Expanding Military Missions Fuel Market for Custom Trucks.

The Pentagon's evolving responsibilities for homeland defense could accelerate demand for customized vehicles, such as pick-up trucks and SUVs, equipped with advanced sensors, ballistic protection and a wide array of weapons.

As the military services discern their specific roles in domestic security, agencies that develop vehicle technologies, such as the Army's National Automotive Center, see emerging opportunities to bring their technology to the forefront. The NAC is a government organization, but works mostly with commercial automotive and electronics industries, seeking and testing technologies that potentially could have military utility.

NAC officials expect that the expanding military involvement in homeland defense could result in new requirements for sturdy light trucks and SUVs equipped with high-tech gear and non-lethal weapons.

About a year ago, the NAG, based in Detroit, unveiled the so-called Smart Truck, a Ford F-350 vehicle, designed to be a test bed for vehicle-intelligence technologies--ranging from multimedia computers and electronics to laser weapons, wireless communications and non-lethal countermeasures against assailants or suspected terrorists.

The Smart Truck initially was mocked by some military insiders as being "too Hollywood" for the type of duties normally associated with military operations. But now that the homeland defense mission has gained prominence, there is a growing acceptance of the Smart Truck as a potential source of useful technologies for military and law-enforcement vehicles.

"When we came up with the concept, it was designed with a urban warfare mission in mind," said Germaine Fuller, project manager for the Smart Truck. Because the Army increasingly had become involved in peacekeeping operations, the NAG sought to develop a vehicle that could blend into urban settings, and could provide some lethality and reconnaissance capability, without looking "too military," Fuller said in an interview.

A similar rationale could apply to domestic security missions in the United States, where military troops or law-enforcement agents may want to operate incognito, in a vehicle that looks like a regular truck.

The NAG believes that there is a homeland defense application for the Smart Truck, said Fuller. "We are looking at the possibilities at how we can help." Several intelligence and law-enforcement agencies, she said, have expressed "tremendous interest."

The Smart Truck is one of two complementary programs that the NAG hopes will lead the way toward a new light tactical truck for the U.S. Army and other military services. The second program is called the commercially-based tactical truck, or Combatt.

The Combatt and the Smart Truck programs are "brother and sister," said Fuller. "Our vision is to combine the successes of each program and come up with one platform."

Unlike Smart Truck, the Combatt is more focused on vehicle mobility, ruggedness for off-road operation and the use of hybrid-electric propulsion systems, for higher fuel efficiency.

There are several types of trucks participating in the Combatt program: a Ford F-350, a Dodge Ram 3500, a GM Silver-ado and an AM General Humvee. The popular Humvee is the mainstay of the current fleet of light tactical trucks. The commercial vehicles essentially are being upgraded with after-market products in an effort to achieve Humvee-like performance. The NAG is testing the Combatt trucks, trying to convince the Army that commercial vehicles could prove to be a worthwhile addition to the fleet.

The feedback from military customers has been positive, Fuller said. "They like the concept and some of the individual technologies," even though they would like the vehicle to be more rugged.

If needed, "these systems could be ruggedized," she said. "The Combatt program proves that." In the next phase of the Smart Truck project, she said, the NAC will produce three vehicles that users can test informally, "so we can get feedback and tweak the design."

At the NAC, said Fuller, "We try to build Army requirements into the development cycle of commercial products, upfront--so we can receive cutting-edge technology at a cheaper price and with a shorter development cycle."

Among the most challenging technical endeavors in the Smart Truck is the integration of various data-buses used in the automotive industry today, Fuller explained. The goal is to make it possible for each vehicle to transmit and receive diagnostics data and to allow commanders to monitor the status of the fleet in real time.

Some of the technologies in the Smart Truck include:

* A remote-control weapon station, operated in the cabin of the vehicle by one of the rear passengers. Each of the two rear bucket seats can be moved to the center of the vehicle enabling the passenger to operate the weapon station. The weapon is raised from the cap of the vehicle through sliding doors. Enemy targets are spotted by the four cameras located on the roof of the vehicle and by a fifth camera mounted on top of the weapon and are viewed simultaneously on the monitor station in the center console of the vehicle.

* A biometric/fingerprint identification system that works hand in hand with a PanelMate touch-screen display. Passengers do not have access to the PanelMates unless their fingerprints are recognized as registered users.

* A DriverTech truck PC--a Windows CE touch-screen computer--supports both satellite and terrestrial wireless communications and has an optional GPS unit capable of uploading government maps from the National Imagery Mapping Agency.

* A so-called Eclipse voice-activated commander unit works with most controls, such as GPS navigation and cell phone integration. It also is possible to control other on-board vehicle electronics such as power windows and stereo controls by voice. It replaces the existing radio on the dashboard and plays DVD briefings or movies on the mobile video system.

* Dazzling lights--one pair on the front grill, the second, on the rear bumper. The lights are so bright that the enemy cannot look directly at the vehicle or pursue it any further.

* Bomb detection equipment notices disturbances in the magnetic field of the vehicle. If someone were to place an item such as a bomb under the truck, a light in the dash will blink, warning the driver of the disturbance.

* Bulletproof glass, which is designed to survive the impact of a .44 magnum round.

* High voltage door handles--one on each of the four doors. When activated, the door handles maintain a voltage high enough to temporarily stun an intruder.

* Lightweight armor (Kevlar) covers the entire vehicle except for the floorboards. It protects from bullets as large as .44 magnum.

* A night-vision camera rises out of the cab of the truck through a sliding door. The camera is controlled by the PanelMates. It can pan and tilt a full 360 degrees, capturing images to display on the mobile video system.

* Oil slicks--When activated, the oil from the reservoir is sent through dispensing pipes located at the rear of the vehicle, which disperse the oil through several holes. This creates a slippery surface for pursuers.

* Pepper spray dispensers are located in each corner of the cab. They can propel the spray a distance of up to 12 feet.

* A smoke screen can be pumped out of the exhaust pipe.

* A tack dispenser is located near the rear axle of the vehicle. The tacks are designed to always hit the ground with one sharp point in the upright position.

Electronics Integration

The tight packaging of the electronics is the "most impressive achievement" in the Smart Truck, said John D. Weaver, vice president of engineering at Ibis Tek, a Michigan company that makes customized security vehicles.

When compared to traditional tactical wheeled vehicle requirements, "homeland defense is a different animal," Weaver said in an interview. Specific missions have yet to be defined, he said, "but you can see missions everywhere, from VIP escorts to border patrol, securing areas like the World Trace Center site.

The Defense Department and other agencies, Weaver said, "are still trying to define what additional types of vehicles may be required to support the broad homeland defense concept." The technologies in Combatt and Smart Truck, he said, "could be incorporated in a fleet of homeland defense vehicles."

Ibis Tek makes the Cobra and Viper vehicles, which are sold to undisclosed Middle Eastern governments for their security forces. Like the Smart Truck, Cobra and Viper rely on commercial SUVs and pick-up trucks as the basic platform. But they come with significant more firepower, in the form of a .50 caliber machine gun or any other weapon that a customer wants to mount, Weaver said.

The Cobra platform is the Chevrolet Suburban while the Viper uses a GMC truck. Ibis Tek currently is working with General Motors' military vehicles division to explore the possibility of incorporating the Viper system into GM's version of Combatt. The idea, said Weaver, is to offer it as an option to "customers who would want a more robust product."

The technology in Viper also could be integrated with a Humvee, said Weaver. "We are an after-market integrator, for any vehicle."

The Cobra and Viper are used as VIP escort and patrol vehicles in the Middle East, he said. "They are part of convoys for government officials." The Viper was displayed last year at the Defense Department's Force Protection Demonstration, an exhibition of security-related technologies. It was presented as a vehicle that meets military requirements for peacekeeping missions and unconventional combat situations, when troops need to have enough weaponry to respond to hostile fire while blending in with a city or rural environment.

Weaver speculated that vehicles such as Cobra and Viper would be "overkill" for U.S. domestic security operations, given the devastating firepower of a .50 caliber machine gun.

He is not sure that even the U.S. Army would ever choose to buy such a vehicle. "It goes back to the old mentality," said Weaver, who used to manage the Army's light tactical truck program in the 1980s. He recalled that, when his office pushed for the addition of armor protection to the Humvee, some Army leaders initially balked. "When we up-armored the Humvee, there was a lot of resistance," because of the cost, Weaver said. The "old mentality" thinking was that, "if you need that kind of protection, you should have a tracked vehicle or an LAV [light armored vehicle]." In the end, "we proved that the up-armored Humvee has a mission.

Vehicles such as Cobra and Viper are a drastic departure from tradition, he said. They put a precision weapon on top of a commercial vehicle. "People right now don't view a commercial vehicle as a platform to put that kind of system on.

Depending on options and customized features, a Viper can cost up to $350,000 or $450,000, said Weaver. The single most expensive item is a stabilized remote-fire weapons station mount.

The weapons station, made by Recon Optical, uses a precision gimbal mount. It integrates a weapon, sensor package and ammunition, all operated from a remote control panel located inside the vehicle. The mount can accommodate the .50 caliber and 7.62 mm machine guns and the 40 mm grenade launcher. There are plans to integrate other weapons, such as the tube-launched optically-tracked wire guided missiles, 2.75-inch rockets and Stinger air-defense missiles

The weapons station also includes night-vision sensors, a laser range-finder and a fire-control computer to help target moving vehicles. An electro-hydraulic deployment system raises and stabilizes the weapons station to the firing position. The raising and lowering of the weapons, as well as the firing are controlled from the station.

The control panel includes a 12.7-inch flat-screen panel display and a joystick. The ballistic computer is contained within the control panel. The type of weapon and ammunition being used is fed into the computer via menu-driven controls.