By Michael Sirak

An enhanced bomb rack for the F-16 fighter aircraft, new three-dimensional displays for visualization of the battlespace, and a more sensitive biological agent sensor are among the 29 promising domestic and foreign concepts that Pentagon officials have selected to evaluate starting in FY ’08, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced Dec. 13.

The concepts will be assessed under DoD’s Foreign Comparative Testing (FCT) and Defense Acquisition Challenge (DAC) programs that the Office of the Secretary of Defense’s (OSD’s) Comparative Testing Office manages. Of the 29 winners, which OSD and the services reviewed from a pool of more than 85 candidates, the Air Force is sponsoring seven, as is the Army, while the Navy and Marine Corps are overseeing 10. U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) is sponsoring five of them.

The DAC and FCT programs are designed to support the warfighter by leveraging innovative, mature equipment and technologies from domestic and coalition industry to satisfy U.S. defense requirements, DoD says.

“By staying focused on the capabilities required for the global war on terrorism, DAC and FCT enhance interoperability with our coalition partners, strengthen defense relationships, and serve as a catalyst for partnering between domestic and overseas defense industries,” the department wrote in its statement announcing the FY ’08 winners.

The DAC program gives U.S. companies, especially those that are not major defense contractors, the opportunity to challenge current acquisition programs at the component, system, or sub-system level.

The first of the three Air Force-sponsored DAC projects, the Enhanced Smart Triple Ejection Rack, will evaluate a modified Triple Ejector Rack that would enable the F-16 fighter to carry six Joint Direct Attack Munition satellite-guidance-aided bombs instead of the current maximum of two.

The Collaborative Video Dissemination Service, another DAC, would provide the end user with the ability to record, analyze, fuse or otherwise manipulate video backhaul from unmanned aerial systems, DoD says.

Under the final Air Force DAC, the service will test a digital head-up display for the F-15C/D fighter jet that holds the promise of reducing the mean time between failure and maintenance costs, and of increasing mission reliability, compared to the current analog HUD.

The Air Force’s four FCT evaluation projects are: a Transportable Plasma Waste-to-Energy System from Canada to convert hazardous, non-hazardous, and medical waste into energy; an Aircraft Arresting System from Sweden for the F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters; a Global Positioning System Jammer from the United Kingdom for realistic operational training; and Hand-Held Laser Welders from Canada and Germany that holds the promise of a reduced maintenance footprint and less risk of heat and/or electrical damage to structures.

The first of the Army’s three DAC projects is the Joint Biological Agent Sensor, which is an off-the-shelf system that offers between one to three orders of magnitude increase in sensitivity compared to fielded sensors, DoD says.

The second DAC, the Omni-Directional Antenna for M156 Magneto-Inductive Remote Activation System (MI-RAMS), would allow Army special operation forces and combat engineers to place their MI-RAMS initiators on demolition charges in any attitude, instead of vertically only, reducing time on target and increasing operational reliability, DoD says.

The final Army DAC, will test the Armored Biological Integrated Detection System in the M1083A2 Armored Medium Tactical Truck.

The land service’s four FCT initiatives are: a Three-Dimensional (3-D) Visualization of the Battlespace system from Japan for the Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below Blue Force Tracking Systems; Sintered Silicon Carbide Ceramic Tiles Hard Body Armor from Germany and Taiwan that would meet the Army’s new specification for light-weight small- arms protective inserts; a 40 mm extended-range marking round from Germany for the M203 grenade launcher; and Hawkmoor Limited Burners from the United Kingdom for Army Assault Kitchens.

The first of the four Navy-Marine Corps DAC initiatives is a lower cost, longer duration countermeasures dispensing system for the F/A-18 multirole fighter aircraft.

The second DAC is a mobile internet-protocol interface to Tactical Data Link networks that allows for near real-time reaction to a changing tactical environment and supports automatic re-allocation and re-tasking of combat assets.

The Navy and Marine Corps will also test new stabilization technologies adopted from advanced film equipment for lightweight weapons mounts under the third DAC.

The final DAC, the Vaccine and Reagent Refrigeration System, is a lightweight, field-rugged refrigeration system to transport and store life-saving vaccines and reagents.

The six Navy-Marine Corps FCT projects are: Heat-Resistant Lightweight Matting from Australia and France for the landing surface system of the V-22 tiltrotor aircraft; Advanced Airborne Expendable Infrared Countermeasures from Israel to counter emerging advanced infrared man-portable air defense systems; Signaling Colored Smoke Grenades from Australia, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom that are less-toxic, less-hazardous, less-expensive, and offer increased-performance for ground-to-air and ground-to-ground signaling; an AK-47 Special Effects Small Arms Marking System Training System from Canada for more realism in urban training; 120 mm Multi-Purpose High-Explosive Munition for the M1A1 tank from Germany and Norway that offers increased range and improved blast fragmentation; and Fractal Antenna Technology for ship antennas from Spain that offers increased performance and would reduce the ship’s radar cross section, DoD says.

USSOCOM’s first DAC project will evaluate software that extends the functionality of the Falconview mapping system which exploits geospatial video collected by ruck-sack portable unmanned surveillance aircraft, DoD says.

Under the second DAC, the command will assess a new detection antenna for the ALQ-211 Suite of Integrated Radio Frequency Countermeasures that is currently being fielded on the MH-47G helicopter and CV-22 tiltrotor infiltration/exfiltration aircraft.

The final DAC, Obstacle Avoidance SONAR for SOF Underwater Recon Vehicle, will test an obstacle-avoidance sonar for the Semi-Autonomous Hydrographic Reconnaissance Vehicle, an unmanned underwater vehicle used by Naval Special Warfare in shallow water intelligence, for greater ability to operate in ill-defined waters, DoD says.

Under USSOCOM’s two FCT initiatives, the command will evaluate: fire control systems from Belgium, Germany, Norway, and Sweden for the Special Operations Forces Combat Assault Rifle Grenade Launcher to improve its range from 200 meters to 600 meters; and programmable high-explosive dual-purpose 40 mm ammunition from Norway for the Advance Lightweight Grenade Launcher MK47 Weapon System that provides both air-burst and armor-penetrating capability.