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High Tech Tools

Mar-23-2004 » Filed Under: General Military

DARPA recently showcased its new high-tech tools designed to assist soldiers in combat.

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Associated Press
March 23, 2004

ANAHEIM, Calif. - The Pentagon is rushing into service in Iraq a pair of technologies developed under its advanced research arm: a Humvee-mounted sensor for pinpointing hostile gunfire and a "command post of the future" designed to cut down on combat leaders' travel and streamline decision-making.

The tools come courtesy of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, which is known mostly for its imaginative, over-the-horizon work. Current DARPA projects include underwater holograms that disguise submarines and artificial human "tissue" for testing vaccines against biological and chemical weapons.

But urgent war zone needs have prompted the Pentagon agency to get to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan inventions ranging from handheld computerized language translators to thousands of pen-sized water purifiers.

The sniper detector, named "Boomerang" and developed by BBN Technologies Inc. of Cambridge, Mass., is all about diluting the element of surprise in urban ambushes.

Sensors atop an aluminum pole on the back of a Humvee pick up supersonic shock waves to give an approximate location of gunfire, and sound waves measured from the muzzle blast narrow it some more.

A cigarette box-sized display on the dashboard or windshield then shows the findings. "Incoming, 5 o'clock," says a speaker inside the box.

Assailants in urban Iraq are often inexperienced, missing on the first shot, said Karen Wood, who supervised development of "Boomerang" in just two months. They also tend to be armed with AK-47s rather than more accurate rifles, giving soldiers time to return fire or get out of harm's way.


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