DEVCOM Armaments Center showcases future battlefield lethality at 15th annual S&T Networking event

Official Statements

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “PICATINNY ARSENAL, N.J. — The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (DEVCOM) Armaments Center hosted its 15th annual Science and Technology Networking Event on Sep. 24, bringing together government, industry, academia and other partners to strengthen collaboration and advance critical armaments technologies.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “Serving as the Army’s primary research, development, and engineering enterprise for advanced weapons systems, ammunition, and fire control, the Armaments Center dedicated this year’s landmark event to accelerating cross-tier collaboration and shortening the pipeline from laboratory breakthrough to warfighter deployment by debuting a high-tempo, multi-venue series of live, dynamic displays spotlighting critical capabilities engineered by the Center’s world-class workforce of scientists and engineers.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “This year’s event introduction of the ArmamentsX technology demonstrations gave attendees a firsthand view of emerging capabilities and the research, engineering and integration efforts supporting the Army’s current and future armaments needs. The annual networking event provided a forum for scientists, engineers, program stakeholders and technology partners to exchange ideas, identify opportunities for collaboration and discuss pathways for transitioning promising technologies from development to operational use.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “After a brief welcome from Anthony Sebasto, Executive Director of the Armaments Center’s Munitions Engineering Technical Center, those in attendance were able to freely roam The Club at Picatinny where more than 80 projects and presentations were on display. “15 years ago, this started off as an internal Armaments Center activity to try and get our workforce to better understand all the great work we’re doing across the Armaments Center enterprise,” Sebasto said.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “Now after 15 years, it is not only for our benefit but also for the benefit of our customers, the user community, members of the Army War College. We have folks here that want to see all the great work that we are doing. We are making breakthroughs and addressing gaps and the art of the possible that can transform or change the way our Army fights.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “ArmamentsX expanded that dialogue beyond presentations and discussions by putting technology in motion. Through live demonstrations, attendees were able to observe how Armaments Center innovations can contribute to improved Soldier lethality, protection, readiness and sustainment.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “In the lethal unmanned systems technologies demonstrations, the scenario placed friendly forces on a mission to find, fix and finish dug-in enemy defense positions in the area of operations while utilizing integrated unmanned air and ground-based systems. The audience in attendance witnessed a retransmission of the Collaborative Networked Armaments Lethality Technology (CNALT) on a large screen near where the demonstration played out.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “What stood out during the demonstrations was not any individual platform or payload, but the way we are bringing together lethal unmanned air and ground systems, sensors, fire-control capabilities and scalable effects as an integrated system of systems,” said Bhavanjot Singh, acting director of the Armaments Center’s Weapons and Software Engineering Center. “CNALT helps orchestrate those capabilities, giving operators the tools to identify threats, prioritize engagements and employ the right asset at the right time,” Singh said.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “CNALT plug-in is an application that provides tactical fire control and visualization tools to reduce time in the kill chain - the cycle of finding and identifying targets, prioritizing, and coordinating attacks. Operators use CNALT for target awareness, mission planning, execution and orchestration of target engagements according to commander’s guidance. Operator interactions with CNALT lead to fire missions being sent to ground stations where operators control asset operations, including Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS).”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “After CNALT identified two targets, Armaments Center engineers attacked and destroyed the targets with two lethal payloads integrated via the Picatinny Common Lethality Integration Kit, or CLIK, which is an open-source design standard developed at the Armaments Center for Army and Department of War lethal unmanned systems, and an armed medium range recon aircraft which used the callsign “BLACKFOOT”.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “BLACKFOOT was armed with two lethal payload packages that were dropped on the move using GUNSLINGER fire control hardware and software. GUNSLINGER synthesizes a fire control solution from a suite of on-board sensors and provides the operator with a continuously calculated impact point. Additionally, it can command the weapon release in coordination with CNALT. CNALT advised the team to prosecute the target using the Munition Air Lethal Effects Tool, or MALET. MALET is a snap-on fuzing system that turns an ordinary 60mm mortar into a droppable munition.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “BLACKFOOT then deployed the Scalable Precision Explosive Airdropped Round, or SPEAR, in a second attack pattern to engage the enemy High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). SPEAR is a 50mm drop-glide munition that uses an optical sensor to identify and terminally seek vehicle targets.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “The scenario required additional lethal assets to continue the attack. An armed medium range recon UAS using the callsign “SPOOKY” approached the enemy position. Spooky carried a small Purpose Built Attritable System, or PBAS attack package as its payload. That payload was equipped with the Audible Hit to kill (HTK) system. Audible HTK is an Armaments Center-developed re-militarization effort that utilizes the M42 Dual-Purpose Improved Conventional Munition (DPICM) cluster munition as a terminal attack weapon. This nested system of systems integration is accomplished via Picatinny CLIK.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “As SPOOKY approached, the operator released AMBUSH which spun its props mid-free fall and flew the rest of the way to engage the enemy bunker with a kinetic impact. After additional enemy movement was identified, operators deployed short Round, a remote-control car equipped with a lethal payload to destroy the enemy bunker. The payload is integrated with the car via the Small User Payload Interface, or sUPI, which is included in the CLIK standard.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “Short Round was equipped with SHANK 2.0, a fuzing system that command-detonates a specialized anti-personnel warhead. This integration showcases the versatility of the Picatinny CLIK standard and payload ecosystem as it makes the crossover from UAS to unmanned ground vehicles (UGV).”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “The enemy’s defensive position was left compromised and rendered inoperable after multiple attacks. While conducting battle damage assessment it was discovered that additional enemy troops were moving in. CNALT then tasked an first-person view kinetic strike drone, known as HAVOC, to engage the enemy troops. HAVOC, like short Round, was equipped with SHANK 2.0.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “The last engagement in the scenario came when BLADE 2.0, or the Ballistic Low Altitude Drone Engagement system, which went by the callsign HOOLIGAN, detected multiple FPV attack drones that were vectoring in on the friendly forces’ position. BLADE 2.0 used its on board ECHOSHIELD radar to detect incoming threats.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “CNALT prioritized each threat, and the CNALT operator tasked HOOLIGAN and Advanced Fire Control Technologies, or AFCT, to engage and defeat them. AFCT is a networked rifle system that provides aided target recognition and a dismounted last line of defense counter UAS capability. BLADE 2.0 allowed target tracking and for human in the loop to engage target with the Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS)system. HOOLIGAN detected incoming UAS threats. As it tracked and engaged them, it passed targeting information to CNALT and AFCT.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “The event demonstrated how our lethal unmanned systems and counter-UAS capabilities can operate collectively rather than as standalone technologies,” Singh said at the conclusion of the demonstrations. “By using common integration standards and coordinating capabilities through CNALT, we are developing adaptable, interoperable solutions designed to provide the warfighter with relevant effects across a changing operational environment.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “At another area of the installation, the Armaments Center’s Energetics and Warheads Directorate put on a series of vignettes using pyrotechnics, propellants, and high-explosives to simulate realistic battlefield effects for training, and UAS defeat demonstrations. As part of the demonstration, a XM185 rocket propelled grenade guided rocket simulator traveled across a wire from left to right across the demonstration area as onlookers witnessed black smoke omit from the M175 Black Smoke Simulator and heard the sounds of a mini blast from an M183 explosive charge.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “These effects help Soldiers and crews recognize threats, react more effectively, and become familiar with combat-related visual and auditory signatures,” said John Latwinas, Associate for Science and Technology. The next two demonstrations were the XM186 Tracer Fireback Simulator which simulated tracer fire deployed during a small arms attack and the XM184 High Order Blast Effect which created a safe dust-explosion effect that deploys heat and fire designed to imitate the impact of a round striking a fuel-containing object.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “All of these come at a much lower cost than training with actual high explosives or other actual ammunition, and are also safer to train with,” said Latwinas. At a third and final demonstration held in another area of the installation; Armaments Center engineers showcased two counter-UAS effectors and one UAS protection technology. The first effector demonstrated the use of a low-power, low-cost, lightweight laser to defeat enemy UAS by permanently damaging its optics.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “Even GPS-guided one-way-attack drones rely on cameras for ensuring terminal accuracy,” said David Goldstein, Counter-UAS Technical Area Manager. “The low-power laser system is able to instantly and permanently blind the threat UAS sensors, defeating their ability to target friendly forces,” Goldstein said. To avoid damage to their eyes, the audience gathered watched the scenario unfold in real-time while safely monitoring on television screens inside a nearby trailer. The group then headed outside the trailer to watch the final demonstration of the day.”

• Picatinny Arsenal, November 12: “Defending the homeland requires safe, reliable solutions to defeat nefarious UAS, which must include a kinetic last-line-of-defense. Due to the risk of unwanted collateral damage, Armaments Center is evaluating the efficacy of using short-range training ammunition to defeat Group 1 and 2 threats. While firing a .50 caliber machine gun, engineers demonstrated the use of M858 plastic short range training ammo as a low-flying UAS. The ammunition is strong enough to disable the drone, but its energy dissipates when reaching the ground, doing little-to-no damage to surrounding areas.”