Understand (SDD)

Abstract

The Understand System Development & Demonstration (SDD) Project provides the Joint Force the ability to continually receive information about the CBRN situation at a desired time and place by detecting, identifying, and quantifying CBRN hazards in air, water, or on land, and on personnel, equipment or facilities. These efforts support the ability to conduct early warning (informing protective posture) and employment of rapid detection, identification, and analysis tools needed to address emerging biological threats. Efforts also keep the Joint Force ahead of emerging chemical threats with portable, reduced size, weight, and power, cost detectors to protect general and specialized forces and to enhance operations on the battlefield by providing early warning and field analytics. Medical diagnostic activities develop FDA approved products for the Warfighter at the point of care to inform far-forward medical and protection decisions. Efforts included in this Project are: (1)Advanced Emerging Threat Defense (AET DEFENSE), (2)Aerosol & Vapor Chemical Agent Detector (AVCAD), (3)Compact Vapor Chemical Agent Detector (CVCAD), (4)Multi-Phase Chemical Agent Detector (MPCAD), (5)Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) Sensor Integration on Robotics Platforms (CSIRP), **Progressed from CA5 in FY2022** (6)Defense Biological Products Assurance Program (DBPAP), (7)Defense Biological Products Assurance Program-Enhanced Biodefense (DBPAP-ENBD), (8)Joint Biological Tactical Detection System (JBTDS), (9)Nuclear Biological Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle Sensor Suite Upgrade (NBCRV SSU), (10)Next Generation Diagnostic System Increment 2 Chemical Diagnostic (NGDS 2 CHEMDX), (11)NGDS 2 Man Portable Diagnostic System (NGDS 2 MPDS), (12)Special Purpose Unit Rapid Capability Development and Deployment (SPU RCDD), (13)Surveillance and Pathogen Characterization - Enhanced BioDefense (SPCHAR-ENBD), and (14)Chemical and Biological Wearables - Enhanced Biodefense (CB Wearables - ENBD) The AET DEFENSE program continues to address the highest priority CBRN gaps and supports the Chemical Biological Defense Program (CBDP) Strategic Line of Effort to meet current and emerging threats by anticipating CB hazards and developing capabilities to counter emerging and future threats. The AET Defense program collaborates with the Joint Services, interagency, and international partners to align RDT&E resources to determine readiness against emerging threats, to include NTAs, such as Novichoks and Pharmaceutical-Based Agents (PBA) (e.g. synthetic opioids), emerging biological threats, and other advanced and emerging threats as they are identified across the entire CBDP enterprise portfolio. In FY23, AET Defense continues to broaden data set for emerging biological threats and PBAs to better assess detection and decontamination capabilities. The AVCAD is a man portable system to detect aerosol and vapor chemical agents. AVCAD fills critical gaps in current Joint Force chemical sensor capabilities, in the areas of liquid, solid and dusty aerosol Chemical Warfare Agent detection, and detection of specific advanced threats/Non-Traditional Agents. The AVCAD will also detect low-level off-gassing, or residual vapors, to prevent/mitigate health effects associated with low concentration exposures, and perform remote alarm warning and reporting. AVCAD will support chemical and biological defense missions, including monitoring, collective protection, base defense, decontamination, unmasking, reconnaissance, and shipboard and aviation platform chemical detection. In FY23, AVCAD will award the LRIP option and start P&D Testing. CVCAD is designed to be an unobtrusive, low-profile chemical detection capability that will continuously, and autonomously, monitor and alert general and specialized units to an unsafe environment without further burdening the warfighters payload or interfering with the primary mission. The small form factor (less than 2 lbs) is amenable to both man-worn and unmanned aerial or ground system operations to enable timely personnel protective action and other force protection decisions. In FY23 the four competing prototypes will undergo down selects based on performance. CVCAD will brief Acquisition Steering Panel (ASP) in 2QFY23 to inform milestone decision and prepare for next milestone, Milestone B or Middle Tier Acquisition (MTA). The MPCAD is a two-man portable system that will conduct near real-time, near-laboratory grade analysis of solid, liquid, and vapor samples collected by the operator in a presumptively contaminated area. The MPCAD results will support the Commander's tactical and operational decisions regarding maneuver, protection, decontamination, and treatment measures. The Army and Marine Corps will employ MPCAD in Dismounted Reconnaissance and Site Assessment missions to substantiate presumptive detector results. The Air Force will employ the MPCAD to support Post-Event Reconnaissance in support of Reconnaissance and Surveillance missions by monitoring the environment at airbases after a chemical release. The Air Force will continuously monitor contaminated areas for chronic health effects levels through analysis of samples from collectors deployed at the contamination site and brought back to the analyzer for identification and quantification. This information will support commander decisions to determine Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) levels and eventual termination of cordon restrictions. In FY23, MPCAD will complete the LRIP contracts, systems engineering support, and complete operational testing. CSIRP is a prototyping and fielding effort that will focus on repackaging and integrating modular CBRN sensor solutions to enhance Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) and Unmanned Ground Vehicles (UGV) to provide situational awareness across the echelons of command in order to enable freedom of maneuver and action on the battlefield. An integrated CSIRP capability will exploit advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning and autonomy, sensing and communication capabilities that enable timely and accurate detection, warning and reporting of CBRN hazards. This reduces risk at tactical and operational echelons in mounted and dismounted configurations. CSIRP gives the Joint Force an opportunity to enhance capabilities and maintain operational advantage in a lethal and sophisticated operating environment. In FY23, CSIRP will integrate a chemical sensor on a UAS to support NBCRV SSU program and continue user evaluation for other robotic platforms. The DBPAP program facilitates new technology transition to advanced development, efficient production, and timely distribution. The DBPAP serves as the principal resource for critical biological assays and reagents. The DBPAP also resources the Targeted Acquisition of Reference Materials Augmenting Capabilities (TARMAC), which generates data on biodefense pathogens to inform product development. The DBPAP establishes a core research and development capability by developing biological threat agent reference materials (strains, antigens, antibodies and nucleic acids) and detection/diagnostic assays for biothreat agent detection. These reagents/assays are leveraged across multiple programs to meet the requirements of the Warfighter and Joint biological defense systems and support the biological defense community. Through the TARMAC initiative, the DBPAP will use a systematic approach to the introduction of new materials and information into medical countermeasure development. This includes advanced platform technologies within the DoD's Advanced Development and manufacturing facility. In FY23 the DBPAP continues development/expansion of biological threat agent reference materials to known and emerging threats. The DBPAP Enhanced Biodefense effort will increase capabilities supporting biothreat identification and data information collection and management. The rapid detection and assessment of environmental biothreats and indicators of population-level exposure to enable and enhance force protection decisions and maintain lethality and Force operations tempo (OPTEMPO). The JBTDS is the first tactical lightweight, low-cost biological surveillance system to detect, collect, and identify Biological Warfare Agent (BWA) aerosols. JBTDS components are man-portable, battery operable and easy to employ by any military user. JBTDS provides notification of a hazard and enhances battle-space awareness to protect and preserve the forces and can archive a sample for follow up analysis. When networked, JBTDS augments existing biological detection systems providing a theater-wide array capable of biological detection, identification and warning to support time sensitive force protection decisions. The JBTDS provides surface sampling capability which interfaces with the JBTDS identifier to support sensitive site exploitation missions. In FY23, JBTDS will conduct LRIP T&E. The NBCRV SSU provides maneuver formations with the ability to conduct mounted reconnaissance and surveillance missions of CBRN named areas of interest (NAIs). The NBCRV SSU will answer the commanders' priority intelligence requirements (PIR) and facilitate proactive risk-based decisions to ensure freedom of action and survivability. A modern and capable NBCRV SSU is a critical component for Joint Force success when operating in the complex CBRN environment. Operating with combat vehicles fighting against increasingly capable and determined enemies requires like capability in protection, mobility, and lethality. The NBCRV SSU will accomplish this by integrating the capability for command and control of unmanned systems with CBRN payload. The NBCRV SSU will provide a CBRN detection, tipping and queuing system to accomplish desired standoff distances to keep the warfighter out of harm's way and reduce sustainment costs over the current system. In FY23 the NBCRV SSU will complete Government Developmental and Operational Test to support a future Materiel Release decision. The NGDS 2 ChemDx program will provide a rapid, hand-held, point-of-care device, for the quantitative detection of acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) activity in finger stick and venous whole blood samples of individuals suspected of being exposed to cholinesterase inhibiting substances, such as chemical nerve agents. NGDS 2 ChemDx will be employed by the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines and SOCOM at multiple echelons of healthcare. NGDS 2 ChemDx test results are to be used to aid in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals suspected of having exposure to chemical nerve agents. In FY23, NGDS 2 ChemDx continues Engineering & Manufacturing Development. The NGDS 2 MPDS program will provide a simple-to-use, portable diagnostic device capability that can be used in austere battlefield environments to assist in the diagnosis of infectious diseases and biological warfare agents. The MPDS will enable earlier patient diagnosis improve decision support for treatment, evacuation and command situational awareness, and mitigate the effects of exposure to unknown infectious disease and biological agents. In FY23, NGDS 2 MPDS concludes hardware, software, assay design, including planning for Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) and completion of two clinical trials, for the device and two assay panels, and continues development of third assay panel. SPU RCDD facilitates Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) rapid response requirements to near-term and emergent chemical-biological defensive capabilities. This includes select elements from across the Special Operations Force (SOF) Enterprise such as Combatant Commanders Response Forces (CRFs) and other Joint Force enabling units such as the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives Command. SPU RCDD mitigates risk across the Chemical Biological Defense Program (CBDP) by creating a portfolio of operationally-relevant CB capabilities that can be quickly transitioned in response to the articulated, emergent capability needs of the geographic combatant commanders. These objectives are met by the early transitioning of promising science and technologies (S&T); the focused conduct of combat evaluations and mission-oriented operational assessments to assess technological and mission suitability; and the active leveraging of existing Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) and Government-Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) products along with novel redesign approaches to optimize existing solutions to new challenges supported by "buy-try-decide-acquire" acquisition strategies. SPU RCDD initiates efforts such as respiratory breathing systems, biological identification, unmanned aerial and ground platform sensor integration, development of enhanced and augmented reality systems, and modernization of protective Chemical and Biological ensembles that have gone through requirements validation, and continues product enhancement development and technology upgrades on currently fielded SOF equipment to counter emerging threats, conduct limited user evaluations and operational assessment. The SPCHAR-ENBD (contact tracing) integrates innovative and emerging contact tracing capabilities into the pre-symptomatic exposure wearable system outlined in CB WEARABLES-ENBD. This effort will leverage on-going COVID-19 investments in contact tracing stemming from the joint service response to Joint Emergent Operational Needs Statement (JEONS) JS-0003. It will include person-worn digital proximity tools for logging close contacts with the infected. SPCHAR-ENBD directly supports the strategic goals of the Chemical Biological Defense Program's (CBDP's) Enhanced Biodefense effort. CB Wearables - ENBD will develop an integrated physiological monitoring and surveillance capability that leverages Artificial Intelligence / Machine Learning (AI/ML) analytics to detect and alert anomalies that may indicate exposure to Biological Warfare Agents (BWA) or other emerging threats. Directly interface and integrate with existing Joint Force computing environments to provide surveillance, detection, and situational understanding, and response planning of potential emerging threat outbreaks within the force. CB WEARABLES-ENBD directly supports the strategic goals of the CBDP's Enhanced Biodefense effort.

Document Details

• Document Type: Project
• Publication Date: Oct 01, 2023
• Source ID: UN5_0604384BP_5_0400_PB_2023

Tags

Readers

• Critical Infrastructure Protection in CBRN and WMD Threats.

Technology Areas

• 5G
• 5G - DoD 5G Program
• 5G - Internet of Things
• AI & ML
• AI & ML - DoD AI Strategy
• Autonomy
• Autonomy - UAVs
• Biotechnology
• Fully Networked C3
• Fully Networked C3 - Command and Control
• Space