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What's Behind Door One?
Written by Peter Buxbuam
For a U.S. military increasingly tasked with operating in densely populated urban areas, assaulting and breaching buildings is becoming an increasingly important element of the mission set. There are several factors that need to be considered when planning and executing such a mission. One is how to approach the structure in question. A second is what means are best to actually enter the building.
A variety of companies are coming up with myriad systems, tools and devices to smooth the way for the operators undertaking these very dangerous activities. What is more, they are constantly improving them.
For example, could special forces do better than use ladders to scale outside walls? Attacking forces have used ladders throughout all of history and little has changed in the design of the ladder—basically two side rails and rungs—but what has changed has the way to move the ladder where it needs to be and offer better stabilization. Several companies have devised systems to make the ladder more useful and safer in a tactical environment.
Or, take the task of affixing an explosive charge to a door to facilitate entry. One company, Sentry Solutions of Wilton, N.H., has developed a breaching paste that ensures the charge will stick to its target until detonated, minimizing the resulting fireball.
There are two main techniques used to enter buildings, according to Avner Klein, a senior breaching instructor with Global Assets TAC Group, a Las Vegas-based training organization. Manual breaching uses tools such as rams, crowbars and Hallagan tools—doubleheaded devices named for the New York City firefighter who invented them. Ballistic breaching can use a variety of blasts, whether from a 12-gauge shotgun or explosives affixed to a door or wall. Less used these days are hydraulic tools, because of their large size and difficulty of transport, and heat-based methods such as torching.
“The objective is not just breaching, but to breach safely,” said Klein. “You can go through anything with enough explosive.” The challenge is getting inside without demolishing the building or causing injury to troops or, depending upon the situation, to those inside. Global Assets trains personnel from all of the U.S. military branches as well as from law enforcement agencies.
Perhaps the most basic of entry tools is the ram. Breaching Technologies Inc., a San Antonio-based company, markets several small-sized rams, ranging in weight from 20 to 40 pounds, which are designed to be used in tight spaces. “The majority of breaches are done with rams,” said Del Johnson, the company’s vice president for sales and marketing.
The company also markets an 8-pound “break and rake” tool, meant to be used on glass, and a 12-pound device it calls the Grim Reaper, both of which are capable of performing a variety of functions such as breaking, chopping, raking, hooking, ramming, prying, wedging and puncturing.
Blackhawk Dynamic Entry LLC, a company based in Southport, N.C., develops and markets a variety of manual breaching tools, including Hallagan tools—sporting a wedge on one end and a forklike device, for prying and breaking, on the other.
“The original Hallagan tool was fabricated from dropped forged steel,” explained Marty Wozniak, a Blackhawk category manager. “We designed an updated tool several years ago that includes stainless steel heads and a fiberglass handle. The new tool is lighter, and its thinner handle is easier to grasp.”
Blackhawk also markets a kit that bundles a Hallagan tool with bolt cutters and hammers in a backpack for easy toting. The company is working on developing a new set of breaching tools that are smaller and lighter than those now available and that can be carried by each member of a tactical unit, thus multiplying its breaching capacity. Blackhawk has sold its equipment to every branch of the U.S. military as well as to military and law enforcement agencies in Canada, Mexico, Europe and Asia.
CET, a Moyock, N.C.-based company, also sells manual breaching kits to the U.S. military, in particular the Navy SEALs. “We sell more of the kits than individual tools,” said CET President Anita Miller. “It is very compact and has everything needed for entry, such as bolt cutters and sledgehammers.”
CET recently performed an airplane crash rescue demonstration for the Air Force, going against a team using a hydraulic jaws-of-life tool. “We actually got into the simulated aircraft a minute later than the other team,” said Miller, the point being that the tool used by the other team was very large and cumbersome. Miller expects the Air Force to be CET’s next big customer.
Rafael, an armaments company based in Haifa, Israel, produces a variety of ballistic breaching devices to be used in different situations. The Simon breaching rifle grenade is a device mounted on the end of a 5.56-caliber rifle and is used to breach doors.
“The idea is that you don’t have to touch the door to breach it,” explained Rafael’s Avi Rotshtain. “You put the Simon on the bar and shoot the rifle with a live bullet in the magazine.” The Simon has a range of 36 meters and has been acquired by U.S. armed services as well as other western militaries.
Rafael also produces two products designed to breach walls. The first product, dubbed by Rotshtain an “anti-structure” device, is designed to punch a hole in the wall while delivering a lethal blow to the occupants on the other side. This product can be shot from a minimum range of 20 meters and up to 400 meters and delivers two warheads. The first punctures the wall while the second penetrates the structure and explodes within it, 20 milliseconds later.
“The anti-structure product was purchased by the Israel Defense Forces and was used as part of the last operation in Gaza with very good results,” said Rotshtain. The wall breaching version of the product was designed for a different kind of mission. “The purpose is to create a mobility corridor without damaging the wall itself,” said Rotshtain. “It can be shot from 120 meters and can be fired from an enclosure. What you get is a 1-meter diameter hole in the wall so you can go through it or shoot through it.” The blast spreads debris 12 meters behind the wall, so there is the possibility of collateral damage.
Aiding in the breaching of doors and walls is a special paste developed by Sentry Solutions and used by Klein as part of the training he provides through Global Assets. “Tape is also used to affix charges to doors,” he said. “But if it has been stored for a long period of time, especially in extreme heat or cold, the adhesive can lose its properties. We have also run into problems when the target is very wet, is extremely dirty, or has some kind of oil residue that can neutralize the capabilities of adhesive tape.”
The fact that the Sentry paste is not flammable is also a plus, Klein said. “The explosive charge produces a tremendous amount of heat, and you don’t want to set the building on fire,” he added. “The fact that the glue itself does not create a fire hazard is a very good thing for us.”
Other devices ancillary to assaulting and breaching are ladder systems used to scale walls. CET provides special forces with collapsible ladders with rungs made of high-grade aircraft aluminum and connecting pins made of titanium.
“We just finished developing a bridging ladder,” said Miller. “We believe there will be high demand for that product.”
MOBILE LADDERS AND RAMPS
The MARS (mobile adjustable ramp system) manufactured by Patriot3, Fredericksburg, Va., is a vehicle-based hydraulic ramp system that can greatly enhance speed and safety of breaching and entry procedures to elevations of up to 11 meter. One key MARS feature its fast assault suspension tower (FAST). The FAST is a fast rope deployment system that allows operators to breach targets up to 7 meters high, quickly. Each MARS can deploy two FAST systems simultaneously.
Mounted to a USSF [U.S. Special Forces] HMMWV in Iraq from 2004-2008, the MARS was used in multiple real-world missions by U.S. and other special forces. A company-provided quote from the U.S. military stated, “With the MARS, a unit can quietly and quickly infiltrate an assault force onto a roof or over a wall of a target without being detected. The fast rope method was the preferred method during our recent deployment to Iraq. A highly trained unit can get 25 assaulters over a target wall estimated 20 seconds or less.”
Based on feedback for a lighter system to fit the MRAP vehicles, Patriot3 has developed a hydraulic single ramp system called the Liberator that provides many of the same capabilities as the MARS.
Another company, Defense Control USA developed its assault system after observing the problem faced by federal agents assaulting the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, in 1993 when agents were unable to return fire because their hands were occupied grasping the ladder.
The resulting solution is a steel superstructure that houses a twoman- wide fold-up aluminum ramp that is mounted on the top of and bolted onto a vehicle like a HMMWV or an SUV. The device is driven up to the target and the ramp unfolded hydraulically. The ramp can also provide ballistic protection to a small tactical unit crouched on the roof of the vehicle.
“The driver of the vehicle is the one operating the system,” said Patrick Hamon, president of Defense Control USA. “That way the whole team is free to enter and exit the target without worrying about the system.”
MEANS OF ENTRY
Another technology that aids in breaching are tools that facilitate training for those tasks. Breaching Technologies Inc. manufactures doors that are designed specifically for use in training for breaching operations.
“Timing is of the essence,” said Johnson. “You want to get through instantly and surprise the people inside.” The company ships its doors to 56 militaries worldwide.
The BTI doors simulate breaching experiences involving ramming or blasting, and involving doors with wood or metal frames. “The idea is to provide the real-life breaching experience,” said Johnson. That experience is provided by the use of plastic pins that are inserted into the door-latching mechanism and provide the required resistance for the particular exercise. “The pins can simulate doors requiring only 400 pounds per square inch [psi] of force to penetrate all the way up to reinforced doors that require 2,700 psi,” said Johnson. BTI’s doors are guaranteed to withstand 1,500 breaches. The use of this technology means that the doors can be reloaded with pins and breached every 15 to 30 seconds. ♦
The Need for Situational Awareness
Tactical teams conducting urban operations are often stepping into the unknown.
“They have to go in and take out the bad guys inside of a building, yet they can’t get a visual picture with a camera,” said Dirk van der Vaart, vice president for business development at Camero USA, a company based in Vienna, Va. Camero’s Xaver 400, a throughwall vision system, is a compact and lightweight personal device that allows special operations forces to locate people hidden by walls and barriers, enabling tactical teams to know what faces them.
About the size of a laptop computer and weighing less than 7 pounds, the Xaver 400 requires no warm-up time or boot-up routines and provides detection of static and moving objects, room dimensions and major infrastructure elements. The device has an 8-meter detection range and can see through multiple walls within that range.
The Xaver 400 utilizes a multichannel ultra-wideband radar sensor that enables reliable detection and object resolution. Image reconstruction algorithms visualize objects in the environment and differentiates living objects from the inanimate on the device’s screen display.
Cambridge Consultants, with offices in the U.S. and the U.K., have also developed a see-through-the-wall radar, the Prism 200.
According to the company, the system can detect personnel up to 20 meters and can offer various displays on the color screen including a front, plan, profile or 3D. The radar can work in most typical house and business construction materials and features a signal processing capability that highlights people on the move and in complex environments. The field of view is 120 degrees horizontal and 90 degrees vertical. The Prism 200 is ruggedized for field use and is easier operated with one arm freeing the other arm to manage the systems controls or be free for self defense.
To extand the flexible operation of Prism 200 a laptop application has been developed that allows the user to remotely monitor and record the intelligence gathered. This allows surveillance or action teams to keep a safe distance between the threat and themselves as long as possible.
On a single full charge, the system can run continuously for about four hours, as long as 24 hours on standby. ♦