Multi-agency team seeks new tools for war on terror.

A small, secretive organization--made up of representatives from the Departments of Defense, State and Justice, as well as other federal agencies--is "going public" to find new technology to use in the fight against terrorism.

The unit, known as the Technical Support Working Group, is not new. TSWG--pronounced "tis-wig"--was created in 1983, after the suicide bombing of the U.S. Marine Barracks in Beirut, Lebanon. Nearly 250 Marines died in that attack, when an explosives-laden truck crashed through the barracks security perimeter.

TSWG's mission is find, develop and within two years--field equipment, said Jeffrey M. David, deputy director of the Defense Department's Combating Terrorista Technology Support Office, which manages the program. Its $60 million annual budget is funded jointly by the Pentagon and the State Department.

In all, more than 80 federal agencies participate in TSWG, David told a recent briefing, in Arlington, Va., sponsored by the National Defense Industrial Association. The agencies' representatives meet regularly to identify and prioritize research and development requirements for combating terrorism, he explained.

Then, TSWG funds projects in industry, academia and government laboratories to address those requirements. The group also conducts cooperative R&D with the United Kingdom, Canada and Israel through separate bilateral agreements.

TSWG has been "quietly operating in the background for about 20 years," David said Since the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States, however, it has been getting "a lot more visibility," he said.

About six weeks after the attacks, TSWG published 44 broad agency requirements, seeking ideas for new antiterrorist technology. "The response was unprecedented," David said. "We received 12,000 submissions." Of those, about 60 were approved and funded for development, he said. Since then, a total of 120 ideas have been approved.

TSWG wants it known that it has money to spend. "We're not asking for things we can't fund," David said.

During fiscal year 2003, more than 47 new contracts, worth in excess of $20 million, will be funded, he noted. In 2004, approximately 20 percent of TSWG's budget will go to new contracts.

Earlier this year, TWSG issued two broad agency announcements covering scores of requirements. A third, flora the Department of Homeland Security, was "put on hold" until the department--which came into being in March--gets its feet on the ground. A fourth, at press time, was still under consideration.

TSWG's requirements cover such fields as chemical and biological defense, air-defenses for civilian aircraft, new types of body and vehicular armor and large-seale infrastructure protection, David said. TSWG representatives provided some examples, including these:

Improved trace explosives detection sampling. TSWG wants to find new ways of discovering trace amounts of explosives. The short-term goal is to come up with devices that can be adapted easily for use with current sensor systems. Over the long-term, TSWG would like to develop equipment that will work with next-generation technology, including miniaturized, micro and nano-scale detectors.

Ballistic Shield and Framework. The group is seeking a portable, ballistic shield to protect from handgun and rifle tire and fragmentation. The shield should provide mobile cover for pre-operational staging and offensive tactical maneuvers. It should be two-man portable, deploy in less than two minutes, and offer a minimum protection area of 6 feet by 6 feet.

Very Important Person Protection. TSWG wants improved security for armored passenger vehicles, including lighter opaque and transparent armor. Better methods arc needed to spot potential snipers. The group wants to find snipers before they shoot, not afterwards.

Covert vehicle tamper protection. TSWG is seeking a system to alert a driver that a tracking device has been placed on his vehicle. The system should be self-contained, with its own power source, capable of lasting several days without recharging. It would mount in a secure location in a tamper-resistant container, store information for post-event analysis, and have a low false-alarm rate.

Secure video teleconferencing and document transfer. This network should serve as many as 30 locations, and be capable of video, image and document sharing in a sensitive--but unclassified--environment. The system should provide protection against theft, spoofing and man-in-the-middle attacks.

Expedient tactical self-contained breathing apparatus. Tactical law enforcement and security response teams would like a self-contained breathing apparatus that weighs less than 10 pounds and can be donned in less than 30 seconds. Such a system would not unduly impede the ability in fire a weapon, communicate and perform tactical movements, such as crawling, forced entry and wall climbing. It would be compatible with other systems with standard NATO interfaces.

Cell-phone reporting system. The group wants a rapidly deployable system to enable disaffected enemy troops and civilians to report the location of their leaders, combat units of other critical intelligence. Such a system would deploy low-cost, disposable cell phones in the kinds of airdrop tubes currently used for delivery of transistor radios by psychological operations units. The serial number of the phones could be used to determine who might receive any reward for aiding in the capture of enemy personnel.

Next-generation firefighter gear. TSWG is seeking a new set of protective clothing for military and civilian firefighters. Garments would provide the same or improved protection against heat, dame, hot gas and water as the current generation, while reducing inadvertent exposure to hazardous chemical, biological and radiological agents. They would not exceed the weight of current garments by more than 10 percent. In fact, reduction in weight without compromising protection--is desired.

National rail system passenger and baggage screening. The Department of Homeland Security is seeking a way in detect weapons and explosives for the nation's railroads that is as good or better than current airport checkpoint screening. The system should be able to handle at least 200 passengers per hour at a cost of less than $1 per passenger. The technology must address the open operational environment, including many stops, along a designated rail route.

Underwater loudhailer. This requirement seeks a design for a device to notify a potentially hostile underwater swimmer that he or she is in a secure area before the use of force. The device should be equipped with a microphone and transmit clear and intelligible commands automatically and continuously in English, to an underwater swimmer, at a distance of 500 yards or greater and a depth of 130 feet. The system should be easily adaptable to languages other than English.

Standoff detection. TSWG wants a system capable of detecting explosives at a distance. "Standoff detection means 'I'm here, and the sensor is over there,'" said Louis Wasserzug, TSWG's program manager for explosives detection.

The system needs to work in cluttered environments, including maritime shipping containers, aircraft pallets, trucks and automobiles, Wasserzug said. "It should not be big," he noted. ""We're not talking about Bostons Big Dig."'

One of TSWG's objectives is to "keep these things low-cost," especially for first responders, David said. "When items cost more than a squad car, it becomes very difficult to explain in a city manager why he needs to buy one. He'd much rather buy a squad car, which he can use every day, as opposed in these devices, which--we hope--are hardly ever used."

By the time the deadlines for the two BAAs passed in early April, the TSWG had received thousands of responses. At press time, the exact number had not been tabulated. The responses are receiving careful reviews by TSWG staff members. Those who submitted ideas deemed to be promising will be asked to develop white papers, detailing their concepts, David explained. Successful white papers will result in a request for a full technical and cost proposal for final evaluation.

Many technologies developed from previous TSWG BAAs are already on the market. For example, the First Responder Toolkit--produced by Defense Group Inc., of Alexandria, Va.--is now commercially available as the Chemical Biological Response Aid.

CoBRA is an emergency management database system that provides rapid access to needed information, wireless communications, and hardware and software that can be tailored to needs of specific agencies. The FBI is procuring COBRA for all bob squads in the United States.

Disposable Toxic Agent Protective Suits are low-cost chemical protective garments that can be worn at a contaminated "hot zone." Since 2001, when they went on the market, hundreds have been sold by two manufacturers, Geomet Technologies LLC, a subsidiary of Versar, of Springfield, Va., and Dupont Protective Apparel, a unit of E.I. Dupont de Nemours and Co., of Wilmington, Del.

The Hand-Held Radiation Monitor, the size of a flashlight, was developed as an inexpensive, easy to-use detector for radioactive substances. The manufacturer, Sensor Technology Engineering Inc., of Santa Barbara, Calif., has sold more than 700 of the monitors to departments across the United States.

The Palmtop Emergency Action for Chemicals, produced by Arista Tek Inc., of Laramie, Wyo., is a hand-held computer that lists more than 10,000 toxic chemicals. The PEAC was designed for use by federal, state and local law enforcement and emergency personnel responding to terrorist attack, hazardous material incidents or other chemical spills.

TSWG has worked with Med-Eng, a Canadian manufacturer, to improve the SRS-5 Bomb Suit, now used by all certified bomb squads in the United States. The suits now are designed to accommodate the wearing of a self-contained breathing apparatus, incorporate more effective fabrics and employ lighter weight materials.

The group cooperated with the FBI and Sandia National Laboratory to design the PAN Disrupter, a device to disable small, homemade bombs. Made by Ideal Products, of Lexington, Ky., it is standard equipment for more than 400 civilian bomb squads around the country, and it is being acquired by many military explosive disposal units.

TSWG worked with PerkinElmer Inc., of Boston, to develop the First Responder Biological Sampling Kit. After the 2001 anthrax attacks, investigators had little more than cotton swabs to gather samples from large areas, such as air ducts and office space.

The kit was delivered to the U.S. Capitol Police, in Washington, D.C., during the first days of the contamination. The kit includes samplers that come in larger sizes, permitting a 20-fold increase in collection efficiency.

TSWG continues to seek good ideas ira the war against terror, David insists. The group maintains a secure, Web-based service, called the BAA Information Delivery System, to receive and process responses. The system can be accessed via the Internet at www.bids.tswg.gov.

Any visitor to the Web site can download the full BAA package. To upload submissions, however, submitters have to register with the site. Submitters have access only to their own documents, and a submission's status is provided as "pending," "accepted" of "rejected."

Before submitting a BAA proposal, David advised, take time to read the directions. Write your proposal to fit a specific requirement in the BAA. "And no shotgunning," he warned. In other words, don't try to submit the same proposal for more than one requirement. If you do, it won't be considered for any.

Also, he said, be aware of closing dates and times. The BIDS software will not allow uploads after the due date and time for the BAA.