Fast-track armaments for Iraq and Afghanistan: Picatinny's ARDEC provides America's warfighters with full spectrum fighting power

Defense AT&L, May-June, 2004 by Michael P. Devine, Anthony J. Sebasto

At the U.S. Army's Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC) at Picatinny, N.J., engineers and scientists are providing America's warfighters with solutions to today's battlefield challenges faster than ever before. In an environment that once measured progress by decades, the laboratories here are creating new metrics that are based on speed, flexibility, value, and customization.

Often called the home of Army lethality, Picatinny's ARDEC and its Program Executive and Project Manager Office partners have together provided more than 90 percent of the Army's weapons and munitions systems for well over a century. Current support to Iraq and Afghanistan represents a new chapter in this long tradition of supporting the soldier.

ARDEC's rich heritage and strong knowledge base acts as a springboard for innovative armaments engineering practices and technologies. U.S. forces are benefiting from the full spectrum of Picatinny's armaments expertise in four important ways.

1. Urgent Fieldings

ARDEC understands the immediacy of the soldier's needs. Over a recent 12-month period, the center and its partners have responded to urgent Army and Joint Service requests by fielding some 17 specialized weapons and ammunition systems in record time, among them the:

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Gunfire Detection System. This device quickly detects and locates the origin of small arms fire, allowing troops to rapidly return fire and enhancing their survivability. Twenty detection systems--10 fixed and 10 vehicle mounted--were fielded within 90 days of the receipt of a requirement.

M211/212 Advanced Aircraft Infrared Countermeasure Flares. The M211/212 flares counter all known surface-to-air missile (SAM) threats by serving as decoys that confuse the SAM's infrared guidance systems. Army aviator Chief Warrant Officer Al Mack of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment summed up the M211/212's effectiveness when he said, "Our MH47E fleet had 16 confirmed SAM firings during the first six months of the Afghanistan conflict. I had two SAMs fired during a daylight flight with Gen. Tommy Franks on board.... Flares dispensed automatically.... I think I am sitting here writing because our ASE [Aircraft Survivability Equipment] worked."

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XM1060 40mm Thermobaric Grenade. This 40mm device, developed and fielded by Picatinny within a four-month span, is the very first small arms thermobaric device released to the war theatre. It is applauded as a critical tool for military operations in urban terrain and close-quarters cave applications.

Advanced M26 TASER Stun Pistol. Adapted for Army use from a commercial design, the M26 non-lethal weapon is utilized for crowd control and detainee management. It provides the soldier with a less-than-lethal option appropriate to control personnel situations.

2. On-The-Ground Support

ARDEC engineers are found wherever U.S. troops are living and fighting. They serve as the Army's "911" lifeline for lethality assistance and troubleshooting. This always-open line of communications helps engineers assess the effectiveness of existing and newly fielded weapons systems as well as identify warfighter needs. Some recent examples of this support follow.

-- ARCENT [U.S. Army Forces, U.S. Central Command] Kuwait and the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, N.C., reported unacceptable readiness and performance of various small arm weapons. Picatinny engineers were deployed and on the ground within 72 hours performing weapon inspections, training the troops on scheduled maintenance procedures, and developing workable field inspection and repair criteria. These reports prompted a Picatinny-led mission in July 2003 of representatives from Fort Benning, Ga., ARDEC, and PM Soldier Weapons to evaluate reliability and performance of individual soldier weapon and ammunition systems under combat conditions. The team visited Tikrit, Mosul, Irbil, and Baghdad, and sites in Afghanistan. It interviewed 1,000 soldiers and obtained valuable feedback on weapon performance and field problems.

-- The 101st Airborne Division reported that its air Volcano systems were inoperative for an upcoming deployment. ARDEC engineers immediately deployed to Fort Campbell, Ky., to troubleshoot and repair the systems and conduct a new equipment training refresher course. The ARDEC team returned two of the three systems to operation and was presented a certificate of appreciation by the 101st Division commander.

-- The Picatinny Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit collected vital information about enemy ordnance and explosive devices while in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unit developed protocols that enable U.S. Joint Forces personnel to download information on how to render safe foreign ground combat enemy weapons, and procedures guides for disarming and disposing of captured and abandoned tanks, missiles, and attack helicopters.

-- In recent months, Picatinny engineering teams provided on-site support to the new Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT). The teams assisted the BCT Project Manager's Office and its industrial contractors by integrating and testing various Picatinny-developed weapon systems for Stryker armored vehicles headed to Iraq. A Picatinny team also trained soldiers from Fort Lewis, Wash., on a newly developed logistics software program for efficient and safer configuration of munitions for loading onto shipping platforms.