possible to define some rules
and recommendations for the
hardening of such installations to
CBRN intrusion. A common work
between DAT infrastructures and DATCBRN will permit us to study this
problem and to propose solutions. This
task will be done during a specific
exercise in Belgium (BELCOAST –
October 2009).
The SIBCA exercise has given additional
indications on the quality and some lack
of equipment for samplings in
clandestine B or C laboratories. This
kind of exercise gaves two indications:
suitability of equipment and good
training of soldiers to discriminate how
and where to do samplings. This is a
good complement for the shortfalls list
and is really relevant concerning the
forensic issues in a CBR environment.
Step 7:
September 2008 – A symposium from
other DAT initiative (IEDs – Improvised
Explosive Devices) is organised in
Bourges. Links established with DATCBRN initiative.
The CBR counter-IED issue is one of the
major DAT military requirements.
France took the opportunity of the CIED, EOD and CBRN symposium hosted
in Bourges to tackle the problem.
During a specific CBRN-IED syndicate,
it became evident that the European
Defence Agency (EDA) has collected
useful information on this topic. So the
CBRN-DAT initiative has engaged a
connection with EDA to take the
advantages of its previous work and to
avoid duplication. CBRN-DAT was
represented as players in the EDA
tabletop exercise hosted in the Belgian
town of Jambes.
The way ahead:
2009-2010
– Continuation of the contacts with
the DAT–IED. Organisation of a field
exercise
– Establishment of links with the DAT
– infrastructures
Having a global view of the capability
gaps:
Having now a shortfall list of
equipment, it will be possible to propose
to integrate it into the Nato ACAR
(Allied Coordinated Armament
Requirement) list. By doing that it will
be possible to have an overview of what
is necessary in terms of equipment both
to face a classical CBRN attack and a
terrorist CBRN event. Some of the
equipment requirements are generic,
other are specific. Taking into account
the lack of equipment appearing in this
list and establishing a priority, it will be
possible to launch some studies (that is,
through NIAG or RTO) to improve the
Nato equipment of troops facing a
terrorist CBRN event.
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FIRST RESPONDERS HAVE TO BE
PREPARED FOR ANYTHING...
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CBRNeWORLD
Ton Theeuwen, of the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI),
tells Brian O’Shea about the work that they are doing on
CBRNE crime scene investigation
CBRNE CSI
One of the wonders of modern
television’s special effects is that it no
longer takes a strong stomach to be
involved in forensics but also to watch it
– as viewers of the CSI programmes will
aver. These programmes, like Quincy
before it, posit the view that, given a
crime scene, dramatic music and a
beautiful assistant, there is no crime
that they can’t solve. CBRNE will
certainly put this illusion to the test.
The anthrax letters took seven years to
be “solved” and these involved a
signature strain of anthrax; future cases
may not be so obliging, and the ability to
kill or wound from a distance is always
of interest to terrorist and criminals.
The Netherlands have set up a
specialist CBRNE forensic team within
their national Netherlands Forensic
Institute (NFI), and they are likely to be
involved in any suspected criminal or
terrorist use of CBRNE devices. Forensic
scenes of crime are split into four
categories: standard (requiring no NFI
forensic input), custom made (where
input is possible), custom + (where
investigation and input are likely for
complex murders etc) and calamity
(where there can be large-scale
involvement). CBRNE attacks are likely
to fall into the last category, and the
standard tool for the NFI involvement is
the Operational Calamity Team (OCT)
which counts about 30 members and
covers CBRN. Most of them will be in
other full-time employment and be
seconded to their project task in the OCT
for about 40% of their time.The team
that comes into action after some kind of
calamity, will be made up from a variety
of disciplines, depending on the type of
the calamity; e.g. marks and traces,
pathologist, toxicologist, biologist,
forensic anthropologist, safety
officer, logistic/tech support
etc. A ‘calamity team’ will
have about five to ten
specialists.
“The CBRNE specialists are people
who normally will be working on a
generic section – doing regular
biological, chemical or physical things,”
said Ton Theeuwen, “So we have some
colleagues who specialise in non-human
DNA, which needs not be ‘CBRN’, but
another part of their job is the biological
attack scenario, so they would try to
capture the DNA of bacteria used in
terrorist attacks. They all have regular
jobs and, if the right person is not
available in a certain picket setting, the
colleague who will go will have the
necessary amount of specific CBRN
knowledge and expertise to do the job.”
The Netherlands has put a significant
investment into CBRNE forensics: the
NFI is mandated to provide two teams
able to do two crime scenes,
and has to provide 24/7 support.
The NFI has about 500 staff,
mainly chemists and
biologists, but increasingly
they are training and
educating colleagues
to be CBRN
The Dutch MoD will provide decontamination assets to any civilian CBRN emegency ©Netherlands MoD
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CBRNeWORLD
CBRNE CSI
specialist. They are not the only forensic
assets in the Netherlands though, as Ton
Theeuwen explained, “The Netherlands
has 12 provinces, one national police
and 22 police regions with 19 regional
courts and about 600 prosecutors. The
NFI comes under the Ministry of Justice.
We are not the only forensic teams
though; police regions have their (non
CBRN) forensic teams as well and some
have labs. As the national institute we
are at the top. and specialised in very
complex problems.”
The process within the Netherlands
is that while there might be a local
forensic presence, it is covered by the
national forensic response. The LTFO
(National Team for Forensic
Investigation) comes into action in case
of a calamity such as a terroristic
(CBRN) attack. The OCT of the NFI is
part of the LTFO, but so are “Normal
crime scene investigators from the
police regions, a Disaster Victim ID
team, National Bomb Scene
Investigation team, National Bomb
Disposal and Royal Military Police. The
OCT is an intermediate between the NFI
and the police,” said Ton Theeuwen.
“Once the LTFO turns up, they are then
in charge of the forensic operation and
local police fold into the investigation.”
CBRN forensics is one of those issues
that a lot of nations are waking up to,
and it is fair to say that the Netherlands
has set the alarm clock a little earlier
than most, with a range of initiatives
under way. The police and Ministry of
Defence both have programmes
underway to try and raise awareness of
forensics in a CBRN incident and the
NFI has been granted the funds to
purchase a multi-disciplinary CBRN
forensic investigation and training
program. “In terms of the NFI we have
just acquired a new building, it is right
next door, and we are making a forensic
field lab in there. This will be used for
the training on every kind of subject,
including CBRN. Nowadays we are
planning how we can organise it and we
are looking for partners to participate
with. So while this will be for training
police, defence and maybe private
institutions like TNO, who also do CBRN
things, it will also be available for
foreign partners as well.”
One of the major problems with
forensics is that the whole process leads
to an arrest and prosecution, but all legal
systems and (in particular) operational
procedures and methods are not the
same. How much forensic training can
be read across, and how much has to be
left at a base level and further training
done on national systems?
Ton Theeuwen admitted that this
was a problem: “It is not internationally
uniform. This was demonstrated to us a
couple of months ago when we had an
exercise in the NFI with observers from
Canada, to see how we operated. They
had a lot of suggestions where we can
optimise our procedures, so we are open
to everything. Forensic investigations
are not the same everywhere and they
should be harmonised.”
The Netherlands, and the NFI in
particular, are very keen on exercising
forensics in CBRN, especially as it has
not always been as successful as it could
be. “Exercise Voyager was a national
exercise last year and it was
disappointing for us. It was planned to
be the first exercise that would have a
forensic component, but it didn’t work
out too well. The organisers of the
exercise didn’t focus enough on
forensics and in the alarming chain
something went wrong, so we were
alarmed too late in the exercise so we
couldn’t do what we wanted to do. They
were not focussed on forensics, they
were focussed on aid to victims,
decontamination, crisis management
etc. Forensics is under-exposed and this
was demonstrated at this exercise as we
wanted to have the forensic component
included but it didn’t work that way,”
said Mr Theeuwen.
Yet much in the same way that NBC
used to be the rather dismal ending to a
good exercise, forensics is seen as the
dismal end of a good CBRN exercise. All
the running around, waving detectors,
cutting clothes off people and getting
sweaty stops, and the forensic “slow-way”
begins and people have to start being
careful. But the rushing around is a part
of the crisis management stage, getting
people out of harm’s way, and this is
directly at odds with slow-time forensic
investigations – if the latter is delayed
too long, however, there is nothing to do
as all evidence has been destroyed.
Ton Theeuwen admitted it was a
problem: “It is an issue, in normal
forensics investigations we can take our
time, freeze the crime scene etc. Now
there are dangerous agents in the air,
there is a shortage of forensic awareness
and we have all these people working in
the crime scene. They all should have a
forensic awareness, they should know
what they can do and what they cannot
do. Of course, victims come first, but
forensics mustn’t be forgotten. So when
people go through the hospital their
clothes should be collected, as through
the clothes you get a lot of evidence,
chemicals or debris. It is a forensic
awareness that should be taught not
only to the first responders like fire
brigade and medical people, but also to
the people in command e.g. the police.”
While there is a lot that can be
taught to police, fire, the military and
EMS about forensic concerns, it is not
just one-way traffic. Saving lives has to
take primacy and forensics need to get
with that part of the programme too,
speed up and fit into the force mix that
is needed to deal with the incident. If
forensics want to have a louder voice
then they need to be able to go in with,
or directly after, the first wave of
responders, sweep up as much “easy”
evidence as they can before the crime
scene is trashed – but at the same time
not obstructing the rescue operation.
“That is right,” said Mr Theeuwen.
“We want to go in, in close cooperation
with the fire brigade. In the Netherlands
the fire brigade is in command and they
decide when it is safe for the police, for
us and for others to go in. So if the fire
brigade have this forensic awareness and
allow us to go there with medics and the
other institutes that do public health,
then we can join them, work together in
detecting and collecting samples and
making them ready for transport.”
The CBRNE part of the OCT is
trained and equipped to enter the hot
zone, with level A suits, detectors and
decontamination. This is where the
learning curve starts coming from the
other side; other responders have
learned how to deal with the
physiological burden, but this is still a
challenge for forensics. “We have gas
suits and we exercise in them but we are
aware that we have a lot to learn,” said
Ton Theeuwen. “In normal training
everything goes fine, but for CBRN it is
difficult to handle a sample and collect
them in normal containers as we are
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62
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CBRNeWORLD
HQ - Welcome to the NFI ©NFI
used to. Everything is much more
difficult because of the suit handicap, so
there need to be new procedures to
collect samples, you cannot pretend that
you are in a normal crime scene or lab
situation. We are now developing a
project to design procedures allowing us
to collect samples in a gas suit under
hectic circumstances.”
The OCT have their own detectors
that they take into the crime scene, but
this is more for self-protection and
awareness than part of the crisis
management process. “We do have our
own detectors, but this is a co-operation,
we want to rely on the fire brigade and
also people like TNO. We do have our
own detection equipment as you might
be in some places in the crime scene
where there are no partners and you
want your own equipment both for
whether there is a sample but also for
your own safety.”
As well as the work that the Dutch
government is doing on raising
awareness in first responders on
forensics, there are some specific
projects that they have funded as well.
There are seven sub-projects running
until 2012. These are divided into
collection, such as protocols, detection,
training etc. Investigation of crime
scene, mobile identification, 3D
registration, decon of evidence,
transport of samples and forensic
identification of the agent in the lab.
The latter is a whole order of magnitude
greater than the military and civilian
forces are used to. This is trying to get
inside the “fingerprint” of the agent to
find out exactly where it was made,
where the precursors came from, what
sort of facility made it, what facility
made the precursors, what is the origin
of the isotope etc.
Yet while these might provide the
silver bullet that CSI fans love, it is the
basics that the NFI is focussing on as
well, as Mr Theeuwen explained: “In the
exercise I mentioned with the
Canadians we had a victim with a
threatening letter on him. The letter
was contaminated with nerve gas, so we
were not able to take it straight from
the chest and examine it at our Institute
in a conventional way. All the typical
investigations you would normally take
out on a threatening letter, like DNA,
fingerprints, indented writing etc, could
not be done as this should be
decontaminated first. But how do you
do that without damaging the letter?
We cannot just put hypochlorite
decontaminant on it, evidence will be
destroyed. Maybe we can find a way that
this does not happen, and if not we have
to take it to a BSL lab and put it in a
glove-box and carry out our practical
forensic solutions, and after that we can
decon it. Another example during an
exercise was that we have a network of
Dutch labs carrying out investigations
on food etc. There are institutes in the
Netherlands that carry out C or B
investigations. They are selected to
handle chemical analysis – we are there
to watch the forensics. During the
exercise a rucksack ‘exploded’ and there
were nerve-gas-like chemicals in there,
so this gas has to be analysed, but also
the forensic investigation of this
rucksack, of the things that were in it
need to be investigated, fingerprints,
DNA etc. We were there in order to
discuss with these labs to see how they
could be analysed safely. The samples
cannot be heated too much because
then you can lose the fingerprints etc,
some sample should be collected for
sampling later. This forensic awareness
has to be taught to these institutes, it is
not just fire and police etc but also
these institutes.”
The Dutch are one of those nations
that have done a great deal of good work
that they are too apologetic about. They
are getting to grips with some of the
problems that occur when CBRNE and
forensics collide in an open and honest
way – that cannot be said of many other
nations. The Netherlands have
formalised co-operation between civilian
and military forces (see Spring 2008)
and this pays dividends when it comes to
training for forensics, where other forces
have to go through political and verbal
gymnastics when it comes to providing
forensic training to military forces.
Equally the funds that the Dutch
government has put into forensics
might not mark them as unique, but
certainly marks them as forward
thinking. While they may have a lot of
problems still to “solve”, such as how do
you manage forensics in SCBA and level
A, and how do you organise this
database of CBRN agents (biological
agents tend to naturally evolve, for
example), these are problems that have
no solution, requiring instead a constant
refinement. It will be interesting to see
how the multi-disciplinary centre
evolves, as if it can receive – as well as
give – lessons, then it could conceivably
become the leading CBRN forensic
centre in Europe.
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Ever since Siegfried, hero of the
Nibelungenlied, washed himself in the
blood of a slain dragon, and Achilles was
immersed in the Styx, to make them
invulnerable (sadly neither of them made
sure that they had third-party
verification!) defence scientists have been
trying to emulate such wonder armour.
Since the Iron Age, however, armour has
always come at a weight cost, the more
you are protected the heavier, and less
mobile, you become. The trick has
always been to try and provide both
protection and mobility – and not to
leave any heels unguarded!
Recently there have been a number
of claimants to this panacea. Kevlar and
aramid both promised, and delivered, a
great deal, yet neither could ever quite
claim the laurels. Now there is a
newcomer: single-walled carbon
nanotubes (SWCNT). While lacking the
catchy names of Kevlar and aramid, they
are one of the strongest materials known
to man. Providing a strength 100 times
that of steel, yet at only 1/6th of the
weight, having conductivity far greater
than copper and needing far less weight
of material, they suggest that the future
might well be nanotube shaped. As with
any scientific discovery there have been a
number of speed-bumps along the way,
recurring problems with overstated
quality, consistency, low supply and,
above all, cost.
Steacie Institute for Molecular
Science of The National Research
Council of Canada (NRC-SIMS) feel that
they are close to solving all of these
problems, and unlocking the huge
potential of SWCNT. Carbon nanotubes,
while new, are not unknown. Many
leading sportspeople already use a
version of them, as Dr Simard explained:
“Carbon nanotubes have already been
CBRNeWORLD
Dr Benoit Simard, Program Leader of Molecular and Nano-Material
Architectures, at the National Research Council of Canada,
explains the work that they are doing on next-generation armour
introduced. There are various classes of
carbon nanotubes: you have the multiwall one, which is like concentric walls
within itself, and single walled, which is
a single sheet that is wrapped up on itself
to make a straw-like material. So far
multi-walled is happening within sports:
golf, hockey, skiing, baseball bats.”
Yet ballistic protection is at the
cutting edge; forces on operations are
constantly looking for lighter material
that can provide the same, or greater,
protection against 7.62AP (armour
piercing) and blast (and fragment)
protection. The science behind SWCNT’s
role in this fight is what is motivating Dr
Seeking
Dragon’s
Blood
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
65
CBRNeWORLD
Seeking Dragon’s Blood
Simard. “At NRC-SIMS we are making
SWCNT and, with our industrial partner,
the idea is to see whether we could build
better ballistic material based on SWCNT
integration. I use the word integration as
we could either modify existing material,
or we can create new ones. This is a R&D
project, so we don’t know what the
outcome is but we are hopeful that the
outcome will be positive. In respect to
SWCNT, Professor Alan Windle at
Cambridge has demonstrated that you
can make SWCNT fibre with
performance surpassing Kevlar or
ballistic fibre; this was published in
Science (Science 318, 1892 (2007).
Theoretical calculations that suggest that
SWCNT would be a good ballistic
material, so this is the aim of the project:
to provide a practical realization of this
theoretical calculations. That this can be
done and to create a demonstration of
full integration into a body armour
system that has better ballistic
performance and less weight. One aim,
through all of nano composite material
work, is to get similar performance but
with a much lighter material. If it is for
transportation it is to save fuel and
answer environmental concerns; in the
case of ballistic it is too make it more
agile and more flexible for the operator.
Eventually it is possible SWCNT may
have not only wonderful mechanical
properties but also electrical and thermal
properties so you could think of building
material that allowed temperature
controls, sensing capability, etc.”
As you might expect on any research
project there is quite a lot of wait and
see in terms of what the final system
will look like, but what Dr Simard is
talking about is a fabric – rather than a
steel-type plate – but SWCNT will be
integrated with other materials, which
will affect its end shape. “We are talking
about making fabrics,” said Dr Simard.
“It can be incorporated into metal and
other material, like ceramics, but we are
not talking that type of material. This
would be material like Kevlar, or even
polyethylene material: polyethylene
sheets can be bent, so it is not a metal.
The type of protective equipment that
we are talking about does not plan to
have ceramic plates, but it is too early
to be sure of anything, especially
results. It could be Kevlar, but it all
needs to be demonstrated.”
The latter is always hugely
important in any form of armour, but
especially so in bomb suits. While there
will have to be a great deal of
demonstrations it would seem that any
suit using SWCNT for EOD would have
to be a layered approach, the size and
speed of the fragments combined with
the blast wave means that SWCNT could
not be the only solution. That said,
however, any reduction in weight,
especially on the front and back plates,
is always going to be welcome. Where
SWCNT will probably drive the greatest
advantage is its introduction into
everyday clothing, bringing a high
degree of ballistic protection with it. Yet
it is not just ballistic protection that
SWCNT bring, their heat conductivity
also means that they are relatively cool.
But this works both ways, the last thing
the user wants is a two-way transference
of heat, especially if they are involved in
battlefields or firefighting!
There is further good news:
“SWCNT has been demonstrated by
others to be a wonderful flame
retardant, so if you are subjected to
flame then the introduction of SWCNT
might be a good thing, but it needs to
be tested! With the introduction of
SWCNT into thermo plastics, for
example, then the flame retardency of
carbon nanotubes becomes very good,
better than other material.”
The good news doesn’t stop there:
while the material may be porous, it is
chemically inert. “SWCNT are
chemically very resistant, in fact it is
one of the issues that you have with
them – or with carbon nano tubes in
general – they are chemically inert. For
chemists it offers some challenges in
that how can we modify SWCNT to
make them useful without destroying
their intrinsic properties. Once you get
SWCNT it is a wonderful material, but
by itself it has little value unless you
know how to integrate it in some sort
of material, and that involves doing
some chemistry to it. You have to bring
some innovation in on how to
chemically modify it.”
SWCNT will not become the CBRNE
suit of the future, it will be a another
material option that can be used to
provide a specific multifunctional
properties in the CBRNE tool kit of
materials. however. What they will offer
is an extra layer to an existing, probably
permeable, CBRN suit. For example
instead of a Nomex, fire-retardant liner,
for example, the user would build in a
SWCNT liner, giving both fire
retardency and blast protection
capability. This would have application
for CBR IEDs, where the explosive is
not likely to be too great – don’t want to
incinerate the agent – though there
may be some fragmentation risk. If the
SWCNT can stop the under layers from
being perforated then the activated
carbon (the absorbent qualities of
SWCNT still need to be tested) stands a
greater chance of protecting the user
(though the blast wave is likely to push
some agent through the suit), all a far
lower physiological burden on the user
than the current solutions. Currently
the cost is too high and the
manufacturing process too loose
(though the NRC-SIMS has promising
research in both these areas) but
SWCNT is likely to appear in PPE
within the next five to seven years. Once
it does the chances are that it will be a
true revolution; its high conductivity
and low weight opens up the door to inbuilt sensors – life systems,
temperature, chem/rad? – offering true
“soldier of the future” capability.
“SWCNT are relatively new so, like
any new material, it follows the standard
innovation curve,” said Dr Simard. “So
carbon fibre in the early 1970s was really
expensive, only used in aerospace
applications... now it is everywhere.
SWCNT will follow the same path,
already the commercial cost has gone
down quite dramatically. One advantage
is that we think that it doesn’t require
much material to produce an effect, and
mass production is at our doorsteps. So,
once some engineering problems are
solved, the cost will come down
dramatically. . We are working on an
integrated solution that is a solution that
renders SWCNT useful and this requires
full circle from high quality SWCNT
production, chemistry to material
making.. The first thing that matters at
this point is to break the ice and make
the proof of principle that ballistic
materials with accrued properties can be
made. In turn, this will catalyze the
development of technologies , even green
technologies, that will these new
materials cost competitive.
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CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CBRNeWORLD
Cath Rogan, Principal of Smart Garment People,
on keeping your cool in CBRN clothing
Cool It!
The human body has an amazing
capacity to regulate its core
temperature. Unfortunately, clothing
designed to combat CBRNE threats
seriously interferes with these
mechanisms, causing thermal stress to
remain one of the most pressing
challenges faced by designers and users
of CBRNE Personal Protective
Equipment (PPE).
Advances in materials such as
improved adsorbent technologies,
selectively permeable membranes and
new ceramic composites are all creating
thinner, lighter protective materials that
can contribute significantly to improved
wearer comfort, longer working times
and reduced physiological burden. The
situation is clearly improving, but as
“reduced thermal load” remains on the
wish list of every buyer and user of
CBRNE PPE, clearly there is still a
significant performance shortfall.
Textile-based Phase Change Materials
(PCMs) have been around for a number
of years but PPE developments have had
limited success. However, recent
advances in materials and a more
sophisticated approach to garment
design could mean that now is the right
time to take another look at PCMs.
What are PCMs?
Phase Change Materials are latent-heatstorage materials which use chemical
bonds to store and release heat as they
change from one physical state or
“phase” to another (usually from a solid
to liquid or vice versa).
PCMs change phase within a given
temperature range, absorbing thermal
energy (heat) during the heating
process, then storing it until cooling
causes the reverse effect and releases the
heat. A key feature of PCMs is that while
they are absorbing large amounts of
heat, they don’t get hotter, but remain at
an almost constant temperature.
The PCMs used for clothing
applications are generally either organic
paraffin wax or Polyethylene Glycol
(PEG)-based materials, or hydrated
inorganic salt solutions (often sodium
sulphate decahydrate). These PCMs have
excellent latent-heat-storage capacities
from around 220 to over 250 j/g and
transition temperatures in the range of
25 to 35°C, closely reflecting the comfort
range for skin temperature.
Hydrated salts are inexpensive, nonflammable, non-toxic and popular as
“cooling vest” gel pack inserts. Yet, when
used in this way, their performance
degrades over time as the salts
precipitate, reducing the heat storage
capacity and hardening the packs as they
sink to the bottom. An interesting
innovation has been to tackle this
problem in another way, which
incorporates salt hydrates into
membranes, making them much more
useful for clothing applications.
By far the most popular PCMs
currently used in textile applications,
however, are paraffin waxes and PEG
compounds. Originally developed for the
Nasa space program to protect astronauts
and their instruments from heat
fluctuations, these PCMs have differing
transition temperatures, but can be
blended to create a PCM tailored to
change phase at the desired melting or
crystallisation points.
These are usually (but not always)
enclosed in a protective microcapsule to
allow them to be applied to fabrics in a
variety of ways. The microcapsules vary
in size depending on the application,
from around 1 to 30 micrometers in
diameter (a micrometer being equal to
1000th of a millimetre). They can be spun
directly into synthetic fibres and spun
into yarns, applied as fabric coatings,
dispersed in foams to be applied to fabrics
or, in a more recent innovation, infused
directly into fabrics or finished garments.
The performance of
microencapsulated PCMs doesn’t
degrade over time or after repeated
phase change cycles; the effect is
permanent and will last as long as the
garment (although some microcapsules
can be shed in repeated laundering).
Flammability of paraffin-based PCMs
is a concern for CBRNE environments,
although in such cases, as for other
internal fabrics and components, PCMs
are protected by flame retardant (FR)
outer layers and can be combined with
FR layers inside multi-layer systems.
Sounds great – so why
aren’t we using PCM
fabrics
everywhere?
Well, for one
thing,
although the
PCMs
described
above are all
relatively
inexpensive,
the
microencapsulation
process isn’t and
processing into yarns/ fabrics/
membranes also adds cost, placing
textile PCMs at a significant premium
when compared gram for gram to
gel packs.
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Practically speaking, the cooling
effect of any PCM added to clothing is
offset by the amount of thermal
resistance it adds to the ensemble. Also,
as the amount of PCM used in the fabric
(the “load factor”) increases, the stiffer
and more thermally resistant the
resulting fabric is likely to be.
Simply put, clearly PCMs integrated
into comfortable, flexible, breathable
textile structures can’t equal the volume
of PCM liquid or gel in pouch inserts,
but the effect can still offer a
considerable advantage, particularly if
the effect is amplified by incorporating
them into one or more PPE layers that
are engineered to optimise body cooling.
Then there’s the question of the
maths...
PCMs have a finite
capacity for thermal
heat storage and,
once all the PCM
has melted, the
cooling effect has
reached its peak
and no further
cooling will
occur. If
there is no
drop in
ambient
temperature, the
PCM simply stores
the heat and the fabric
layer is then just another
addition to the overall
thermal resistance of the
ensemble.
We’ve already seen that textile
PCMs have a measurable storage
capacity. So if we take that figure,
multiply it by the amount of PCM
“loaded” into the fabric and compare it
to the amount of heat we need to
lose...that should tell us what the “total
cooling effect” is, right?
Volker Schuster, Technical Director of
Outlast Europe GmbH in Germany, says:
“It is a question we are asked a lot, but
the response is very difficult and
customers think that we are being
evasive when we explain that the solution
is not so straightforward as the PCM
amount on a fabric, but how it is used,
the environmental conditions, the type of
base fabric is it applied to and so on.”
It’s not that the maths is irrelevant;
it’s more that there are so many
additional relevant variables, that the
importance of the maths tends to be
grossly overestimated and sometimes
further development is rejected on the
basis that “the figures don’t add up”.
PPE innovations using PCMs need to
combine PCM advantages with
physiological understanding and
garment-design technology to create an
effective cooling system.
What’s more, the PCM effect isn’t
simply to dissipate heat generated by
the body or the external environment,
but to also slow down the heating
effect, delaying the onset of sweating
and the accompanying build-up of heat
and discomfort inside the ensemble
that this brings.
Similarly, when heat builds from
external sources (for example, wearing
body armour in hot, sunny conditions),
the PCM transition may be in response
to external heat, rather than internal
body heat, again delaying body
temperature rises by
preventing/delaying the inward
conduction of heat from the
environment.
How does the body cool down?
Body temperatures need to be kept
within a fairly narrow range in order to
maintain optimal body functions. The
average core body temperature hovers
around 37°C, with skin temperature at
around 34°C. Increases of up to 5 or
even 6 degrees in skin temperature can
be considered safe for short periods, but
a rise of 1 or 2 degrees in core
temperature can severely affect
cognitive functions and, if not
corrected within a relatively short
time, may lead to heat stress and
the risk of hyperthermia.
The body generates
heat through
metabolism, even
when at rest
(around 100 to
160 watts) but
when
working,
muscle
activity
and
the
major organs work harder, generating
heat with outputs of 500 to over 1000
watts for moderate to strong physical
exertion. Wearing CBRN protective
clothing or body armour, rapidly
accelerates internal heat generation due
to the combination of additional
physical burden (making the muscles
work harder) and, crucially, the
increased thermal resistance of the
protective clothing layers.
The external environment can also
be a major contributing factor to both
heat build-up and heat loss. Working in
dry, hot desert conditions compared
with cold weather for example, or being
able to create some air ventilation or
movement (eg under body armour) all
influence the PPE cooling design
elements. The temperature gradients
between the skin, the microclimate
inside the clothing layers and the
external environment are also
instrumental in deciding if heat flows
towards or away from the body.
When in a cool environment, most
body heat (up to around 75%) is lost
through convection and conduction. As
air passes over the skin, it is generally
cooler than the skin surface, allowing
heat transfer from the body to the
surrounding air (dry heat loss).
However, when we add clothing, the
environment gets warmer, or we start to
work harder, one of the body’s first
responses to skin temperature
increases is to produce
sweat, which cools
the body by
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Cool It!
evaporation. In warm environments
evaporation is the main heat loss
pathway and around 2,500 joules of
thermal energy are lost for each gram of
sweat that evaporates from the skin.
An important point to note here is
that even as humidity builds inside the
ensemble, this evaporative cooling can
continue. Professor George Havenith,
from Loughborough University in the
UK, is one of the world’s leading experts
on thermal regulation and clothing
design. He explains: “As the air
temperature rises, its capacity to hold
moisture also rises, so as long as the
surrounding air temperature is lower
than skin temperature, sweat will
continue to evaporate from the skin
even at 100% relative humidity.”
However, as George Havenith and his
colleagues have discovered, heat
transfer occurs even beneath
impermeable ensembles and,
interestingly, they also found that the
cooling effect was increased as moisture
inside the ensemble moves closer to the
outside of the system.
Designing cooler clothing systems
Even from this very limited review of
the ergonomics of body cooling, it is
clear that fabric and clothing layers can
have a great influence on the overall
thermal resistance of a PPE ensemble:
every layer counts. Fewer, thinner and
carefully engineered layers will optimise
overall cooling.
Undoubtedly “breathable” fabrics
with a low resistance to evaporative
cooling (RET value) and a low
resistance to conductive heat loss (RCT
value) can be very effective in assisting
heat loss. In PPE, however, many
“breathable” PPE materials still retain a
relatively high thermal resistance,
which can be quickly overwhelmed by
internal and/or external heat production
in CBRNE environments.
Additionally, some situations call for
the use of protective plates and fabrics
that are completely impermeable to
moisture vapour, so the option of using
PCMs to “lock away” some of the excess
heat can add a new dimension to
cooling layers where vapour cannot
escape from inside the layers. In these
cases, evaporative cooling can also be
created by pre-wetting fabrics on the
outside of the garment where this is
practical or possible.
Having a dry air layer against the
skin is particularly important for comfort
and ease of movement, as wet layers
cling to the skin causing discomfort and
chafing. A close fitting wicking base layer
will reduce this problem.
PCMs can add heat absorption
benefits to these engineered solutions
and various academic studies have
demonstrated different PCM
configurations (macro-capsules, infused
membranes and non-woven textiles
coated microencapsulated PCMs) can
have a positive cooling effect in
CBRN/hazmat clothing ensembles.
Other studies have concluded that the
size of the cooling effect created by PCMs
is dependent not only on the amount of
PCM in the ensemble (which could be
increased by using PCM in more than one
layer), but the transition temperatures
selected, where the PCM is located in the
ensemble (relative to thermal load and
external heat) and the body surface area
covered by the PCM garments.
So PCMs can reduce thermal load
even in the challenging conditions of
CBRNE protective clothing. To date,
many PPE manufacturers have used
simply an all-over, low-volume PCM
base layer, or inserted a layer of PCM
interlining in their ensembles.
Achieving a substantial cooling effect
using PCMs, however, requires fresh
approaches to garment engineering and
consideration of more than one cooling
structure or technology.
PCMs can be included in clothing in a variety of ways
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Utimia Madaleno, of the European Defence Agencies
research and development directorate on European force protection
– a multifunctional protective system
A shot in
the
Epidarm
Medical monitoring is a likely part of Epidarm ©DoD
European Defence performance is the
concept behind the European Defence
Agency (EDA) to foster concerted efforts
from European member states to
espouse structured and coherent
cooperation to develop and reinforce
defence capabilities. To implement these
objectives, a three-year Joint
Investment Programme on Force
Protection (JIP-FP) was agreed and
launched at the end of 2006. This
focused on technologies for protecting
EU armed forces by transforming them
into modernised militaries capable of
contributing to global security
missions. It was agreed to cover
common fundamental capability
requirements for future operations –
collective survivability, individual
protection, data analysis, secure wireless
communication and mission planning
and training.
EPIDARM (European Protective
Individual Defence Armour) belongs to
the first set of selected projects and
deals with a multifunctional protective
system for European Force Protection.
Planned to run over three years,
EPIDARM involves four nations where
Soldier and Warrior programmes are in
progress; these are the perfect source
for the definition of operational
requirements and to perform “troop
trials” in real conditions. The
philosophy behind the project is the
conception of an individual protective
system against ballistic and CBRNE
threats but also integrating functions
such as heat-stress regulation and
medical monitoring. The performance
targets are an improved continuity of
the protection with less weight and
increased flexibility as well as reducing
back/head deformation (trauma). Blast
effects will not be taken into account.
Innovative materials and
constructions will be the focus of this
project while, based on different
scientific blocks, it proposes to increase
the protection against a wider range of
threats, optimise the continuity of the
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A shot in the Epidarm
protection and increase drastically the
physiological tolerance as well as the
life cycle of the protective system
(especially the endurance of easily
damaged hard plaques) in order to
reduce the global costs. This includes
the integration of natural fibres and
new fibrous architecture to improve
ballistic protection, together with new
technologies like the insertion of
nanoparticles or the use of 3-D textiles;
all in all, having an impact on
recyclability and weight, in order to
develop the use of such protections.
To understand the target of this
research and the appended capability
improvement, it is important to
remember that ballistic, CBRNE and
tactical jackets are currently three
different components, usually developed
separately and worn on top of each other.
EPIDARM definitely addresses the
“generic soldier” because EOD
operators, disregarding their functional
dependency, having different missions,
different scenarios, different
environment, threats (blast and
explosion), incident handling and
duration of missions or mobility
requirements, would always need
adequate individual protection.
In the case of CBRN defence, the
equipment’s performance is one of the
pillars against attacks and hazards that
undoubtly depend on the different
elements of operational scenarios and
the activities and missions of the
generic soldier. It is known that there
are no agreed international operational
scenarios (land, sea and air) for the
development and planning of CBRN
defence capability. EPIDARM, however,
relies on the commonalities of the
different nations to define a baseline for
the system and also adopt international
standards and regulations in view of the
foreseen interoperability that future
missions will require.
This is part of the assessment made
by the EPIDARM consortium (with the
support of the defence ministries of the
respective nations) where the most
significant system functions, namely
ballistic and health monitoring
The industrial responsibilities defined are:
ONERA (Composite materials and matrix development &
simulation, Characterisation facilities.)
ENSAIT (Fibres and architectures of materials)
ISL (nanoparticule production and ballistic tests).
RMA (new low cost material, ballistic tests & simulation).
Bluecher (CBRN part, prototyping facilities, carbon facilities).
OUVRY (system definition, architecture, textile prototyping).
Aero Sekur (medical monitoring, architecture and CBRN
respiratory part).
integration, are to be addressed within
the 11 functional groups that synthesise
the functional requirements. From those,
medical monitoring is not considered a
top priority for the generic soldier, but
some proposals and recommendations
will be made on what physiological
parameters are to be monitored, which
technology, to whom shall the
information be circulated and finally how
the transmission is done and secured.
Regarding the protective system
itself, the consortium considers that all
the body parts do not have the same
lethality importance so they should not
necessarily be protected on the same
level. Therefore, three primary
subsystems are analysed.
The head subsystem is the essential
organ and the most vulnerable with
specific physiological stress. Hard
protection for cranium and debris
protection of the visor are specific to
the head protection and it has to
include other functions like
communication (vision, hearing,
speaking...) which are not in the other
systems. For EPIDARM, however, the
helmet is deliberately out of scope
although it may propose some
integration of the developments into the
helmets. The helmet is covered by
another project within the JIP-FP.
Facing CBRN effects, the protection
factor is higher than for the other parts
of the body. The head is the starting
point of the respiratory tracts which are
vital, and the eyes are very sensitive to
all the toxic products. The baseline for
the respiratory protection is a mask
with a canister (integrating TIC’s
protection), with a weight of 500g for
the mask. A recent trend towards PAPR
(positive air pressure respirator) in the
latest programmes makes the
respiratory protective subsystem heavier
(mask, canister and ventilation system)
but improves the combat effectiveness.
The body subsystem is the biggest
part, therefore the easiest to aim at and
hit. It is also the least mobile and the
most compact. For ballistic protection,
it is important to know if the
protection level is the same on the
entire body surface, and, if not, then
define the priority zones like the lethal
ones. It is evident that the individual
mobility (and the comfort) of the
soldier should be enhanced.
The use of new concepts and
materials in order to minimise the
weight and rigidity are to be applied for
flexible protection (V50) and hard
protection (V0) using the experience
gained by the aerospace industry and
the technologies that are at the
readiness level. The CB protection is
mainly based on textile technologies
and semi-permeable materials and
proposals will be made to protect
against radiological agents,
accompanied by specific test methods.
The baseline for the NBC combat suit
consists in 24-hour protection against
CW liquid and vapour agents.
The design of the whole protection
system is intended to minimise the
physiological burden and the experience
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The police, military forces, first responders and
weapons inspectors of more than 35 nations
trust only one CBRN protective clothing system:
Unparalleled Protection.
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CBRNeWORLD
A shot in the Epidarm
from the consortium members
(Aerosekur, Ouvry) tends to show that
ventilated solutions, rather than active
cooling solutions, are preferable and an
ergonomic study is foreseen in the
configuration approach.
The extremity subsystems are the
least vital parts of the human body. But
they are also the most flexible and the
most mobile. As CBRN-system provider,
EPIDARM presently offers two
alternatives of the old concept of butyl
overboots: NBC socks (adopted by
FELIN and IDZ programmes) or
integrated CBRN combat boots (most
appropriate for special operations,
mainly for logistic reasons). The same
for gloves: different new solutions
should allow offering integrated NBC
combat gloves with a limited
operational capability shortfall.
Concerning launderability,
ballistic/CBRN protective equipment
should be washable. The analysis of
different system configurations should
confirm that the old overgarment
solutions should definitely be avoided.
A feasibility demonstrator of the
system configuration will be produced by
the manufacturing of a complete system
including at least one trouser and a jacket
with ballistic protection at the knees and
elbows (V50) and hard protection (V0) on
the body and integrating, if required, the
CBRN protection.
While dealing with the system
configuration approach, cost analysis
will allow an evaluation of the costs of
the different technical proposals and
probably avoid recommending
expansive optional functions; that is,
stab protection is not a priority for the
generic soldier and, if the technical
solution for stab protection is very
expensive, then EPIDARM will not
recommend the integration of stab
protection in the final system
configuration.
The demonstrator will be tested in
order to check several parameters
related to the mobility. A comparison
with existing solutions will be made in
order to characterise the gained
operational capability with the new
concept and the EPIDARM consortium
intends to industrialise the results of
the project.
Epidarm concentrates on CBRN, projectiles and medical monitoring rather than blast protection ©DoD
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Dr Vladimir Obsel from the Military Technical Institute of Protection (MTIP), in Brno in
the Czech Republic, describes the application of the QCM sensor with a polymercoating detection layer for testing of protection materials’ resistance against toxic agents
QCM FOR
SAFETY
Quartz Crystal Microbalance Technology for Testing of Protective Means
Introduction
Protective equipment and accessories against chemical,
biological and radiological (CBR) hazardous agents and
materials are designed and usually made of different
categories of protective materials. The first group
traditionally belongs to impermeable materials such as foils
and/or fabrics coated with elastic macro-molecular polymers
or co-polymers. The second widely used design materials
are the air-permeable protective layers made of fabrics
combined with sorption/adsorption protective layers. Also
currently being introduced are semi-permeable membranes
for manufacturing of protective means (see picture 1).
In order to evaluate basic protective/ barrier properties
of various design materials, rigorous testing against
challenging toxic substances are needed in realistic
simulations in static, dynamic and/or aerodynamic
conditions, including various temperatures and humidity.
The purpose of testing is to evaluate the behaviour of
fundamental protective materials against challenging
liquid and/or vapour substances and to identify its
protective properties.
A very important characteristic of protective materials is
the “breakthrough time” (BTT) when vapours of
challenging agent such as chemical warfare agent (CWA),
for example HD Sulphur Mustard or toxic industrial
chemical (TIC), are to be detected at the reverse side of
tested protective material.
Permeation Testing Cell
The characteristics of the resistance and barrier properties
of protective materials are evaluated in the Permeation
Testing Cell (PTC) according to various testing standards.
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©MTIP
The PTCs are used worldwide for comparative testing and
study of challenging agent permeation through permeable,
semi-permeable and impermeable protective materials.
The accuracy of the PTC`s performance tests depends on
the speed, sensitivity and selectivity of challenging agents’
detection once the traces of an agent (vapour) appear on the
reverse side of testing material. There are several detection/
analytical methods used for the detection and identification
of challenging agents, such as UV/VIS/IR spectrometry, gas
chromatography-mass spectroscopy, ion mobility
spectrometry, conductometry, electrochemical sensors, biosensors, immuno-chemical assays, the Surface Acoustic
Wave sensors array, etc. The current design of the PTCs,
with the combination of the above detection/analytical
methods, creates several disadvantages in delayed detection,
limited sensitivity and selectivity of challenging agent
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
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QCM FOR SAFETY
The teflon and steel permeation cells
have inbuilt QCM sensors ©MTIP
breakthrough. Utilisation of standard
laboratory instruments is expensive and
labour intensive. The PTCs are
complicated, from a safety point view,
because of handling highly toxic
substances and they do not allow longterm testing operations simultaneously
with a larger number of tested samples.
Solution is Called PIEZOTEST
The Quartz Crystal Microbalance
(QCM) technology (see picture 6) is the
answer to the provision of significant
improvement of protective materials’
permeation testing.
The QCM performance is based on
the oscillation mode of a bulk crystal
feeding with frequencies in the range
of 5 or 9 MHz. If the detection
surface/resonator of the QCM is loaded
with any mass of substances (liquid,
vapour or particles), then the original
oscillation frequency is changing
proportionally to the mass’s load, it
means that the Quartz Crystal
performs as a very sensitive
Microbalance. Feeding electrodes are
formed by evaporation of a chromium
adhesion layer plated with gold. The
basic signal of the QCM is steady and
can be easily compensated with
temperature. The sensor is responding
fast, accurately, reproducibly and
reversibly. Because QCM is not a
selective detector, it is necessary that
the permeation measures only one
known testing agent (no mixture) and
the steady conditions of the measuring
are respected. Also it is necessary to
calibrate QCM for a known challenging
agent and measuring conditions, such
as the temperature and humidity flow
rate of the carrier medium in the
testing cell, are kept steady. For the
detection of gases and vapours metal
electrodes of the QCM sensor must be
covered with very thin layer of
polymer(s). The sensitivity of the QCM
coated with special acrylate polymer is
in the range of 1 part per billion for
toxic vapours and liquids.
For the design and the composition
of a tempered permeation cell made of
Teflon or stainless steel material with
inbuilt QCM sensor.
The testing stand with the PTCs
has been designed according to the
Czech-origin portable set called
“PIEZOTEST”. This instrument allows
multiple, simultaneous, long-term
and computer-controlled tests of the
Graph 1 ©MTIP
BTT as the result of challenging agent
permeation/penetration through
protective materials (see picture on
page 77).
The PC`s software allows on-line
collection of permeation data and
simultaneous calculation of particular
BTT parameters. Typical examples of
experimental permeation data are
demonstrated in graphs 1 and 2
(see below).
Conclusion
The PIEZOTEST is a smart, computercontrolled testing device for evaluation
of the permeation CWAs and TICs
through various barrier/protective
materials under different realistic
challenging conditions The
PIEZOTEST is a compact, portable
instrumentation set, simple to operate,
with multi-functional modes, which
allows the testing of eight samples
simultaneously. The recording and
processing of the permeation data,
calculation of the diffusion parameters
and its graphic display runs
automatically at the PC within
selected intervals (minimum 1 s)
without time limitations. The
PIEZOTEST significantly improves
effectiveness, accuracy and reliability
of permeation/penetration
characteristics of any protective
materials needed for research,
development and manufacturing of
protective means against CBR
hazardous materials.
Graph 2 ©MTIP
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
A Unique Capability in CBRN Respiratory Protection
Avon Protection Systems, part of Avon Rubber p.l.c., is the world leader in advanced CBRN
respiratory protection solutions. It supplies the world’s military, law enforcement, first responder,
emergency services and industrial markets.
One of the revolutionary products in the Avon Protection Systems range is the EH20 CBRN
emergency hood which is specifically designed to protect users against CBRN agents. It provides a
high level of respiratory, eye and face protection for up to 20 minutes to allow sufficient time to
escape from a contaminated area. Use of the hood requires minimal training and it takes just 30
seconds to deploy. It is stored in a vacuum sealed pouch small enough to wear on a belt, and has a
ten year shelf life.
Further to this, the ST53 multi-role respiratory protection system has been developed to fulfill the
emerging demand for tactical self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) to meet a broad range of
extreme threats. The ST53™ combines Avon Protection Systems’ FM53 mask with new and
innovative modular breathing apparatus technology to provide positive pressure SCBA and/or PAPR
(powered air purifying respirator) capability. Seamless
transition between air purifying respiratory (APR)
protection (negative pressure) and SCBA protection
(positive pressure) ensures operatives can maximise
their time on scene, whilst ensuring that the very
highest levels of protection are available when needed.
DEFENZ™ : Enzymatic Decon for Chemical Threats
Enzymatic decontamination of toxic substances is now out of the lab and
into the field. Developed in collaboration with the U.S. Army Edgewood
Chemical and Biological Center, DEFENZ is now commercially available to
expand or replace your current decontamination methods in a safe,
environmentally friendly and easy to use approach to traditional
decontamination.
Genencor, a Danisco division, offers the military, first responders and other
operatives our full line of DEFENZ products to meet your needs: everything
from chemical and biological warfare agent degradation to simulated liveagent decon training.
Current commercial products include:
DEFENZ™ 120: demonstrated activity against G-type nerve agents,
DEFENZ™ 130: activity against VX, Russian-VX and numerous OP
pesticides such as parathion.
DEFENZ offers numerous advantages over traditional chemical
decontamination solutions by being non-toxic, non-corrosive, easy to use
and environmentally friendly. DEFENZ is also highly efficient,
decontaminating many times its weight, compatible with current dispersal
equipment and easily scaleable to meet individual requirements. Another
key benefit is that water usage is decreased because little or no rinsing is
involved. It is also a perfect application for post mortuary decon.
Adding DEFENZ to current decontamination formulations significantly
reduces the chemical footprint, thus improving logistics for decontamination.
As an added benefit, DEFENZ is active in either tap, hard or salt water,
allowing the use of any available water source.
The use of DEFENZ can be used as a stand-alone product or used to
expand or replace your current decontamination methods, making them
safer while reducing their chemical footprint. Emergency personnel will no
longer need to be exposed to harsh or caustic chemicals. DEFENZ reduces
logistical burdens associated with water usage and chemical transport,
stores more safely and at lower risks; and offers an easy to use, but equally
effective decontamination alternative.
Features
Safe
Compatible
Benefits
Eliminates environmental damage
Limits personal injury
No hazardous by-products to clean postdecontamination
Perfect for post mortuary decontamination
Will replace or expand current
decontamination solutions
Suitable for personal, in-line and wide area
decontamination and infrastructure mitigation
Highly Efficient Detoxifies many times their weight
Granulized form reduces logistical burden of
carrying large amounts of chemicals
Effective in all water types
Specificity
Enzymes target the exact compound for
which they are intended
Particularly effective for bulk neutralization of
organophosphate chemical stockpiles and
clean up of residual containers
Ease of Use
Just add to standard water or foam systems
Removes rinse steps of conventional
decontamination
No special storage required
www.genencor.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
TALON® Family of Robots
TALON® robots are powerful, durable,
lightweight tracked vehicles that can
be configured for a variety of missions
including explosive ordnance disposal
(EOD), hazmat detection and
assessment, bomb detection and
suspicious package evaluation,
reconnaissance, communications, and
perimeter security. They have allweather, day/night capabilities and
can negotiate almost any terrain.
The TALON Hazmat robot uses JAUS
(Joint Architecture Unmanned
Systems) software to make it possible
to “plug and play” up to seven
detection instruments for WMD,
radiation, gas, explosives and
temperature mounted on a quickrelease tray. TALON robots can also
be configured to support a variety of
commercially available x-ray
inspection systems, giving the user
the ability to drive the robot down
range and have it remotely x-ray a
suspicious package or suitcase to
determine the contents.
Any of the robot models can also be
equipped with a specially designed
trailer and hitch to enable the robot to
haul payloads such as perimeter
sensors, sandbags, pigs, chemicals,
contaminated and uncontaminated
tools, detergents or bomb
neutralization charges.
For further information on the TALON
family of robots, please visit
www.talonrobots.com
Global player in the field of CBRN detection
Bruker Daltonics is the leading company in
the field of CBRN detection and has for over
25 years been the expert for development,
engineering and manufacturing of “easy to
use”, reliable detection equipment. The
Bruker CBRN product line includes handheld
as well as stationary detectors, which can be
mounted into vehicles, ships and shelters.
Bruker Daltonics constantly makes great
efforts to improve their CBRN product line
and to adapt to the ever increasing needs of
the CBRN detection market. The demand for
reliable instrumentation in the field of
homeland security has become increasingly
high. Basic requirements for the extremely
responsible task of first responders and for
the protection of critical infrastructure include
rapid and flexible detection equipment,
which can be provided by Bruker Daltonics.
Part of our CBRN detector range are ion
mobility spectrometers, mass spectrometers,
infrared stand-off detectors, nuclear radiation
meters and bio detection systems e.g.
Main fields of application are:
-Mobile reconnaissance survey
and detection
-Bio threat identification
-Homeland defense
-Naval nuclear & chemical detection
-Protection of critical infrastructure
Contact
Bruker Daltonik GmbH
Leipzig-Germany
Phone: +49 (341) 2431-30
Fax: +49 (341) 2431-404
sales@bdal.de
www.cbrn-bdal.de
First Responders using chemical agent warning
instruments RAID-M 100 for their missions
Depend on CBRN Detection from MSA
You may already depend upon MSA’s CBRN
respiratory protection and other PPE (Personal
Protective Equipment), but did you know that MSA,
a leader in health and safety gas detection, also
manufactures instruments for CBRN agent
detection?
SAFESITE® Sentry™ and CW Sentry™
Chemical Agent Detectors, designed for 24/7
unattended operation, are widely deployed in
protecting critical infrastructure. These products
combine an array of detection technologies for use
in early warning and consequence management.
MSA’s BIOSENSOR™ 2200R Biological Agent
Detector’s unique bioassay technology analyzes
white powder and liquid biohazards in 5 minutes. It
boasts excellent sensitivity, easy use, few false
positives, and GO/NO GO results, while detecting
anthrax, ricin, SEB, botulism, plague, and
smallpox.
The portable, handheld HAZMATCAD™ Plus
Detector perceives trace levels of nerve and blister
agents and TICs, with a low false positive, to meet
the needs of First Responders.
MSA’s SAFESITE® Multi-Threat Detection
System is a wireless sensor network designed to
protect critical infrastructure (and gatherings like the
Olympics) by monitoring and detecting the presence
of CWAs, gamma radiation, VOCs, and TICs.
Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA,
MSA is the world’s largest company devoted solely
to worker safety. With annual sales of over $900
million, MSA comprises over 30 international
affiliates and 4400 employees who design,
manufacture, and market thousands of safety
products.
www.MSAnet.com
1-866-MSA-1001
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
On-Demand Decontaminant Generation Technology from Intelagard
Generate decontamination solutions formulated for specific
environmental, contaminant and substrate conditions that can be
easily field adjusted to fit the existing situation. Customized
solution generation can now be accomplished by employing a
series of stable, economical, dry compounds in conjunction with
advanced Intelagard deployment equipment based on and
integrated into existing, fielded deployment systems. For example,
currently fielded Falcon Fixed Site Decontamination Systems
(FSDS), High Mobility Decontamination Systems (HMDS) and
other large scale deployment technologies can be effectively
upgraded to include On-Demand solution generation, providing the
ability to generate CBRN decontamination solutions at low cost
with minimal logistical concerns.
Reduce the logistical burden of decon operations. Using materials
that are stable and dry until needed significantly minimizes storage
requirements and nearly eliminates shipping and shelf life issues.
The flexibility of the Intelagard generation system allows for rapid
adjustments in field operations and for changing conditions. One of
the key attributes of this approach is the dramatic cost savings over
currently available technologies. Current chemical-based solutions
can cost $50 USD/gallon or more, and include a variety of
associated logistical issues. By generating decontamination
solutions as needed, or On-Demand, the cost per gallon generated
is minimized. Modified decontamination and solution recovery
equipment may be used for overall deployment and recovery
operations, including waste handling.
The Macaw and Merlin are
extremely effective tools for
interior facility applications, as
well as when larger scale
decontamination is required,
such as decon shelters,
vehicles and other small to mid
size applications. The Macaw
backpack has proven to be a
critical tool for rapid fire
suppression at US military
bases abroad.
The Merlin handcart is in use
with US Federal Urban Search
And Rescue (USAR) teams
due to its ease of use and
multi-functionality. Intelagard’s
H1 Intercept fits on the back of
pick-up trucks or military
humvees and may be used for
rapid decontamination or fire suppression. The SwiftCAF ATV system
takes advantage of the maneuverability of all-terrain vehicles,
providing decon, hazmat, and fire suppression capabilities to narrow
streets, alleys and other areas inaccessible to larger vehicles.
Large scale systems for fixed site and mass decontamination
operations include the Falcon Fixed Site Decontamination System
(FSDS) and High Mobility Decontamination System (HMDS).
Deployed by the US military, these rugged systems have also been
called into use for rapid fire suppression.
Contact John Breedlove
jbreedlove@intelagard.com
303-309-6321
Europe: Contact PPS
sales@ppsgb.com
+44 (0) 1908 272240
www.intelagard.com
GSA 2009 Profile
The Global Security Asia Series addresses the fundamental issues of
global terrorism. It is an international platform for Governments and
Commercial Organisations to meet and share experiences and to
also discuss the use of state-of-the-art technologies and equipment to
combat terrorism.
Launched in 2005, GSA 2009 will continue as a 3-day Event
showcasing the latest technological solutions in Homeland Security
covering areas of
Security Screening,
Biometrics, Land, Air
and Sea Security,
Internet and
Computer Security,
Intelligence and
Training Methods,
CBRNE Threats,
Surveillance and
Security Risk
Management.
Running concurrently with
the Exhibition will be the
GSA Conference 2009.
The international 3-day
Conference is being CoChaired by Dr Lee Fook
Kay, the Chief Science and Technology Officer at the Singapore’s
Ministry of Home Affairs and Mr Gwyn Winfield, Editor of CBRNe
World Magazine. The Conference, with the theme ‘Harnessing the
Force of Science and Technology against Evolving Threats in
Homeland Security’, will cover the following topics:
Counter Explosives; Critical Infrastructure Protection; CBRNE;
Access Control; Personal Protection and Narcotics; Biometrics;
Address the Global Threat; Communications; Human Factors
The Conference will once again attract international experts and
speakers from Governments, academia, research and industry
drawn from Security and Intelligence Agencies and Security
Consultants/Professionals to share experiences, knowledge and
expertise in tackling the asymmetric problems facing us today.
The Event will be the leading forum in the Asia Pacific Region for the
developments in Homeland Security technologies.
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
Proengin
Proengin has developed biological and chemical warfare agents field
detectors using flame spectrophotometry. The well known and world
widely used AP2C has proven the capacity of that technology to be
the most reliable on the field with the lowest false alarm rate and the
simplest ease of use.
The new extended range field handheld chemical detector AP4C
New developments such as the AP4C have extended the capacity
of that technology to include chemical warfare agents and Toxic
industrial materials in a simultaneous mode. There is no limitation
in number of gases detected by the AP4C. All nerve agents, all
blister agents and all blood agents can be detected by AP4C within
the requirements of response time and sensitivity of NATO
recommendations.
Canadian Forces have selected the AP4C to replace their old
technology IMS detectors. Their selection was based on the capacity
to prove with real live agent that AP4C could meet those standards.
The AP4C has extended the range of chemicals that can be detected
by Proengin chemical detectors. All dangerous compounds
containing Sulphur, Phosphorus, Arsenic, and/or the chemical liaison
can be detected in a simultaneous way.
Of course, as for the AP2C, the AP4C has the capacity to work in
very severe environmental conditions ( explosive areas) and the
measurements are unaffected by high humidity levels or by presence
of other organic chemical compounds such as paint.
www.proengin.com
OWR - NBC Protection, NBC Detection and Decontamination Systems
OWR AG is the leading specialist for
efficient NBC decontamination of personnel,
equipment, vehicles, terrain and clothing –
from portable decontamination equipment to
complete container solutions. The unique
patented low-pressure DEDAS system
makes it possible to mix all known
decontamination chemicals in the required
quantity and in minimum time. We also offer
special detection equipment, such as the
Fox NBC Reconnaissance Vehicle, as well
as personnel protection equipment and
detection vehicles for civilian use.
Our proven high-quality products are used in
large numbers by military organizations and
civil defense installations all over the world.
Most of our products have been assigned
NSNs.
COMPACT DECONTAMINATION
EQUIPMENT
DEDAS – the universal solution
Decofogger – the mobile solution
Turbofogger – the aircraft solution:
Cobra – the compact solution
DECONTAMINATION SYSTEMS
MPD100 - the complete solution
Roll-On Decont - the flexible solution for civil
defense
Decont Trailer – the economic solution
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Custom-tailored solutions
Training: Spare parts
Maintenance and repair
Decontamination agents
www.owr.de
Paul Boyé Technologies
Worldwide leader in research, development and mass production of CBRN/F protective suits,
Paul Boyé Technologies offers a complete range of products to meet the requirements of
Armed Forces and Civil Defence (soldiers, decontamination experts, aircraft pilots, helicopter
pilots, special forces, police forces, military police, medical personnel, fire-fighters). In use
within 38 countries in the world, Paul Boyé CBRN protective suits have gained international
recognition thanks to their high technological level. Used by all international organisations
(UNO, OPCW, IAEA, NATO...) for chemical disarmament operations, they have proven their
superiority and comfort in the hardest climate.
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
Meridian Medical Technologies
As the world leader in the development and manufacture of autoinjector drug delivery systems for the emergency treatment of
individuals, Meridian Medical Technologies has served as a critical
supplier to more than 30 countries and the U.S. Department of
Defense. Today, we are building on nearly 50 years of experience to
produce the highest quality auto-injector products that deliver
antidotes for chemical nerve agents.
For more information, please visit us at
www.meridianmeds.com
Unlike a traditional syringe, which can be cumbersome and timeconsuming, auto-injectors provide a compact and portable delivery
system to meet the demanding operational needs of allied military
personnel around the world.
TSI Incorporated
TSI’s M41 PATS tests how well a military gas mask fits the soldier. Modern military
masks are capable of a high degree of protection, but ONLY if they are fitted correctly
and donned properly. The M41 provides a numerical measurement of the Fit Factor of
the mask while it is being worn by a soldier.
The soldier dons their own assigned mask and performs a series of exercises that
simulate typical activities. The M41 provides a Fit Factor for each individual exercise as
well as an overall Fit Factor. When used as part of a training program the M41 PATS
ensures that personnel get the best possible protection from their assigned mask.
TSI’s Fluorescence Aerosol Particle Sensor (FLAPS™) Systems alert personnel of the
potential presence of a harmful biological threat and trigger sample collection and
identification systems for threat confirmation. The FLAPS technology offers high
sensitivity with low false-alarm rates, while maintaining low operating costs. FLAPS
systems are used for fixed, vehicle, and shipboard applications. They are also used as
referee systems at most test sites throughout the world.
TSI CBRN Defense products have successfully supported every major U.S. military
effort since Desert Storm. They are used by foreign allies worldwide to address
emerging defense and homeland security requirements.
NBC-Sys
Decontamination, Protection and Detection
NBC-Sys is one key specialist in Nuclear,
Biological and Chemical Protection,
Decontamination and Detection systems.
Air Treatment Systems:
NBC-Sys has experience in air treatment, of
armoured vehicles (installed systems on
different generations of vehicles) and
hardened or soft shelters.
- Air Filtration Units
- Air Conditionning Units
- Complete range of filters (NBC, NBC+
TIC's) from 12 to 300 m3/h
Decontamination systems:
SDA : thorough decontamination for vehicle
SDMS : decontamination for sensitive
material
Symoda : decontamination for aircraft
Personnal decontamination line (military and
civil defence)
Individual protection:
Gas masks ( soldiers and helicopter pilots)
Filters (NBC NATO , NBC+TIC's)
Blowers
Detection systems:
Individual nerve-agent detector
Paper detector
Chemical detector kit
NBC-Sys has also a great experience in the
field of Emergency Response and Disaster
Management.
Intervention face to toxic hazards:
- NBC terrorism
- Civil Defence
- Industrial Accidents (Nuclear and
Chemical)
- Hazmat Transportation Accidents
Protecting the public :
- EVATOXTM System
- Active and passive containment system
Contacts:
Bruno DAVID Marketing & Sales Director
Tel: +33 4 77 191920
Fax: + 33 4 77 191929
e-mail: b.david@nbc-sys.com
http://www.nbc-sys.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
Smiths HGVI™
The HGVI™ is a hand-held multi-sensor gas and vapor identifier that
detects, identifies, and quantifies toxic industrial chemicals and
chemical warfare agents, as well as gamma radiation.
The HGVI utilizes H-Fusion™ Decision Enhancement Software and
a cutting-edge, sensor technology built on Ion Mobility Spectrometry
(IMS), Photoionization Detection (PID), and Taguchi Gas Sensors
(TGS). Advanced software combined with multi-sensor technology
enables emergency responders to achieve a new level of accuracy
and confidence in the detection and identification of chemicals in
the field.
Offering one-touch operation, the HGVI is simple to operate in
Level-A gear and in any environment. Weighing only 7.5 pounds (or
three point four kilograms) it is easily carried or ported by a
shoulder strap onto a scene.
Highlight Features of the HGVI include:
– Multiple sensors, utilizing IMS, PID, and TGS technology working
together as orthogonal techniques in one instrument.
– H-Fusion®, advanced software developed to interpret results of
multiple sensors.
– Unlike traditional IMS devices that use a Nickel 63 IMS source,
the HGVI uses a non-radioactive Corona Discharge that requires
no maintenance.
– Automatic detection, identification and monitor modes of
operation.
– Easy decontamination.
– Identifies a broad range of CWAs
and TICs from the
ITF-25 list of High
and Medium Hazards.
– Gamma radiation
detection.
Counter Terror Expo 2009
Counter Terror Expo 2009 will be held at London’s
prestigious QE11 Centre 10-11 February. The
leading event in the counter terrorism calendar,
CTX09 is being held against the backdrop of a
continued heightened state of alert for the
probability of terrorist attack.
Events including September 11, Bali, Madrid, the
London Underground and Bus bombing and the
Glasgow Airport attacks are still fresh in the mind
and the thwarted August 10 airliner plot and failed
London club-land attacks raise many questions over
the state of preparedness to head off other potential
terrorist outrage that may be in the planning stages.
Seventy-five of the world’s leading counter terrorism
experts will gather, in a city that has seen more than
it’s fair share of terrorist atrocities and will take part
in an informed debate to help to indentify measures
to counter this continued threat.”
The Conference will be a multi-stream event
including the themes:
CRITICAL COLLABORATION – The need to know
the need to share
PARTNER IN CRISIS - Joint approaches to large
scale terrorist incidents
SPECIFIC & EMERGING TERRORIST THREATS –
Joint approaches in counter terrorism
CORPORATE ACTION ON THE GROUND –
Business as usual
CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE – Transport, traffic &
tourism
FUTURE OUTCOMES – Prevention & preparation
IDENTIFYING THE CAPABILITY GAP
MANAGING THE INTERNATIONAL THREAT – Joint
approaches in counter terrorism
For further information on
Counter Terror Expo visit
www.counterterrorexpo.com
In addition to the conference there will be a series of
free to attend technology workshops.
SARATOGA® – Unparalleled Protection
BLÜCHER is the world market leader in the
development and production of adsorptive compound
fabrics for Individual Protection from chemical and
biological warfare agents and is first and foremost a
technology company, devoted to developing and
producing practical solutions to serious threats.
Over 38 different countries’ armed forces, law
enforcement and emergency response organizations,
and multinational inspection teams rely on BLÜCHER’s
unique protective technology – SARATOGA®.
The advantages of SARATOGA® technology include its
high adsorptive capacity, long wear time, high degree of
air permeability for cooling, optimal balance of high
protection and low heat stress, high level of mechanical
stability, and low life cycle costs.
BLÜCHER’s newest generation of innovative
SARATOGA® technology has resulted in the
development of sophisticated breakthrough products for
hand and foot protection.
BLÜCHER’s Collective Protection solutions are used to
protect some of the most well-known public buildings in
the world.
BLÜCHER also supplies chemical and biological
warfare protective boot liners or socks for users who
want protection from chemical and biological warfare
agents under their standard duty footwear.
Chemical and biological protective clothing made with
SARATOGA® materials have been repeatedly chosen by
the most sophisticated and demanding military and civil
customers in the world, after rigorous laboratory and
operational testing.
BLÜCHER GmbH
International Sales, Mettmanner Strasse 25
40699 Erkrath,Germany
Tel: +49 211 9244 0 Fax: +49 211 9244 211
Email: info@bluecher.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
Combating the Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction
The Washington Security Group, Inc. is the U.S. leader in providing
specialized counter-CBRNE services and training to counter-terrorism
units, military forces, and law enforcement organizations chartered
with the mission of combating and preventing the use of WMD. We
provide operational consulting, advisory services, and training
programs that focus on pre-attack intervention. We also offer
operational solutions to complex missions along the
counterproliferation spectrum ranging from interdiction of clandestine
research and development facilities to prevention of delivery of a
weapon to a target.
Our core competencies include:
– Counter-Terrorism/Weapons of Mass Destruction (CT/WMD)
programs including turn-key solutions (custom program
development, training, and equipment)
– Operational consulting, advisory, and improvement services
– Sensitive Site Exploitation (SSE) Training
– CBRNE forensics
– CBRNE offensive operations, active defense, and interdiction
– CT/WMD training facility design and development
With recognized experts
and state-of-the-art
training facilities within 30
miles of Washington, DC,
the Washington Security
Group provides
unparalleled services and
support to those
individuals and teams
conducting high-risk
operations to ensure the safety of their citizens and interests.
For more information the Washington Security Group, please visit
www.washingtonsecuritygroup.com
LCD-SIM
LCD-SIM is the latest addition to Argon Electronics’
expanding range of complementary chemical and
radiological detection instrument simulators. LCD-SIM is
designed to provide military and civil users of the JCAD,
LCAD™ and LCD™ series of lightweight chemical agent
detectors with the critical assurance of a comprehensive
training capability.
The LCD-SIM responds to safe electronic sources that
simulate chemical vapors, toxic industrial substances or
false positives. This means you no longer need to use
simulants that can harm the environment, saturate
expensive instruments and the training area, or pose
potential health and safety risks. You can safely use the
sources anywhere, including public buildings, in any
environment. Most scenarios can be set in less than ten
minutes and because you control the sources, your
scenario will not have changed when it is time for the
exercise. Essential for training in the correct use of
specific detectors, the integrated technology base
underlying LCD-SIM enables you conduct realistic
training for multiple instrument types. LCD-SIM is fully
compatible with the PlumeSIM wide area training system.
LCD-SIM features a pre-use simulated confidence
check accessory, with other crucial procedures such as
simulated replacement of sieve packs or low battery
warnings fully enabled. Power is supplied by the same
batteries as are used in the real detectors. LCD-SIM
records student use to enable a comprehensive after
action review of operational errors.
For further information on LCD-SIM and to arrange a
demonstration, or to request a FREE copy of Argon
Electronics’ CBRN Training Equipment Guide, please
contact:
Argon Electronics LLP, Unit 16 Ribocon WayProgress
Business Park, Luton, Bedfordshire, LU4 9UR U.K.
Tel: +44 (0)1582 491616 Fax: +44 (0)1582 492780
E-mail: sales@argonelectronics.com
www.argonelectronics.com
Promoting global security in defence
With the boundaries between the disciplines of defence and security
continuing to blur, DSEi 2009 is working to create a platform to attract
more exhibitors and visitors involved in the design, engineering and
procurement of security systems and technologies. The show takes
place from 8-11 September 2009 at ExCeL in London. At the last event
in 2007, the importance of homeland security technologies and
services was already being recognised with more than 230 companies
exhibiting from this sector. In addition to these, demining and
decontamination experts showcased their latest innovations while
specialists in blast control equipment, countersurveillance and body
armour were also present.
DSEi 2009 is the world largest fully integrated defence and security
exhibition. The show is expected to grow by 15 per cent in comparison
to 2007 when 1,350 companies from 40 countries exhibited and 26,500
visitors attended. Of these, more than 3,000 visited specifically to see
the latest homeland security products on display.
New for 2009 is a series of highly practical seminars covering a range
of defence and security topics.
Attracting the maximum number of foreign delegations and high ranking
senior visitors is also high on the agenda. In 2007, 77 official
delegations from 50 countries attended. DSEi is working closely with
UKTi’s Defence & Security Organisation to ensure this quality is
delivered again.
Contacts
General enquiries
T: +44 (0)20 7370 8551
F: +44 (0)20 7370 8815
E: enquiries@dsei.co.uk
Exhibition space enquiries
James Grant, Mark Dennington
or Richard Higgins
T: +44 (0)20 7370 8551
F: +44 (0)20 7370 8815
E: enquiries@dsei.co.uk
U.S.A space enquiries
Doug Schlam, Sales Manager, North America
T: 203/275-8014 Mobile (GSM): 203/550-5288
F: 203/275-8015 E: doug.schlam@clarionevents.com
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
Ahura Scientific, Inc.
Ahura Scientific develops rugged, ultra-compact optical
systems for real-time identification of unknown
chemicals, integrating exceptional portability and
performance. The company’s complementary
products—FirstDefender® (Raman) and
TruDefender™ FT (FTIR)—maximize in-the-field
coverage of a broad range of hazardous materials and
mixtures including TICs/TIMs, chemical weapons,
white powders, explosives, narcotics and more.
FirstDefender, the company’s flagship Raman system,
weighs less than two kilograms, requires no calibration
or consumables and can identify unknown substances
within 30 seconds – even through sealed glass or
plastic containers. Based on Ahura Scientific’s
patented optical technology and mixture analysis
software, FirstDefender offers superior performance,
accuracy and reliability.
The new TruDefender FT handheld FTIR system was
designed to complement FirstDefender. Weighing less
than 1.4 kilograms, TruDefender FT is easy to use in
Level A gear, yet rugged enough to withstand the
rigors of field use. TruDefender FT leverages the fieldproven automatic mixture analysis and advanced
algorithms of FirstDefender.
Key features:
Ultra-compact - handheld, lightweight and easily
decontaminated
Precise identification of unknown solids and liquids
Real-time, accurate analysis – because every second
counts
Rugged units designed to military standards for field use
Automatic mixture analysis with every scan
Intuitive to use with minimal training
More information at www.ahurascientific.com
Next Generation BioDetection - Idaho Technology
Militaries around the world have identified a need for next
generation systems. As recently developed bio-detection
technology is being deployed, users can now look to the future
towards these systems. They must simultaneous identify more than
50 biological agents, employ automated sample preparation,
require minimal logistics support, and operate in the forward battle
space by troops with limited skill and technical training. This system
will be used for both environmental and diagnostic samples. To
fulfill this need, Idaho Technology has developed the FilmArray™
system, which consists of a sample preparation/reagent pouch and
analyzing platform. The entire system and its consumables weigh
less than 14 lbs (6.4 kg) and are shipped in a small pelican case.
Nucleic-acid purification in the FilmArray pouch has many
advantages over manual sample purification kits: The process is
fully automated, requires no support equipment, and no external
reagents. It also prevents cross-contamination, and it’s faster
than manual methods. The system automatically separates
nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from is as efficient as a skilled
laboratory technician.
Simultaneous identification of 50 bio-threat agents requires highly
multiplexed detection. Multiplex PCR brings the sensitivity of PCR
to the analysis of multiple nucleic acid targets. Nested Multiplex
PCR (nmPCR) retains the sensitivity and robust performance of
standard PCR, even in highly multiplexed reactions. In nmPCR, the
reaction is broken into two stages, first, 10 – 20 cycles of multiplex
PCR boosts the concentration of specific DNA targets. Then the
reaction is divided into an array of small-volume reactions. Each of
these reactions amplifies a specific product of the multiplex
reaction. The steps required for multiplex nested PCR are fully
automated in the system. FilmArray contains the nested PCR
process in a closed system, overcoming this drawback and opening
the technique for routine testing.
FilmArray uses
the same
analytical software
modules used in
the FDA-approved
system for
automatic calling
of positive and
negative results.
The software is
based on a
modular
architecture that
meets the three
needs common to
all our systems:
the need to control an instrument, analyze data, and to safely store
the data and analytical results in a secure repository. Our
architecture and experience with software allows us to concentrate
our modification efforts on the interfaces between the software and
its clients, producing simple-to-use software for the troops in the
field and automatically sends the analytical results to the
appropriate command and control structures.
Idaho Technology Inc.
390 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City,
Utah 84108, USA
Ph. +1-801-736-6354
it@idahotech.com
www.idahotech.com
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86
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products
General Dynamics Armament and Technical Products
(GDATP) offers an advanced line of point and standoff
chemical and biological agent detectors. Our chemical
detection products include the hand-held JUNO™
system and the Standoff Chemical Agent Detector.
Biological detection systems include the Joint
Biological Point Detection System and the Biological
Agent Warning Sensor. Our CBRNE solutions have
been field-tested and are main street-capable.
The JUNO™ hand-held chemical agent detector is
capable of detecting, identifying, quantifying and
alerting the user to the presence of chemical vapors
including chemical warfare agents and toxic industrial
compounds (TICs). The DMS-based system delivers
capability to detect agent concentrations at levels
below the onset of first symptoms with a minimal
number of false alarms
airborne biological agents at very low levels,
triggers local and remote warning systems,
and communicates threat information over
standard communication systems.
The Standoff Chemical Agent Detector
provides ground platforms of the 21st century
with state-of-the-art remote chemical agent
detection. It is the first chemical detection
system to provide 360-degree coverage for a
detection range beyond 2 kilometers.
For more information about the CBRNE
detection systems or other GDATP products,
visit www.GDATP.com
or contact
GDBusDev@gdatp.com.
The Joint Biological Point Detection System (JBPDS)
provides automatic detection and identification of
General Dynamics Canada
Detect to Protect with the 4WARN family of products
General Dynamics Canada is a world leader in the
development of biological agent detection technology.
Our 4WARN product line is the result of more than a
decade of knowledge and experience in the
development, production, and field support of systems
for the Canadian Forces and several other nations and
agencies. 4WARN is currently deployed around the
world protecting militaries, government installations and
their citizenry.
4WARN products provide autonomous, real-time
detection, collection and identification of biological
agents. Each system allows for continuous and remote
operation and sample collection with minimal moving
fluids. This results in less maintenance and preparation,
multiple sampling events between servicing, very low
consumable costs and consequently low life-cycle
support costs.
The 4WARN product suite includes:
4WARN Sentry 3000 for portable use in
protecting fixed assets
4WARN Urban for vehicle-based use
4WARN Bio-Detection System primarily for
military use and for vital point protection
4WARN Sentry 3000
The 4WARN Sentry 3000 is our most portable
and compact detection system. Its convenient
and readily-deployable carrying case allows for
simple and effective, non-specialist operation that
is essential for warning and protecting high value
assets. Networked or operated as a stand-alone
point detection system the 4WARN Sentry 3000
enables homeland security and first responder
agents to better defend against and manage the
consequences of biological terrorism.
For more information about the 4WARN Sentry
3000 or other 4WARN Products please visit
www.gdcanada.com
SURVIVAL EVOLUTION – Uncompromising CBRNE Protection from Remploy Frontline
Remploy is the world’s leading CBRNE (chemical,
biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosives) personnel
protection equipment (PPE) and performance textile
manufacturer.
Having restructured its business model to include
expanding into burgeoning markets , this includes: the
toxic industrial chemical sector (TIC); the marine personal
flotation space; and other performance textile and PPE
areas – e.g. crowd control, and body armour.
Accordingly, Remploy can now better engage its
purchasers and the end user more meaningfully with its
new market strategy and customer approach.
Frontline, Remploy’s leading brand in the PPE arena,
exceeds global expectations by interpreting and
integrating market feedback with its own expertise when
developing products for customers around the world.
This ensconces Frontline as a truly global partner with
its customers in the CBRNE community.
Remploy Frontline produces bespoke CBRNE solutions
for a range of customers. Collaboration with
complementary producers of other PPE means they
provide affordable integrated ensembles for civilian and
military services worldwide. Its main Frontline products
include:
CR1 Frontliner
Cougar
Panther
Frontline Contaminated Human Remains Pouch
Remploy continually evaluates new materials and its
manufacturing techniques. Remploy has its own ISOapproved development and production facilities located
throughout the UK to make the following products that are
sent to all points internationally.
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
87
CAPABILITY PROFILES
Dycor Technologies
Dycor Technologies is a leader in the design,
manufacture and deployment of Biological
Detection solutions.
the comprehensive software suite which allows
tuning of detection parameters to meet local
conditions.
The US Army West Desert Test Center, Dugway
Utah, and the (AFOTEC) test range at Eglin AFB,
Florida employ Dycor systems to perform the
referee functions at these state of the art facilities.
Only Dycor has successfully deployed solutions in
fixed site, outdoor test range, armored vehicle and
naval environments.
For clients needing Biological Aerosol sampling, the
XMX family perform flawlessly in Military, Public
Health and Research applications. XMX collectors
handle dry or liquid samples, and may be
successfully integrated into multi-detector suites.
XMX has been used successfully in field programs
designed to sample new natural threats such as
SARS. XMX systems are equally at home in
environmental monitoring and in forensic analysis
involving biological aerosols.
In Bio-detection, Dycor teams with TSI to offer
sensor technology. FLAPS has now been
developed for smaller footprint and increased
performance (FLAPS III).
It has found a niche as the preferred solution for
armored vehicle systems. FLAPS technology is now
successfully deployed in CFLAPS, a compact,
affordable bio-detector. CFLAPS features CBNET,
Dycor supply test hardware, software and
operational protocols for accurate and impartial test
validation
www.dycor.com
Scott Health & Safety
Scott are leaders in the design and manufacture of Respiratory Protection
Equipment (RPE). Their range includes military and civil defence masks and
filters, powered breathing systems, self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA)
and escape sets.
Scott have been supplying RPE to military markets for over 30 years. They have
supplied the in service filter to the UK MoD for the last 20 years and their M95
respirator ensemble has been in service with the Finnish MoD for over 10 years.
From this base M95 has been supplied to meet the requirements of military and
Civil Defence customers all over the world including geographic markets as
diverse as the USA and Japan, Australia and Chile and the Czech Republic and
Malaysia.
Their expertise, at the cutting edge of RPE technology, is indicated by contracts
they are currently working on. These include the General Service Respirator
(GSR) contract for the British MoD, the M 2005 for the Finnish MoD and the End
of Service Life Indicator Technical Demonstrator Programme for the UK MoD.
GSR is an excellent example of Scott’s methodology. Faced with the most
exacting brief for an Air Purifying Respirator, combining requirements to decrease
user burden, integrate fully with a wide range of equipment and platforms and to
offer the highest levels of protection, Scott formed a dedicated team and started at
first principles. From their considerable background knowledge Scott assessed all
current technologies, undertook GAP analysis to identify areas requiring new
technologies and developed and tested a series of prototypes. Working very
closely with the full customer base these ideas were then fully developed into final
designs, the net result of which has been truly innovative, patented technology.
Working as closely as possible with the customer is very much part of the Scott
methodology and, for example, it worked closely with dstl to help design and
“productionise” GSR solutions.
Supplying military, CBRNe first responder and civil defence customers is an
important part of Scott’s business but they are also market-leaders in the provision
of RPE to industrial and fire-fighting markets. They also have a gas detection
capability and this portfolio includes the Prime Alert Bio-detection System. Prime
Alert can detect all 13 high-priority, weaponisable bacterial agents identified by the
U.S. Centres for Disease Control (CDC) with a simple to undertake test with
results available in under 10 minutes.
Scott is part of Tyco Fire and Security, a division of Tyco International. This gives
Scott the benefit of the backing and resources of a major international company.
www.scottsafety.com
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88
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
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CAPABILITY PROFILES
CBRNe
WORLD
CBRNe World: Unrivalled international CBRNE insight
David Levitt and Gwyn Winfield have been involved in publishing NBC and CBRNE magazines for seven years. During that
time they have built a product of record that is used as a frame of reference for the CBRN and IED theatre. Whether it is
setting the agenda, such as their CBRNe Convergence Conference (the largest CBRNE event in Europe this year), or following
the stories, CBRNe World is the market leader in global CBRNE information. The four issues next year will be complemented
by their second CBRNe Convergence Conference in the Hague and another CBRNE: Focus Workshop, in a country still to be
decided. More information on all this can be found on www.cbrneworld.com
2009 Editorial Programme
Spring 2009
BONUS DISTRIBUTION : GLOBAL SECURITY ASIA,
SINGAPORE – FPED, STAFFORD VIRGINIA ,USA
City Focus – Seoul
Procurement Focus – Canada
Regional Focus - Singapore
Air Platform Decon
Training and Simulation
CBRN and Biometrics
After LCD – Future Lightweight Chem Detection
Defeating the EFP
Forensics
SCBA and Level A
TECHNOLOGY SURVEY – Scavenger layer suits
Summer 2009
BONUS DISTRIBUTION : 7TH SYMPOSIUM ON CBRN
THREATS, JVASKYLA, FINLAND
JOINT CBRN CONFERENCE, FORT LEONARD WOOD 37th IABTI ITC CONFERNCE, LA QUINTA, USA
City Focus – Moscow
Procurement Focus – Switzerland
Regional Focus -Benelux
Explosive Stand-off Detection
Next Generation Sample Prep
Mass Decon
CBRN Medics in the Hot
Zone
Incident Management
Systems
Colpro
First look UGVs
TECHNOLOGY SURVEY –
Bomb Suits
Autumn 2009
BONUS DISTRIBUTION : CBRNE WORLD’S 2ND CBRNe
CONVERGENCE CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION, The
Hague HOLLAND. DSEi, LONDON – CBRN SYMPOSIA,
SHRIVENHAM,UK
City Focus – New York
Procurement Focus – JPEO CBD
Regional Focus – Israel
Ground Penetrating Radar –
finding the hidden device
Wide Area Decon
Hospital CBRN Security
Critical Infrastructure
Protection
Mass Transit Device
Mitigation
Next Generation Carbon
TECHNOLOGY SURVEY –
PCR Bio Detectors
Winter 2009
BONUS DISTRIBUTION :
SISPAT, SINGAPORE
MILIPOL, PARIS
City Focus – Kuala Lumpur
Procurement Focus – DGA (France)
Regional Focus - Middle East
EOD Search Skills
First Responder CBRN Detectors
CBRN Urban Search and Rescue
Future Respirators
Next Generation Bio Identification
Medical Countermeasures
Casualty Decon
TECHNOLOGY SURVEY – Stand-off Detectors
To place your advertising message in CBRNe World
contact David Levitt
Tel: +44 (0) 208 744 0860 E mail:david.levitt@cbrneworld.com
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
89
CBRNeWORLD
Book Reviews
Emergency Response Handbook for Chemical
and Biological Agents and Weapons
John R Cashman
CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group,
528 pages. ISBN 781420052657
T
his is the second edition of John R
Cashman’s handbook, originally
published in 1999. The handbook
appears to have been written with
primarily an American audience in
mind, as much of the terminology
relates to American first responders and
their processes and systems. This,
however, should not deter anyone
involved in the response to chemical or
biological agents and weapons elsewhere
in the world from using it as a useful
guidebook or point of reference as the
principles translate into a universal
response language.
There are two lengthy sections, both
being guides for emergency response.
The first is to biological agents or
weapons, and commences with an
introduction to them and to toxins. This
section goes on to provide a detailed
account of what the agent is, its signs
and symptoms, diagnosis, vaccines,
personal protection and
decontamination, plus much more that
will be of use to any first responder.
Most of the major biological and
toxicological risks are listed
alphabetically in this section, for
example: anthrax, glanders, plague, ricin
and viral hemorrhagic fevers.
The second section applies the same
approach, only to chemical agents or
weapons and provides the same level of
detail, which again will be of use to any
first responder. It starts with an
introduction to them and then provides
a detailed account of the agent itself, its
characteristics, signs and symptoms,
medical treatment, antidotes, personal
protection, decontamination and other
useful and important information for
any first responder. The section covers
both persistent and non-persistent
agents and gives detail on a number of
nerve agents such as sarin, blood agents,
for example hydrogen cyanide, and
blister agents such as Lewisite. Once
again all the chemical agents are listed
alphabetically for ease of reference.
This is essentially a reference book and
consequently I was surprised at the
content of the introduction and the first
two chapters, which are effectively case
studies. A case study in itself can be a
useful vehicle to include in a book of
this nature as it enables the reader to
relate the academic principles of
response to a real-life incident.
Unfortunately, some of those
chosen are questionable. The
introduction concerns itself
with the horrific attacks of 9/11
perpetrated against the USA.
Whilst an appalling act of
terrorism, they involved neither
chemical nor biological agents
or weapons and I was puzzled
as to why the author had
chosen to include them.
others, having armed themselves with
firearms, knives and numerous
homemade bombs, none of which were
CB by nature. Whilst interesting to read,
I question its purpose in this book.
Overall, John R Cashman’s book is easy
to read with clearly defined sections and
sub-headings. It is useful as a reference
manual, although not one that could be
slipped into a pocket. It is a catch-all for
emergency responders and includes
immediate first aid and further medical
management. It has a section on
chemical agents and their flammability,
which is particularly relevant for fire
service staff. It has clearly defined
symptoms and characteristics and
provides references to other useful USA
sources, for example CDC
(Communicable Disease Centre). Despite
its quirks, this is an extremely useful
book and source of reference, especially
for practitioners and instructors.
Chapter one was more relevant
as it related to an accident
involving a toxic industrial
hazard, chlorine that killed nine
people in the small town of
Graniteville in South Carolina
on 6 January 2005. Whilst
relevant, however, I feel that the
44 pages devoted to it were a
little excessive.
Chapter two was the greatest
puzzle of all as it was an
account of the massacre at
Columbine High School on 20
April 1999. The author has
devoted 14 pages of his book to the
murderous rampage of two
dysfunctional teenage boys. They shot
and killed 13 people and injured many
Reviewed by Superintendent Alan King,
CBRN(E) Coordinator,
Metropolitan Police Service
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CBRNeWORLD
South Africa’s nuclear bombs
How South Africa Built Six Atom Bombs:
And then Abandoned its Nuclear Weapons Program
Al J Venter
Ashanti Publishing, South Africa,
233 pages, R249.50, ISBN: 9780981409849
Moscow. Like Israel, Pretoria was
adopting a “Samson option” – a
deterrent based on taking down the
enemy in any Gotterdammerung. That
at least was the theory.
S
outh Africa is the only country to
willingly give up a functioning
nuclear arsenal. The apartheid state
started its nuclear weapons’
programme in the 1960s, but then
moved into top gear to forge a
deterrent against what it perceived as
a communist-inspired total onslaught.
Less than a thousand personnel with a
core of 300 specialists were engaged in
the programme, although less than a
dozen South African-born scientists
worked on the weaponisation. It took
just six years to produce from scratch
the first atom bomb – less than half
the time the much larger Pakistani
programme required. Of course Israel,
inter alia, helped.
The first alleged test – possibly a joint
Israeli-South African device – was in
1979. The first crude deliverable
atomic bombs were ready by 1982, but
these were almost “museum pieces”,
very similar to the “Little Boy” dropped
on Hiroshima.
The delivery systems were initially to
be British-built Buccaneer and
Canberra aircraft. With help from
Jerusalem, the besieged state worked
hard on developing medium-to-longrange missile systems. The targets
were not just enemy capitals in
southern Africa but also ultimately
White Rhodesians fought almost to
the bitter end, and ended up with a
tyrant like Robert Mugabe. The ruling
Afrikaners, led by F W de Klerk,
struck a deal with the secular saint,
Nelson Mandela, despite the fact that
nuclear-armed South Africa possessed
the most powerful military force on
the continent.
The author, Al J Venter, explains much
of the political context of the drive to
create the first African nuclear
deterrent. Initially, South Africa was
seen as a useful southern extension of
the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Venter claims that Britain had stored
nuclear ordnance in South Africa, in
the northern Cape. He also says that
British nuclear weapons were deployed
in Cyprus and Singapore.
Venter touches on other secret South
African weapons projects, especially
Operation Coast, which included
anthrax, sarin, and possibly VX nerve
gas. Despite the bulky crudeness of the
original six bombs, local scientists
were working diligently on
miniaturising the nuclear payloads for
the missile programme.
South Africa had geared up for total
war by the late 1980s. Sanctions had
accelerated a highly successful local
arms industry, which became a world
leader in areas such as artillery and
mine-proofed vehicles. If apartheid had
continued, South Africa would have
become a very formidable nucleararmed state.
Instead, in Operation Masada, much of
the data, especially the connections with
Israel, was destroyed, and the equipment
was dismantled under the aegis of
British and American experts as well as
the International Atomic Energy
Authority. Some metal from the nonnuclear parts of the bombs were used to
make small ploughs which Nelson
Mandela handed out to VIP visitors. Less
optimistically, Venter indicates that some
of the scientists who worked on the
programme were lured to other states
with less benign leaders.
Pretoria’s white rulers were encouraged
by Washington to dismantle their
weapons before the communistinfluenced African National Congress
took over precisely because of the fears
of a possible anti-Western bias of the new
government. Venter makes the point that
if a small group of South Africans could
build a bomb so quickly, admittedly with
Israeli help, then al Qaeda, with support
and funding from sympathetic Islamic
states, could do the same. Critics might
argue that this book could be a useful
handbook for such a terrorist enterprise.
Al J Venter is a flamboyant veteran of
African conflicts and has excellent South
African contacts. After more than four
decades of war reporting his
undiminished energy shows in the
breezy style. He is a prolific author, but
the occasional repetition and lack of
structure suggest overhasty writing,
which slightly undermines the energetic
detective work. Nevertheless, this is an
important contribution to a fascinating
chapter in African history.
Reviewed by Paul Moorcraft.
Professor Moorcraft is the director of the
Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis,
London
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
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Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
91
CBRNeWORLD
Crystal ball
By CJ Rosatto
The Crystal Ball is an article written for each edition of
CBRN World.The magazine is focusing on the growth of
defence against non-conventional weapons, from NBC, to
CBRN to CBRNe.The aim of the Crystal Ball is to raise
issues that will likely effect CBRN defence in 20 years’ time.
In the last edition we continued to
follow the development of CBRNe
forensics. In particular we investigated
CBRNe and other forensic scientists,
their role and when they are likely to
be needed. The last edition had the
Crystal Ball foretelling that the
coalition scientific effort will become
better organised, with this edition
elaborating a little more on this topic.
We usually relate the term “stovepipe”
not to its original meaning of a
“chimney consisting of a metal pipe of
large diameter that is used to connect a
stove to a flue” but to its more military
application of “to develop, or be
developed, in an isolated environment;
to solve narrow goals or meet specific
needs in a way not readily compatible
with other systems”. Looking at the
current coalition scientific effort, the
need to become better organised is
really the need to move away from the
current “stovepipe” approach to our
scientific efforts.
There are several areas where
stovepiping of the forensic scientific
effort and CBRNe forensic scientific
effort are currently taking place. One of
these areas is in the search for
biometric evidence in the level 2
scientific facilities in both Iraq and
Afghanistan. Although their
relationship to each other is somewhat
distinct, we have a lot of scientific effort
going into this collection and appraisal
of material. The scientific effort is
usually drawn from a number of related
areas, but the pool of people to draw
from is small. If you work on the 12month deployment cycle for military
personnel then the replacements
needed are around four times the
deployed numbers. In addition, the
92
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
scientific effort is being focused on the
IED-based threat stovepipe. What this
means is that any change by enemy
combatants to utilise a CBR IED device,
the current staff structure would likely
to be very stretched to quickly,
efficiently and safely recover the
normal biometric evidence in support
of the counter-IED effort. Therefore, we
needed to move away from the current
counter-IED scientific effort stovepipe
to a more generalist approach that
includes the utilisation of CBRNe
scientific effort. There are many
similarities in the underlying scientific
forensic skill sets required.
To further highlight the scientific
effort stovepipe, Gwyn Winfield’s
article, “The drugs don’t work” in the
last edition, highlights another
example. This example is the need for
CBRNe-related scientific forensic effort
to support the military need for
biometric and evidence collection in
support of any counter-narcotic
operations. Are counter-narcotic
operations just another area that
requires scientific forensic support? If
a decision to support the counternarcotic operations is made, is another
stovepipe (another name is of course
“Empire Building”) of scientific effort
what is required? Where do CBRNetrained soldiers fit in with the
scientific forensic requirements in any
counter-narcotic operation? How
would this move tie in with the
current counter-IED operations?
The scientific forensic requirements to
support (coalition) operations are an
area that is in need of some rigorous
review. The military elements need to
lead this review with a focus on the
practical support required. Where are
there efficiencies to be had in “sharing”
not only the forensic scientist and his
or her professional experience, but
applying that to a range of scientific
forensic requirements? There are a
number of different forums that can
tackle this issue. Each nation is aware
of their own issues relating to the
support of scientific forensics;
however, it is usually at the
international agreement level that
good solid rational agreements and
commitments are made. For Western
nations, Nato agreements are usually
the way to progress international
military agreements. Non-Nato
Western countries usually abide by
relevant Nato agreements in order to
allow for better interoperability when
working with Nato forces. New
Zealand’s participation in Isaf is a
current example.
Another forum where this issue may
be better tackled is the ABCA forum.
ABCA is the America, Britain,
Canada, Australia (ABCA) and New
Zealand Armies Program. This forum
also includes the US Marine Corps
and British Royal Marines. It is the
ABCA forum which would most likely
be able to address the complex issue
of scientific forensic requirements
and interoperability. The current
views from the level 2 facilities in
both Iraq and Afghanistan would help
feed this forum.
The Crystal Ball foretells that due to
the nature of the forensic scientific
effort that is required, these issues will
be looked at by the relevant forum in
the next 12 to 24 months. The forum
results will then help guide the
military forensic science efforts for the
next 10 to 15 years.
www.cbrneworld.com
CBRNeWORLD
Is a more generic approach to forensics, rather than one that focuses on IEDs, the way forward? DoD
www.cbrneworld.com
Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
93
CBRNeWORLD
Active Dosimeter Roundup
DirectDMC2000XB DMC2000GN
Reading DMC2000S DMC2000X
(4)
(5)
(3)
(2)
(1)
Size of product (Height,
Width, Depth in cm)
Weight (grammes)
12.4 x 1.5
Sor/R
(7)
RAD60
(8)
DIS-1
(9)
UltraRadiac AN/UDR-13
(10)
(11)
8.4 x 4.8 x 8.4 x 4.8 x 8.4 x 4.8 x 8.7 x 4.8 x 8.0 x 4.8 x 8.0 x 4.8 x 7.8 x 6.7 x 4.1 x 4.4 x 10.0 x 6.6 x 10.0 x 6.6 x
1.2
1.75
0.9
2.2
2.8
1.75
2.9
2.1
0.9
1.75
70g
25g
Sor/T
(6)
70g
70g
80g
55g
55g
80g
20g
269g
270g
Op temperature range -20c to 50c -10c to 50c -10c to 50c -10c to 50c -10c to 50c -40c to 50c -20c to 50c -20c to 50c -10c to 50c -30c to 61c -51c to 50c
Technology utilised Ion Chamber
Silicon
detector
Silicon
detector
Silicon
detector
Energy
Silicon
detector
Silicon
detector
Silicon
detector
Silicon
detector
Ion Chamber compensated
Gamma,
Neutron
Gamma,
Neutron
Residual
Gamma
Gamma,
X-Ray
Gamma,
X-Ray, Beta
Gamma
Gamma,
Neutron
GM tube
Pin Diode,
PMOS–FET
Types of radiation
measured
Gamma,
X-Ray
Gamma,
X-Ray
Gamma,
Gamma,
low X-Ray X-Ray, Beta
Energy range
16 KeV to
6 MeV
50 KeV to
6 MeV
20 KeV to
6 MeV
y,X: 20 KeV to
6 MeV
ß: 60KeV to
3.5 MeV
y: 50 KeV to
6 MeV
n: 0.025 eV to
15 MeV
50 KeV to
6 MeV
50 KeV to
6 MeV
50 KeV to
6 MeV
15 KeV to
9 MeV
60 KeV to
1.3 MeV
80 KeV to
3 MeV
Accumulated dose
measured
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Shift dose measured
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
Dose rate alarm(s)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Dose alarm(s)
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Audible or visual alarm
No
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
No
Both
Both
Reach-back
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Battery type / Battery
life
N/A
LiMnO2
LiMnO2
LiMnO2
LiMnO2
LiMnO2
LiMnO2
AAA
6 months 2000
6 months 4.5 months 4.5 months 4.5 months 6 months
hours
continuous continuous continuous continuous continuous continuous
Countries sold Not supplied Civil defence Civil defence Medical and Industry and
NATO
and medical industry
countries
defence
and
industries worldwide worldwide worldwide
worldwide
94
NATO
Civil defence
countries
and
industries
worldwide
AAA
AAA
150 hours 150 hours
continuous continuous
N/A
Defence
Civil
R NL Navy,
Responders US Civil
Defence, US
Army, IT,
CAN, ESP,
DAN, Taiwan,
Irish Army
1 Arrow
2 Mirion
3 Mirion
4 Mirion
5 Mirion
6 Mirion
7 Mirion
8 Mirion
9 Mirion
10 Canberra
11 Canberra
12 Ludlum
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
www.cbrneworld.com
K8
(12)
Model 25 PM1604A/B PM1621/
(13)
(14)
(15)
3.9 x 2.5 x 7.6 x 5.4 x
1.7
1.2
13g
145g
5x9x
1.9
85g
PM1208M PM1203M PM1603A
(16)
(17)
(18)
8.7 x 7.2 x 5.2 x 4.8 x 12.5 x 4.2 x
3.5
1.8
2.4
150g
100g
90g
PM1208
(19)
5 x 5.6 x
1.9
5 x 4.5
x2
85g
95g
MiniTRACE Gamma i
Gamma
(21)
(20)
NeutronRAE
EPD Mk2 GammaRAE
II R
II
(22)
(23)
(24)
1.3 x 8.2 x 9.8 x 6.9 x 8.5 x 6.3 x 12.5 x 6.8 x 12.5 x 6.8 x
2.45
3.5
3.5
2.4
1.9
175g
145g
95g
270g
283g
-10c to 45c -40c to 65c -20c to 70c -40c to 60c 0c to 45c -15c to 60c -20c to 70c 0c to 45c -10c to 50c -25c to 50c -10c to 40c -20c to 50c -20c to 50c
Energy
Solid state Compensated
GM
Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Geiger Muller Silicon
diode,energy Pin Diode
tube
tube
tube
tube
tube
tube
tube
comp, Isotropic
Pin Diode,
CsI (TI)
3cc CsI (TI)
Photodiode,
1cc LiI (Eu)
Gamma
Gamma,
Neutron
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma,
X-Ray
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma
Gamma,
X-Ray, Beta
Gamma,
Beta
20 KeV to
10 MeV
60 KeV to
2 MeV
48 KeV to
6 MeV
10 KeV to
2 MeV
60 KeV to
1.5 MeV
60 KeV to
1.5 MeV
48 KeV to
3 MeV
60 KeV to
1.5 MeV
48 KeV to
3 MeV
y: 50 KeV to
6 MeV
ß: >2 MeV
15 KeV to 0.06 MeV to y: 6 KeV to
300 KeV
3 MeV
10 MeV
n: to 14 MeV
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Both
Both
Audible
Both
Both
Both
Audible
No
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Lithium
Lithium /
CR2032 / 6000
hours
1500 hours
Lithium
CR2032 /
9 months
Emergency Emergency
Responders Responders
Uranium
Mining,
Health
Physics &
Medicine
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
Both
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
1 x AA
30 weeks
2 x AA
900 hours
2 x AA
900 hours
Not supplied Not supplied
Lithium
Lithium
Lithium
1 x AA
2 x V357
AA /
AA /
CR2032 / 12
CR2032
CR2032 2000
12 months / 18
months
hours 4000 hours
months
/ 9 months / 12 months
Security,
Police &
Military
Industry
Industry
Security &
Police,
Customs &
Boarder
Control
Industry
homeland Not supplied US Navy,
US
security,
Austrian Metropolitan
ministries for
Army, Danish Medical
emergency,
Army, MOD, Response
industry in
UK Police, Sys, Multiple
international
DEU, FRA,
Fire &
first
RUS, UKR,
Ambulance
responders
China, India
13 Ludlum
14 Polimaster
15 Polimaster
16 Polimaster
17 Polimaster
18 Polimaster
19 Polimaster
20 Saphymo
21 Saphymo
22 Thermo
23 RAE Systems
24 RAE Systems
www.cbrneworld.com
US Military,
various US
State and
federal
agencies,
foreign
government
agencies
Winter 2008 CBRNe WORLD
95
CBRNeWORLD
Governor Gabriel Cinomis, a Prairie Dog, gives his
opinion of CBRN matters from his unique perspective
Prairie Dog
After the rigours of settling the investigation into the attack
on the Mayoral Den and the verbal thrashing by the Ferret
Bureau of Investigation, my most trusted advisor, Ms
Chuckworthy (whom I am accused of enjoying inappropriate
relationships with by the aforementioned FBI) suggested I
burrow deeply into my more mundane work and avoid public
scrutiny for a while. Ms Chuckworthy started her annual
hibernation leave early and an unsettled quiet descended upon
the Mayoral Den.
There was, unfortunately, a major conference I was
scheduled to attend during this unsettled period. Feeling
naked (figuratively) without Ms Chuckworthy, I was certainly
going to make an effort at not engaging in any contentious
debate. The conference catered to a variety of individuals, from
Nameless Scientists to Faceless Bureaucrats such as me. The
organisers of this conference decided to host it in a terribly
distracting location: a city known for finding new depths to
the word “excess”. Against this backdrop one is asked to
concentrate on items of biological detection and
environmental sampling.
Midway through the conference there was the obligatory
group dinner. Unexpectedly the food was edible despite being
served in near darkness with table lights which went unlit.
The staff were courteous and responsive and I had the
opportunity to sit with members of this august and fascinating
community as well as a couple of Nameless Scientists
specialising in something complicated and nearly relevant.
Promptly after the first course, a dinner speaker was
introduced by a Senior Minion representing the Office of
Burrow Security. The introduction was lengthy – this senior
dog had been a long-time advisor to the prior administration,
serving in multiple capacities, degrees in subjects of little
relation to the topics of the conference and responsible for the
spawning of the OBS. Doctor Captain High Lord (DCHL)
Dickens Argyle von Falkenstein mounted the podium,
dragging with him a suitcase full of gravitas. This impressive
individual, spokesdog for anyone wanting a good scary
sentence or two on terrorism, once elaborated on the
previously ignored nightmare connection between extreme
weather and terrorism…
Glamorous TV presenter: "Nearly a foot of rain in some
places – flash floods, motorists stranded, traffic lights out. At
least five Dogtown government facilities closed. What if this
weather barrage had been a terrorist attack?"
Von Falkenstein: "If this had been a life-threatening
incident for lots of people, I think we would have
pandemonium on the streets."
Other pearls of wisdom have escaped from the golden
mouth of the DCHL on such far-ranging subjects as virology,
infectious disease, and insurance. Truly this dog has
expansive experience.
I decided this had the true makings of an impressive
dinner speech. I put down my utensils and rested my paws
against my belly and listened while DCHL Dickens A von
Falkenstein sprayed it thick. Initially, things looked to be
headed in the usual fluffy way of such speeches: “How nice to
see all of you here”, “you’re all so very smart and talented”,
and the “gosh isn’t it nice we’re all working so hard on these
terrible problems”. Next was the honking of the personal horn.
The city he represented, New Yap, the most important city on
the planet capable of all things, with an Stasi, excuse me,
police force, larger than most Junta Legions, an intelligence
arm second to none, secret jails, massive transit, etc, etc. Then
the about face! We do not have sufficient magical devices to
absolutely and without ambiguity warn the Most Important
City on the Planet of even the slightest cold let alone a
biological assault. Oh – and all of you out there listening to
me? You SUCK. You haven’t done enough for ME and MY City
and I blame all of you for sitting on your collective behinds for
not producing a Starfleet Tricorder. The Department of
Defense? Why haven’t you been helping the civilian
community? How dare you concentrate on the warfighter!
That agency I founded? You SUCK TOO! In fact, you’re the
worst of the lot! He ended by saying “keep up the good work”.
A few brave souls in the audience actually laughed at this
point. I sat in stunned silence.
My first thought was DCHL Dickens A von Falkenstein
has evidently decided he no longer wishes to have a place in
national politics. Second, I felt very badly for the Senior
Minion who had to face the humiliation of not only
introducing the DCHL but then having to thank him
afterward for his rant.
As Mayor of Dogtown, I’d certainly be the first to say the
various devices with lasers attached to them have been less
than stellar at times with regards to their efficacy. The
canaries were a complete failure – yet continue to be touted –
and what we end up being left with is technology that has
changed little in the last 40 years. I know the Nameless
Scientists are working very hard and I’ve given my share of
kicks, but the rant I experienced at this conference was truly
inspiring and distinctly out of place. Inspiring me to never
forget how not to approach an invited dinner speech and out
of place for the sheer level of insult heaped upon a community
working to solve an insanely difficult problem. I think, in the
end, this rant did little than to make the Doctor Captain High
Lord Dickens A von Falkenstein look like an idiot.
After dinner, I went back to my rented den and thought
about the rant further and what, if anything, positive could be
gleaned from it. Do we need better biological detectors?
Possibly. The system currently in place can warn in a “detect
to treat” mode with a fairly good lead time for the dispersal of
medicines. Should a department whose charter is the fighting
of battles against other nation-states be responsible for
developing technology not only for the warfighter but for
civilian use as well? Technology transfer between the two
worlds does happen. Perhaps instead of developing, from
whole cloth, systems on its own, OBS could facilitate that
technology transfer, provided they can somehow fix their
internal structure and insanely poor management.
For now, I’m back, safe, in my Mayoral Den. Ms
Chuckworthy’s hibernation vacation still has a few weeks to go
and I must attend to further questioning from the ferrets as to
any thought-crime over the last two years.
‘Till next I poke my head up.
Gabriel Cinomis
Book Now. CBRNe Convergence, 28th-30th October 2009, World Forum, The Hague, Netherlands. More details on www.cbrneworld.com
96
CBRNe WORLD Winter 2008
www.cbrneworld.com
what’s
your mission?
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