[Infowarrior] - Inside DARPA's latest projects

[Richard Forno]

By Layer 8 on Mon, 05/18/09 - 9:42am.

http://www.networkworld.com/community/node/41935

When it comes to building the most advanced, bad-ass technologies  
around there are few science enclaves that can match the US Defense  
Advanced Research Projects Agency.  Last week the outfit detailed nine  
top strategic research programs in a 57-page report.  The report  
states the programs will lead to revolutionary, radical high-payoff  
(and many times high-cost) technology advances.

Indeed DARPA's projects run the gamut from building extremely fast,  
secure networks, and developing higher, longer flying unmanned  
aircraft to bio-related advances that help bring vaccines to a useful  
state faster and space technologies that offer modular satellite  
systems.

     If you want to get a general idea of the scope of DARPA's  
programs, here is a short list of research projects on the table. Most  
of which are spelled out with more detail later:

     -Accelerated Development and Production of Therapeutics: rapidly  
and inexpensively manufacture millions of doses of life saving drugs  
or vaccines in weeks, instead of the years required to ramp up today's  
manufacturing practices.

     -Blue Laser for Submarine Laser Communications: provide for  
timely, large area submarine communications at speed and depth, which  
no other future or existing system, or combinations of systems, can do.

     -High Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense System: novel, compact,  
high power lasers making practical small-size and low-weight speed-of- 
light weapons for tactical mobile air- and ground-vehicles.

     -High Productivity Computing Systems: supercomputers are  
fundamental to a variety of military operations, from weather  
forecasting to cryptography to the design of new weapons; DARPA is  
working to maintain our global lead in this technology.

     -Networks: self-forming, robust, self-defending networks at the  
strategic and tactical level are the key to network-centric warfare;  
these networks will use spectrum far more efficiently and resist  
disruption if the GPS time signal is unavailable.

     -Quantum Information Science: exploiting quantum phenomena in the  
fields of computing, cryptography, and communications, with the  
promise of opening new frontiers in each area.

     -Real-Time Accurate Language Translation: real-time machine  
language translation of structured and unstructured text and speech  
with near-expert human translation accuracy.

The nine strategic programs feature a multitude of technologies as you  
might guess. Here I have tried to distill some of the most advanced  
here from DARPA's Strategic Plan 2009 report, including:

Ground control to Major Tom: Space is where it's at

As you may know, DARPA began as a space agency, when the shock of  
Sputnik caused Americans to believe the Soviet Union had seized "the  
ultimate high ground." DARPA's space strategy includes a number of  
ambitious projects including:

The Falcon program has been working to build a jet that can hit the  
Mach  6+ range.  A major goal of the program is to flight-test key  
hypersonic cruise vehicle technologies in a realistic flight  
environment. Recently DARPA conducted both low- and high-speed wind  
tunnel tests that validate the stability and control of the hypersonic  
technology. Test flights are planned from Vandenberg Air Force Base to  
Kwajalein Atoll to test thermal and aerodynamic control systems. One  
flight will follow a fairly direct trajectory, while the second  
"buttonhook" trajectory will demonstrate significant cross-range  
maneuver capability.

DARPA's System F6 program takes a dramatically new approach towards  
designing, building, launching, and operating larger spacecraft. The  
F6 or Future, Fast, Flexible, Fractionated, Free-Flying Spacecraft  
United by Information Exchange also known as the System F6, is  
intended to let the agency deploy individual pieces or what it calls  
"fractionated modules" of current all-in-one satellites. For example,  
each fractionated module would support a unique capability, such as  
command and control, data handling, guidance and navigation, payload.  
Modules could replicate the functions of other modules as well. Such  
modules can be physically connected once in orbit or remain nearby to  
each other in a loose formation, or cluster, harnessed together  
through a wireless network they create a virtual satellite.

According to DARPA such a virtual satellite effectively constitutes a  
"bus in the sky" - wherein customers need only provide and deploy a  
payload module suited to their immediate mission need, with the  
supporting features supplied by a global network of infrastructure  
modules already resident on-orbit and at critical ground locations. In  
addition, there can be sharing of resources between various  
"spacecraft" that are within sufficient range for communication. DARPA  
said the within the F6 network all subsystems and payloads can be  
treated like a uniquely addressable computing peripheral or network  
device.

Meanwhile, the Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) program will enhance  
space situational awareness by demonstrating rapid, unsecured search,  
detection, and tracking of faint, deep-space objects. SST is using  
curved focal plane array technology to develop a large-aperture  
optical telescope with very wide field of view to detect and track new  
and unidentified objects that suddenly appear with unknown purpose or  
intent, such as small, potentially hazardous debris objects and future  
generations of small satellites.

DARPA's ISIS program recently got the go ahead to build a roughly 1/3- 
scale model of a stratospheric airship that if completed in-scale will  
basically house a floating 15-story radar system capable of detecting  
and tracking everything from small cruise missiles and unmanned aerial  
vehicles to soldiers and  small vehicles under foliage up to 300  
kilometers away.

The move to unmanned warfare

Without a doubt unmanned aircraft have already had a huge impact on  
military and civilian flying worlds. DARPA says its efforts have been  
focused in two areas: First, to improve individual platforms so that  
they provide new or improved capabilities, such as unprecedented  
endurance or survivability. Second, expand the level of autonomy and  
robustness of robotic systems.

Some of the more advanced unmanned aircraft projects include:

-The A160 program is developing an unmanned helicopter for  
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions, with  
long endurance - up to 20 hours - and the ability to hover at high  
altitudes. In 2008, the A160 set a world record for UAV endurance when  
it completed an 18.7 hour endurance flight. The A160 concept is being  
evaluated for surveillance and targeting, communications and data  
relay, crew recovery, resupply of forces in the field, and special  
operations missions in support of Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and other  
needs.

-Vulture will develop an aircraft capable of remaining on-station for  
over five years, pushing technology and design so that the system may  
not require refueling or maintenance. A single Vulture aircraft could  
support traditional intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance  
functions over country-sized areas, while also providing geostationary  
satellite-class communication capabilities but at a fraction of the  
cost.

-Rapid Eye program is creating the capability to deliver a persistent  
intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance asset anywhere  
worldwide within one to two hours. The program will develop a high- 
altitude, long-endurance, unmanned aircraft that can be put on  
existing space launch systems, withstand atmosphere re-entry, and  
provide efficient propulsion in a low-oxygen environment at low speed.

Just as air vehicles have moved toward both increased mission  
complexity and increased environmental complexity, DARPA is also  
trying to increase both the mission and environmental complexity for  
autonomous ground vehicles. This will help meet the Congressional goal  
that, by 2015, one third of US operational ground combat vehicles will  
be unmanned.

The Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicle - Perception for Off-Road Robotics  
(PerceptOR) - Integration (UPI) program demonstrated an unmanned  
ground vehicle (UGV) capability. DARPA has begun to transition this  
technology to the Army, and provided a prototype ground vehicle with  
PerceptOR vehicle control algorithms and software to the Army Tank- 
Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center to use in  
developing a UGV control architecture, and conducting vehicle design  
and control risk mitigation activities for Future Combat Systems  
vehicle.

Getting more power in the face of the enemy

By using improved information technology, DARPA intends to reduce the  
layers and amount of infrastructure needed to operate the computers,  
software applications, and networks that support the front-line  
fighting forces, letting military personnel conduct new kinds of  
missions in new ways.

The fundamental goal is to get a larger proportion of forces into the  
fight.

With that in mind, DARPA said it as embarked on an ambitious mission  
to create a new generation of computing systems - cognitive computers  
- to dramatically reduce military manpower and extend the capabilities  
of military personnel. DARPA's cognitive computing research is  
developing technologies that will enable computer systems to learn,  
reason and apply knowledge gained through experience, and respond  
intelligently to new and unforeseen events.

The Personalized Assistant that Learns (PAL) program has been  
developing integrated cognitive systems to act as personalized  
executive-style assistants to military commanders and decision-makers.  
PAL is creating a new generation of machine learning technology so  
information systems automatically adjust to new environments and new  
users, help commanders maintain the battle rhythm and adapt to new  
enemy tactics, evolving situations and priorities, and accelerate the  
incorporation of new personnel into command operations, while making  
more effective use of resources.

DARPA's Integrated Learning program has demonstrated software that an  
learn these planning tasks by watching examples.

Once the system learns a planning task, it can then support other  
operators who are perhaps less expert by guiding them through the  
task. This software will eventually make it practical to create many  
sophisticated decision support systems that will make operators faster  
and more effective.

Improved real-time translation of foreign languages at both the  
strategic and tactical levels is another important way computers can  
assist the military and civilians. Real-time language translation  
technology will help US forces better understand adversaries and  
overall social and political contexts of the operational areas. This  
improved awareness will decrease costly mistakes due to  
misunderstandings, and also improve the chances of success.

The goal of the Global Autonomous Language Exploitation (GALE) program  
is to translate and distill foreign language material (television  
shows and newspapers) in near real-time, highlight the salient  
information, and store the results in a searchable database. Through  
this process, GALE would be able to produce high-quality answers to  
the types of questions that are normally pro-vided by bi-lingual  
intelligence analysts.

GALE is making progress toward achieving this very ambitious goal by  
2011.  The agency is developing the System for Tactical Use program, a  
two-way speech translation system to convert spoken foreign language  
input to English output and vice versa.

The networks have it

DARPA is developing technologies for wireless tactical net-centric  
warfare that will enable reliable, mobile, secure, self-forming, ad  
hoc networking among the various echelons while using available  
spectrum very efficiently.

For starters, DARPA said frequency spectrum is scarce and valuable.  
Most of the radio frequency spectrum is already allocated to users who  
may or may not be using it at a given time and place. DARPA's neXt  
Generation (XG) Communications technology will effectively make up to  
ten times more spectrum available by taking advantage of spectrum that  
has been assigned but is not being used at a particular point in time.  
XG technology senses the actual spectrum being used and then  
dynamically uses the spectrum that is not busy at that particular  
place and time. XG resists jamming and does not interfere with other  
users.

DARPA also has been developing autonomous network communications for  
the cluttered environment of cities. Urban clutter usually creates  
multiple signals from diverse reflections of the initial signal (multi- 
path), and the result is weak and/or fading voice/data communications.  
DARPA's the Mobile Networked Multiple-Input/Multiple-Output (MNM)  
program is actually exploiting multipath phenomena to improve  
communications between vehicles moving in cities without using a fixed  
communications infrastructure.

Besides tactical networking, DARPA is bridging strategic and tactical  
operations with high-speed, high-capacity communications networks. The  
Department's strategic, high-speed fiber optic network, called the  
Global Information Grid (GIG), has an integrated network whose data  
rate is hundreds to thousands of megabits per second. To reach the  
battlefield deployed elements, data on the GIG must be converted into  
a wireless format for reliable transmission to the various elements  
and echelons within the theater. This data rate mismatch creates  
problems in the timely delivery of information to military personnel.

In response to this challenge, DARPA has been working on robust  
network management to combine the high data-rate capability of laser  
communications with the high reliability of radio frequency  
communications and obtain the benefits of both.

DARPA's Optical RF7 Communications Adjunct (ORCA) program will design,  
build, and demonstrate a prototype tactical network connecting ground- 
based and airborne elements. ORCA's goal is to create a high data rate  
backbone network, via several airborne assets that nominally fly at  
25,000 feet and up to 200 kilometers apart, which provides GIG  
services to ground elements up 50 kilometers away from any one node.

Networks rely on a widely available timing signal, or common clock, to  
sequence the movement of voice and data traffic and to enable  
encryption. The timing signal is often provided by the Global  
Positioning System (GPS) or broadcast via other radio signals. We  
should expect adversaries to attack our networks by blocking these  
timing signals.

DARPA has been developing a miniature atomic clock - measuring  
approximately one cubic centimeter - to supply the timing signal  
should the external signal be lost. The Chip-Scale Atomic Clock will  
let a network node, using a Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio  
System, maintain synchronous operation with the network for several  
days after loss of the GPS signal.

Urban area warfare

To provide a response to the challenges of battles in hard-to-reach  
areas, DARPA said it is assembling sensors, exploitation tools, and  
battle management systems to rapidly find, track, and destroy  
irregular forces that operate there. This includes small-units  
operating in mountains, forests, and swamps; ground troops that  
abandon open country for cities; and insurgents whose whole  
organization - finance, logistics, weapon fabrication, attack - is  
embedded in civilian activities. DARPA is even looking out to sea to  
counter the piracy threat.

For example, changes detected between images generated by DARPA's  
foliage-penetrating radar can be used to engage elusive targets. The   
FORESTER radar operates at frequencies that penetrate the forest  
canopy. Algorithms, running either on an aircraft or by the network at  
a ground station, compare images taken at different times to detect  
changes that signify either departures or arrivals. Because radars  
operate in all weather and at long ranges, this technique can discover  
the location of potential targets over very wide areas.

DARPA is also networking radars together. DARPA's NetTrack program  
uses airborne radars to gather features of moving vehicles and pass  
that information over a network to maintain tracking information over  
extended periods. This network of radars will allow us to track the  
enemy even if they move behind obstructions or into urban canyons.

To identify targets in response to these cues, DARPA has developed  
laser radar, or ladar sensors that can obtain exquisitely detailed, 3- 
D imagery.

shows a ladar image of a tank beneath forest cover. By flying the  
ladar over a potential target, photons can be collected from many  
different angles.

Those photons that pass through gaps between leaves for example,  
however few, can be collated together into a composite image. New  
computational methods can match these data against 3-D geometric  
models of a variety of target types, even identifying gun barrels,  
rocket launchers, and other equipment that unambiguously indicate the  
military nature of the vehicle.

DARPA has several programs to vastly improve capabilities to  
understand what is going on throughout a complex urban environment,  
including the ability to detect adversaries hiding in buildings and  
other structures, and to find hidden explosives or weapons of mass  
destruction.

DARPA's UrbanScape system will rapidly create a three-dimensional  
model of an urban area that allows the user to navigate and move  
around in a computer environment much like a video game, but one based  
on real data. This will allows troops to become very familiar with the  
urban terrain before beginning a mission.

A helmet-mounted visor is being developed that displays a fused image  
created from several other helmet-mounted sensors - even when it's too  
dark for night vision goggles, or when peering through smoke and fog.  
And DARPA developed a hand-held radar that senses people on the other  
side of walls to detect potential enemies before military personnel  
enter a room or building.

Another program, DARPA's Predictive Analysis for Naval Deployment  
Activities (PANDA) program is developing technology that exploits  
surface maritime vessel tracks to automatically learn the normal  
behavior of over 100,000 vessels, and then detect deviations. PANDA  
will automatically provide alerts on those vessels exhibiting  
suspicious activity, including activities that have not been  
previously seen or defined.

Tagging, tracking and locating capabilities

DARPA has been developing new capabilities to persistently monitor  
targets or equipment of interest; tag, track and locate enemy  
activities; track and detect weapons fabrication and movement; and  
precisely discriminate threat from non-threat entities.

Protecting the military from attacks is an ever-present challenge -  
especially in the close-quarters and congestion of cities. DARPA is  
developing technologies to detect, prevent, or mitigate attacks,  
including suicide bombers, improvised explosive devices, and weapons  
of mass destruction.

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) remain a significant threat to our  
forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. DARPA's Hardwire program has developed  
an entirely new class of armor that weighs less than comparable steel  
armor and has demonstrated outstanding protection against armor  
piercing rounds, fragments, and IEDs.

Small arms fire poses a constant threat, particularly in urban  
terrain. DARPA's low-cost Boomerang shooter detection and location  
system provides a protection tool that warns ground forces when they  
are being fired upon and where the fire is coming from.  Building on  
the success of Boomerang, DARPA is developing a detection and warning  
system for ground forces under the Crosshairs program, which  
incorporates the Boomerang system as well as an advanced radar capable  
of detecting a broad range of threats including small arms, rockets,  
missiles, and mortars.

DARPA programs are also modeling and understanding social indicators  
that precede the onset of hostilities and conflict, coupled with tools  
to develop strategies to stabilize an urban area and assist US civil  
affairs units.

Meanwhile DARPA's LANDROID system which creates small robots that are  
also communications relay nodes to establish and manage communication  
networks. Military folks will carry several of these pocket-sized  
LANdroids, dropping them as they deploy. The LANDroids will talk to  
one another and spread out to establish a mesh communications network  
over the region. When the fighters move, the LANdroids and the network  
will move with them to maintain robust, self-healing communications.

Bio-Revolution

Developing defenses against biological attack poses daunting problems.  
Strategies using today's technologies to counter future biological  
threats are seriously limited.

First, it is nearly impossible to predict what threats might emerge in  
two decades, particularly engineered threats. Second, from the moment  
a new pathogen is first identified - either a weapons agent or a  
naturally emerging pathogen - today's technology requires at least 15  
years to discover, develop, and manufacture large quantities of an  
effective therapy.

It would be exorbitantly costly to attempt to cover the bases with the  
research and development required to deal with a wide range of  
potential threats, and then stockpile, maintain, and indefinitely  
renew population-significant quantities of vaccines or other  
therapeutics just in case one or more of those threats might emerge.,  
DARPA stated.

DARPA has developed approaches to dramatically increase the  
effectiveness of vaccines. One agent, CpG, has been shown to reduce  
the dose required to achieve immunity and the number of "booster  
shots" required to maintain immunity. With CpG, DARPA demonstrated a  
nearly nine-fold improvement in response to the anthrax vaccine, and  
significantly shortened the time until military personnel are fully  
protected. CpG has transitioned widely and is in advanced clinical  
trials for influenza and biodefense vaccines.

DARPA's work to discover new therapies include our Protein Design  
Process program, with the goal to demonstrate a computer-based system  
that can identify new targets and therapies within 24 hours, in sharp  
contrast to the weeks or months currently required.

DARPA's Rapid Vaccine Assessment (RVA) program has been developing new  
ways to test vaccines and rapidly provide more precise, biologically  
relevant evaluation of human responses than conventional tissue  
culture systems or animal testing.

For combat injuries on the battlefield, hemorrhage continues to be the  
leading cause of death, accounting for about 50% of fatalities, DARPA  
said. To provide more time for evacuation, triage, and supportive  
therapies, DARPA's Surviving Blood Loss (SBL) program has been  
developing novel strategies to delay the onset of hemorrhagic shock  
due to blood loss by extending the "golden hour" after severe trauma  
to six to ten hours, or more.

SBL is working to understand how energy production, metabolism, and  
oxygen use is controlled, and to identify protective mechanisms to  
preserve cellular function despite low oxygen caused by blood loss.  
SBL has identified very promising compounds, including hydrogen  
sulfide and estrogen, that, in large animal tests, extend survival  
from potentially lethal hemorrhage to more than three hours without  
requiring resuscitative fluids. Human safety trials for hydrogen  
sulfide are proceeding.

Miscellaneous core technologies

All things Quantum

DARPA's Quantum Entanglement Science and Technology (QuEST) program is  
creating new quantum information science technologies, focusing on  
loss of information due to quantum decoherence, limited communication  
distance due to signal attenuation, protocols, and larger numbers of  
quantum bits (Qubits) and their entanglement. Key among the program's  
challenges is integrating improved single- and entangled-photon and  
electron sources and detectors into quantum computation and  
communication networks. Defense applications include highly secure  
communications, algorithms for optimization in logistics, highly  
precise measurements of time and position on the earth and in space,  
and new image and signal processing methods for target tracking.

Parts is parts

DARPA's Structural Amorphous Metals (SAM) program is building a new  
class of bulk materials with amorphous or "glassy" microstructures  
that have previously unobtainable combinations of hardness, strength,  
damage tolerance and corrosion resistance. Calcium-based SAM alloys  
are being developed for ultralight space structures, aluminum-based  
alloys for efficient turbine compressor blades, and iron-based alloys  
for corrosion resistance in marine environments. In an effort with the  
Navy, the Naval Advanced Amorphous Coatings program has devised a  
thermal spray technique that produces textured amorphous metal  
coatings with a high coefficient of friction and wear, impact, and  
corrosion resistance that is superior to any other corrosion- 
resistant, non-skid material, with the goal of certifying them for  
unrestricted use on Navy ships.

Honey I shrunk the device

Advances in nano-science and nanotechnology, where matter is  
manipulated at the atomic scale enable still-more-complex capabilities  
in ever smaller and lower-power packages. DARPA envisions adaptable  
microsystems for enhanced radio frequency and optical sensing; more  
versatile signal processors for extracting minute signals in the  
presence of overwhelming noise and intense enemy jamming; high- 
performance communication links with assured bandwidth; and  
intelligent chips that let a user convert data into information in  
near-real-time.