DEVCOM CBC Team Supports Data Collection Event in Alaska

Photo By Jack Bunja | SBIR program enables Matt Theiss and Erich Riedlemeier of MESH, Inc. to conduct innovative approaches for data collection using autonomous detection capabilities. (U.S. Army photo)  

AK, UNITED STATES

05.10.2023

Story by Robin Schumacher 

U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center

Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD – The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center (DEVCOM CBC) participated in an Army-sponsored data collection event at the Cold Regions Test Center (CRTC) in Fort Greely, Alaska as part of its work for person borne improvised explosive devices (PBIED).

The event was produced and funded by the Army Counter Improvised Explosive Device Technical Working Group (CIED TWG), where DEVCOM CBC scientist, Dr. James Jensen, is the thrust area lead for PBIEDs. A team of researchers and scientists from the Center, including Jensen, spent a month in Alaska collaborating with the working group to help determine if PBIED imagers can enable additional detection capabilities for anti-maneuver, road-side threats in the same sensor footprint.

While experiments on PBIEDs have occurred in other locations, this was the first to be performed in Alaska, which came with a unique set of climate and terrain challenges. However, this research was particularly beneficial for the CIED TWG to determine how detection technologies would perform in environments where there would be snow-covered ground or obstructed areas.

As part of the CEID TWG, the PBIED thrust area has been working to research, develop, and prototype various sensors that will detect and image PBIED in unstructured and uncontrolled environments. The event at CRTC provided an opportunity to test these prototypes and collaborate with multiple partners, such as the U.S. Army Engineer School, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other DEVCOM centers. DEVCOM CBC has played a vital role in this effort applying its decades of expertise in passive stand-off detection as well as making dual use of its current technology.

Janet Jensen, part of the DEVCOM CBC team that attended the data collection event stated, “Our goal is to enhance force protection while reducing the footprint, logistics, and cognitive burden for the warfighter. We want to make it easy for them to be warned of potential threats.”

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For more information about the DEVCOM Chemical Biological Center, visit https://cbc.DEVCOM.army.mil

The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Chemical Biological Center (CBC) is aligned under the U.S. Army Futures Command (AFC) and U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM.)

AFC provides Army modernization solutions (integrated concepts, organizational designs, and technologies) in order to allow the Joint Force, employing Army capabilities, to achieve overmatch in the future operation environment. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of AFC. DEVCOM leads in the discovery, development, and delivery of technology-based capabilities to enable Soldiers to win our nation’s wars and come home safely. DEVCOM CBC is the Army’s principal research and development center for chemical and biological defense technology, engineering, and field operations. DEVCOM CBC is headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

• Date Taken: 05.10.2023
• Date Posted: 05.10.2023 12:22
• Story ID: 444454
• Location: AK, US