DARPA sketches futuristic 'virtual schoolhouse': although the technology does not yet exist, DARPA believes the concept can work.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is trying to solve a chronic problem for the military services: the shortage of training facilities and the difficulties in making time to train.

Under a program called DARWARS, the agency is seeking personalized, on-demand training that can run on a notebook computer. DARWARS is a "virtual schoolhouse," said Ralph Chatham, manager for DARPA's Training Superiority program.

The project highlights one knotty issue--that computer-based training can be dry and not necessarily effective for unmotivated students.

"If there is this compelling nature to training, the value to the military is that it may make people want to train," said Chatham. To accomplish this, DARWARS will meld an array of technologies, ranging from digital video of human instructors to gaming, based on the success of commercial multiplayer online games.

"People are paying $15 per month to play these online games," Chatham said. "Can DARWARS create that kind of passion for training?"

DARWARS is part of DARPA's Training Superiority project, which received $6 million in funding for fiscal year 2003.

The three-year DARWARS project currently is more vision than reality. Offering an example, Chatham paints an almost fantastic picture of what a "DARWORLD" training might ultimately look like.

A pilot might be on a carrier in the Persian Gulf, and decide to use his laptop computer to hone flight skills. An eyeball tracking device first verifies the pilot's identity, then DARWARS helpfully informs him that he neglected to read his last after-action review. It displays the report, detects that the pilot's eyes were elsewhere when he should have been reading the third paragraph, and asks him why he did not like reading that paragraph. The answer is sent automatically to a training bulletin board for discussion.

Second, DARWARS asks the pilot if he would like to find partners for his training mission. He can only find two more, but DARWARS provides a third, computer-generated pilot to fill out the formation. The DARWARS server determines what refresher training each of the three human pilots needs. It also notes that a soldier at Fort Hood, Texas, is rehearsing a close-air support mission, calling in a B-52 strike. Yet, the B-52 crew, sitting at their own laptops, will be quitting for lunch, so DARWARS informs the Fort Hood soldier that the carrier-based aircraft will be taking the place of the bomber.

Finally, the carrier pilots are briefed by a simulated operations officer and launch their mission (each pilot manning his own laptop computer). One pilot needs refueling training and gets it, while the rest of the flight practices navigation. DARWARS sees that the Fort Hood soldier has not practiced emergency first aid for more than six months, so it adjusts his scenario so that enemy resistance grows. The soldier calls for close-air support from the Navy fighters, and one of the pilots strafes so low that his plane is hit and he ejects. The soldier then treats his wounds. If the soldier is called away to a meeting, DARWARS generates an avatar to play for him while the Navy pilots continue the exercise.

Although the scenario is ambitious, Chatham believes that DARWARS can demonstrate that this approach is both feasible and relatively inexpensive. "Collect it, bottle it, put it on CDs, and it will pay for itself in about two hours," he added.

DARWARS is focusing on distributed air mission training, rapid tactical language and training in troubleshooting for information technicians. In the case of language training, the goal is to teach a soldier a working knowledge of a foreign language and culture--such as using the right hand gestures--in two weeks, solely using PC-based training software. For training information technicians, the goal is to create a computer tutor superior to the best human teacher--and do it for under $200,000.

DARWARS is as much a cognitive as a technological approach, according to Chatham. In addition to offering accessible learning, it aims to stimulate a soldier's thinking.

Chatham knows the sort of training that he wants to eliminate. He recalls entering the sonar room of a Navy ship during a training session, and discovering that the crew was flipping coins to decide which one of them would read training manuals out loud for the next 45 minutes.

DARWARS will use or develop technology to personalize training and make it more interesting.

One way is to emulate television news. Chatham envisions students watching video digital files of human teachers delivering recorded lectures. But instead of standing in front of a static blackboard, the teachers will make use of the sorts of background effects used by CNN to keep viewers watching.

"Let's say I have a video file of me talking," he said. "I have the words that would have been put on the blackboard. They get put on the screen in this corner, and then there are moving images in the background just like CNN. Otherwise, if you have a stationary background, everything looks flat."

Chatham, an energetic former U.S. Navy diesel submarine officer, admits that much of this is sheer concept. Some of the required technology still needs to be developed. "Everything I'm telling you is through rose-colored glasses. It's what I want to have happen." But he is confident that DARWARS can demonstrate a foundation for future military training programs. "We want to show that it can be done."

Ultimately, the measure of DARWARS will be whether soldiers want to train, Chatham said. "I will know DARWARS has succeeded when a soldier turns to another fellow and says, I was checked into DARWARS last night, and get more points fighting against a real person than fighting against a non-player character. I don't care what your spouse says. Tonight, you're going to be in DARWARS fighting with me.'"

RELATED ARTICLE: Pentagon widens search for new technologies.

The Defense Department is expanding its search for new technologies beyond traditional industries and government agencies.

Among the areas of interest are technologies to help detect and protect against chemical or biological attacks.

"If someone has a good idea we are not dosed minded," said Dale Klein, assistant secretary of defense for nuclear, chemical and biological defense programs.

"We still need a lot of help from academia and industry in the weapons of mass destruction arena. Government can't solve it on its own," Klein said in a speech to the 2003 Defense Research and Engineering Conference and Exposition, in Washington, D.C.

"There are more than 60 programs in the chem-bio area. It is a challenging arena," he said. "For example, as soon as someone develops a way to deal with anthrax, we hear of a new strain."

Developing less corrosive decontamination solutions is another national security challenge, said Klein.

But before any new technology is rushed to the field, it must go though independent government testing. In February 2003, Klein issued a new policy, after questioning the reliability of untested equipment.

In some cases, untested chem-bio detectors were sent to Iraq in anticipation of a WMD attack on American forces. "We couldn't send a piece of equipment to the field that was not reliable," he told National Defense.

Other untested pieces of equipment included a small, unmanned aerial vehicle and a decontamination solution that did not meet field conditions, Klein said.

Among the chemical-biological defense science and technology programs underway are enzymatic decontamination concentrates, chemical imaging sensors (a sort of electronic nose) and melt blown estane, (a coating for clothing to protect personnel from chemical or biological agents currently used in the JSLIST suit).

Most new ideas are gathered through the traditional Broad Area Announcement (BAA) process, but Klein said he receives many unsolicited ideas.

"One out of 20 goes for further development," he said.

About a third of the ideas that cross his desk come from the legislative branch, said KLein. "That was a surprise to me."

Companies unfamiliar with how to do business with the Defense Department approach their local congressman for help, said Klein. Those legislators then direct companies or individuals to him.

Klein also tracks researchers who have published papers on new technologies, much the same way the medical field finds new ideas.

Klein's office often challenges researchers to come up with some technique or solution, to defeat anthrax, for example.

The National Archives are a useful source of new technologies, said Teiji Epling of the Naval Operations Other Than War Technology Center, in Dahlgren, Va.

"Old concepts may be possible today," he said during a panel discussion at the conference. Epling said he searches Internet chat rooms, reads journals and contacts professional organizations to find new technologies.

He said it is a losing battle trying to keep up with the latest developments in technology.

"It's especially hard to find the small/low visibility innovators--they don't know who to approach," said Epling.

Epling's office only pursues technologies that can be matured in six months or less, he said.

"After the USS Cole attack, we had to come up with what an asymmetrical threat was. We worked closely with the intelligence community, within six months we developed technologies that could be put on ships," he said.

On the domestic front, Harry Armen, director of technology development at Northrop Grumman, said meeting homeland security needs requires collaboration between the defense sector, universities and individuals.

One significant challenge is the need to stop nuclear devices from entering the United States illegally, he said. Cargo ships must be monitored, he said. The largest of those vessels can carry 7,000 containers.

"People on the front line in homeland security want a systems approach, not products or devices," said Armen.

The Defense Department is looking at existing radar systems to detect and distinguish chemical and biological clouds from unharmful material such as dust, said Armen.

The Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, meanwhile, is looking for technologies with tactical applications, such as sensors to help find targets and locate friendly dismounted troops.

Anthony Tether, the director of DARPA, urged technologists with innovative ideas to pursue employment opportunities now available at the agency.

"If you have an idea that can't be done anywhere else, become a DARPA program manager," Tether said at the defense research conference.--Geoff S. Fein

RELATED ARTICLE: Fast cargo ships could halve trans-Atlantic trips.

A Philadelphia-based ship design firm plans to build a high-speed cargo vessel that can cut trans-Atlantic travel time in half.

FastShip Inc. is hoping to receive a contract to build four monohull ships. The firm already has raised $2 billion, but still is seeking additional funds. FastShip is a partner with Lockheed Martin in the Navy's Littoral Combat Ship program.

"The mission is to build a low-cost intercontinental ... express freight transportation network," said David Giles, FastShip president. "We regard logistics as part of the production line. That's not understood in the traditional shipping industry."

These fast ships will have dedicated cargo terminals in Philadelphia and Cherbourg, France.

Speaking at a panel discussion on breakthroughs in defense technologies, Giles said the company plans to use roll-on roll-off systems similar to those used in military sealift vessels.

"We can unload a full ship in four to six hours instead of 28 to 48 hours," Giles said. "That allows for more trips across the Atlantic, four times as many."

By avoiding cranes to lift containers, Giles said FastShip's loading and unloading system will be capable of handling 34 containers in five minutes.

Cargo will then be moved by rail and truck in Europe and by Snyder Transportation in the United States.

Although high-speed sealift is still a few years away, Giles is proposing eventually to have a fleet of four ships each sailing three times a week. Each ship will be approximately 870 feet in length with 160,000 square feet of cargo space spread over two decks.

"With patented ships, [we'll] halve the time of an ocean voyage," he said. "The average is seven to 10 days, we do a four-day run."

The sleek monohull design also has combat applications, when downsized to 300 feet, said Giles.

Unlike standard cargo ships, the FastShip monohulls will be able to handle the rough North Atlantic winter seas, said Giles.

"[It] runs almost 20 knots faster than conventional container ships in 25-foot waves," he said. "The ship can do 40 knots in North Atlantic winter seas carrying 10,000 to 20,000 cargo containers."

The ships will be built in Spain, said Giles. It will take three years to build one vessel and Giles doesn't expect cargo service to begin until the third ship enters service.--Geoff S. Fein