Black Watch

Portman Security Systems Ltd., a manufacturer of GPS tracking devices, recently announced its Weapons Intelligent Tracking Systems (WITS). A firearms and body armor GPS tracking system, WITS employs GPS/RF and GPRS functionality all in one system for law enforcement and military applications. The addition is made to a line of tracking devices Portman has been producing for years, widening the capabilities in the GPS tracking industry.

The WITS system can sense traumatic bullet impact to the officer’s personal body armor, knows when a weapon has been drawn and discharged, and knows the number of rounds fired and the trajectory of projectiles, as well as hears hostile fire in close proximity to them. Furthermore, the device has an intelligent interface capable of detecting whether shots are incoming or outgoing. This information is instantly transmitted to the central monitoring station, headquarters or a dispatcher for immediate response, reports and analysis.

With Portman’s unique WITS system, officers don’t even have to key their microphone to notify that they have been hit or involved in a firefight. Event, ID and location, as well as vital data about the incident, are transmitted immediately to the control server. Future reports can easily be generated by the server to recreate the details of an incident where firearms are involved, eliminating discrepancies in reports. This system is designed to save the lives and protect our dedicated men and women in military or law enforcement agencies. WITS also provides an accurate GPS location system with mapping and real-time tracking, offering automated alert and response faster than humanly possible in a life or death situation. In the case that an individual is incapacitated or unable to communicate, the system will inform the agency of their situation. If the weapon leaves the proximity of the individual, an emergency event is also immediately sent to the dispatcher. Real-time tracking is also available to assist in the recovery of a weapon configured with WITS technology.

Light All Terrain Vehicle

Phoenix International Systems Inc. has unveiled an enhanced version of its All Terrain Vehicle Corp. division’s Prowler light tactical all terrain vehicle (LTATV), the only vehicle in the LTATV class purpose built, designed and produced for military applications including ISR, SAR, assault, crew served weapon mobility, perimeter patrol and logistic support.

These enhancements upgrade Prowler’s already established reputation for the highest performance in the field, delivering more power, greater stability and seamless operation in any climate or at any altitude. The new Prowler is 30 percent more powerful, featuring a digital control fuel injected 750cc SOHC 4-valve V-twin engine, the most powerful in the LTATV class.

“The new Prowler amplifies the advantages—unmatched reliability, stability, speed, endurance, power, all terrain mobility and operator protection—of the current version Prowler. And the Prowler is still the only LTATV platform designed specifically for military purposes and applications rather than simply a modified recreational vehicle,” said Amos Deacon, Phoenix International’s CEO.

“Also, like the current Prowler platform, which has been the preferred choice of military operators in both the U.S. and internationally, the new Prowler continues to be the only LTATV platform specifically designed and dimensioned to be a true Internally Transportable Vehicle (ITV) without modification or adjustment,” Deacon added. Built from rugged and durable chromalloy steel tubular construction, it includes a convertible roll over protection system. The Prowler is deployable in CH-46, 47 and 53 series helos, and CV-22 aircraft.

Battery and Display Improvements

Trimble recently announced the release of an improved Trimble Recon outdoor rugged handheld computer, featuring a new display and a PowerBoot Module with increased battery capacity, longer battery life and shorter charging time.

The improved Recon features an increase in battery capacity from 3,800 mAh to 4,000 mAh, with appreciably shorter charging time. A new charge termination feature ends the charging cycle when the battery is at full capacity, preventing overcharging and prolonging the battery’s life. The new PowerBoot Module also reduces battery memory effect, making it an ideal choice for field professionals who require frequent recharges.

The Recon’s new high-resolution, sunlightvisible QVGA display shows graphics and maps in crisp detail even in the brightest outdoor environments.

“These improvements to the Recon increase its practical usability and versatility in the field,” said Rob Davis, director of sales and marketing for Tripod Data Systems (TDS), a Trimble company. “The upgraded Recon is ideal when users need shorter charging times or want to leave the Recon on a charger until needed, without worrying about shortening the battery lifespan. And the new display makes the Recon even more ideal for outdoor use.”

The price for the improved Recon will not increase. TDS will offer a bundle for existing Recon users wishing to upgrade to the new extended capacity battery. This bundle will include an international charger that meets the new battery’s increased voltage requirement. Recon owners currently using an international charger will be able to upgrade the battery only.

The Recon is designed for all-day operation in extreme outdoor and industrial environments. It meets MIL-STD-810F military standards for drops, vibration and temperature extremes. Impervious to water and dust, it carries an IP67 rating. The Recon’s rugged construction makes it ideal for public safety, field service, utilities, military and other outdoor or service-related applications. It weighs just 17 ounces, and its rounded edges provide a comfortable grip.

The Recon runs Windows Mobile 6, providing persistent storage to keep data secure, and an array of familiar programs such as Word Mobile, Excel Mobile and PowerPoint Mobile. The Recon also offers optional integrated Bluetooth and 802.11g wireless, a 200- or 400-MHz Intel XScale processor, 64 MB of SDRAM and up to 256 MB of internal nonvolatile Flash storage. It also features two CompactFlash slots plus a standard nine-pin serial port and a highspeed USB port for connecting to a PC.

Ultra-Lightweight Protective Helmets

DSM Dyneema has announced that Protech Armored Products, a BAE Systems Products Group company, is marketing protective helmets made with ultra-strong Dyneema HB26 unidirectional (UD) composite in the United States. The Denver Police Department in Colorado is the first U.S. organization to adopt the new Protech Delta LT helmets. This model meets National Institute of Justice (NIJ) IIIA specifications and is 15 percent lighter in weight than comparable 100 percent aramid helmets.

Additional capacity in both yarn and UD material used in personal and vehicle protection has been brought on stream at its Greenville, N.C., facility. DSM Dyneema is on target to double global capacity for UD in 2009, as part of a $450 million investment announced earlier.

Dyneema HB26 composite is based on Dyneema, made from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene fiber. HB26 provides protection against handgun fragments and rifle threats at extremely low weights in both personal and vehicle hard ballistic armor applications, and this is the first commercial use of Dyneema HB26 composite in a ballistic helmet in the United States.

Biometric Prototype

intuVision and partner West Virginia University (WVU) Biometric Research Group are developing a prototype video soft biometry system that can automatically extract gender and ethnicity information without any intrusion of privacy. Soft biometry features are those that provide categorical information about people, such as gender, ethnicity and size, but are not enough to uniquely identify a person. This system will enable the extraction of soft biometry features and categorical classification of people from surveillance and Web-quality video.

When human observers see a person, they quickly extract categorical information, such as gender and ethnicity, even from poor quality images without having to recognize and identify them first. These types of characteristics that categorize but do not identify a person uniquely are called “soft biometric features,” and they provide high level information about the individuals. Extracting these features automatically from surveillance video will provide significant help to security personnel while protecting the privacy of individuals.

At present, intelligent video surveillance systems extract only limited knowledge about objects, at best, by classifying them into person, vehicle, group, etc., with no further detail on the people. Other vision based biometrics such as face and iris recognition systems attempt to uniquely identify a person but require high resolution imagery.

intuVision and WVU are exploring soft biometry features that can be robustly extracted from different types and quality of video sources and reliably used for categorical classification of people.

“This exciting new technology leverages our experience in video object tracking and classification,” said intuVision’s founder and CEO Dr. Sadiye Guler. “We believe by studying significant features of face, and human measurements from video, it is possible to obtain categorical information on people without having to identify them, and our early results are very promising.”

Portable Tactical Repeater Systems

McDowell Research, an Ultralife company specializing in the design and manufacture of power solutions and accessories to support government and defense communications systems, introduced the MRC-200A and MRC-200H Tactical Repeater Systems, designed for portability and first-responder use with multiband handheld radios. The “A” model uses the Thales MBITR AN/PRC-148 radio; the “H” model uses the Harris Falcon III AN/PRC-152 radio.

In addition to greatly extending the range of a handheld radio—effectively providing performance comparable to a manpack radio—both models provide greater bandwidth coverage than all other commercial repeaters (30-512 MHz). This multiband capability allows the repeaters the ability to be used with virtually any handheld radio as the outstation, while a field-interchangeable duplexer enables full duplex operation by combining both transmit and receive signals into a single antenna, providing added filtering for greater receive selectivity.

Both models can be powered via universal AC (85-265V, 47-63Hz) or DC (11-36V) with rechargeable battery backup. Both 12V and 24V DC systems have adjustable threshold settings to enable the internal battery chargers when the vehicle’s engine is running and disable them when the engine is turned off. Additionally, the vehicle’s DC voltage is constantly monitored to switch DC operation to internal batteries when it reaches a critical level, allowing—importantly— enough vehicle battery capacity to restart the engine.

The MRC-200A/H is scheduled for formal roll-out in Q4 of 2008.
 

* Compiled by KMI Media Group staff