Autonomy in Action: Advancing CBRN Defense Capabilities with Unmanned Systems


Our Nation’s warfighters encounter many known and unknown hazards on the modern battlefield including chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats. Hand-held detection and identification capabilities enhance situational awareness and enable early warning and mitigation, but they can also be time intensive and physiologically burdensome.

Additionally, some environments pose too great a risk or are simply inaccessible to warfighters. This is where the use of critical integrated layered CBRN defense assets like autonomous systems comes in. In CBRN defense, an autonomous system refers to a capability that can independently detect, identify, and/or mitigate CBRN threats by leveraging sensors, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), and automated decision-making algorithms.

Read more…
Source: DVIDS


Sign up for the Counter-IED Report Newsletters
The latest news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • ‘Iron harvest:’ A Belgian team unearths unexploded ammunition from WWI

    August 4, 2023

    In a muddy field in Flanders, in northern Belgium, there are signs of a recent harvest along its edge — raw potatoes here and there. But toward the back of the field, members of DOVO, the Belgian military’s bomb disposal unit, inspect something else yielded by the harvest — an artillery shell that is more than ...

  • India: AAI inaugurates training on CBRN emergencies at Chennai airport

    July 17, 2023

    The AAI inaugurates training on CBRN emergencies at the Chennai airport on Monday. A Training of Trainers (ToT) program was organised at Chennai International Airport by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) in association with AAI to enhance the preparedness of Airport Emergency Handlers to respond to CBRN emergencies, encompassing threats emanating from the use of Chemical, ...

  • UNODC and BNPT Conduct a training exercise to strengthen rapid response capabilities to chemical weapons terrorism

    July 4, 2023

    The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the National Counter Terrorism Agency (BNPT) collaborated on a four-day training and simulation exercise to enhance rapid response capabilities to chemical weapons terrorism. The event brought together over forty representatives from various government agencies and the private sector. Subject matter experts from Indonesia and international advisors provided ...

  • US to provide depleted-uranium tank rounds to Ukraine

    June 14, 2023

    The United States is expected to approve the transfer of depleted-uranium anti-tank shells to help Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The move follows weeks of internal discussions on the subject between the White House and the Pentagon, the WSJ reported on Tuesday. Read more… Source: Polskie Radio  

  • First human trial of dirty bomb antidote begins

    May 16, 2023

    The first human trial of a new drug that could reverse the effects of radiation from a dirty bomb or nuclear accident is taking place in the US. HOPO 14-1 works against elements that can be used to make dirty bombs, which are explosive devices laced with radioactive substances. Read more… Source: Sky News  

  • Republic of Georgia: One arrested for attempted Uranium sale

    May 1, 2023

    As a result of operational and search measures, employees of the counterintelligence department of the State Security Service of Georgia/SSSG, together with the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, arrested a person for an attempt to illegally sell radioactive materials. The detainee was about to sell radioactive material in the city of Poti in exchange for USD 2,000,000 ...

  • India: Three-day training programme on emergency management begins in Visakhapatnam

    April 18, 2023

    A three-day training programme on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) emergency management for Seaport Emergency Handlers was started at HRDC Centre of Visakhapatnam Port Authority (VPA) here on Tuesday. The VPA, in association with the National Disaster Management Authority, is organising a three-day basic programme. Read more… Source: The Hindu  

  • US Army all hazards command participates in Exercise Freedom Shield in South Korea

    April 14, 2023

    SEOUL – The U.S. military’s premier all hazards command deployed for Exercise Freedom Shield in South Korea, March 13 – 23. American Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from the 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command trained with Eighth Army and Combined Forces Command units during the exercise. Read more… Source: DVIDS  

  • US Army EOD company trains to stay ready for counter WMD missions around world

    April 10, 2023

    KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. – Hand-picked American Soldiers from a one-of-a-kind U.S. Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal company that combats Weapons of Mass Destruction train for high stakes missions around the world. U.S. Army EOD technicians from the 21st Ordnance Company (EOD WMD) “Blackjacks” provide support to defeat or mitigate the effects of Weapons of Mass ...

  • California Guard Response Force Proves Capabilities During ExEVAL

    April 7, 2023

    CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. – More than 500 California National Guard Soldiers and Airmen proved their mettle March 27-31 during the California Homeland Response Force’s external evaluation exercise at Camp Roberts. Service members worked 12-hour shifts for a week straight while responding to simulated crisis response missions resulting from a series of notional large-scale chemical, biological, radiological, ...

  • 49th CES EOD flight trains multi-capable Airmen

    March 28, 2023

    HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. — From unexploded munitions to chemical, biological and nuclear hazards, it’s up to the 49th Civil Engineer Squadron’s explosive ordnance disposal flight to attenuate hazards posed by weapons or explosive materials. EOD is one of the most dangerous jobs the Department of Defense has to offer. In order to ensure the ...

  • The Radioactive Legacy of Depleted Uranium Ammunition Comes to Ukraine

    March 23, 2023

    The United Kingdom is sending Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine equipped with armor piercing depleted uranium rounds. Countries like the U.S., U.K., and Russia manufacture ammunition using depleted uranium because the metal is heavy and dense, making it ideal to break apart enemy armor. But it’s a highly controversial weapon because it’s radioactive and toxic, ...

  • New York: Massive emergency response in Midtown after woman found dead in car from exposure to ‘hazardous materials’

    March 6, 2023

    A woman died in Midtown Sunday after being exposed to “hazardous materials,” police said. The 35-year-old victim was found unresponsive in the back of a vehicle on East 56th Street and Sutton Place at around 11:23 a.m. on March 5. Sources close to the investigation say two NYPD officers responded after a woman walking her dog ...

  • China reveals plans to train 5,000 soldiers from developing nations over the next five years

    February 25, 2023

    The announcement, which appeared in a paper on Beijing’s Global Security Initiative published earlier this week, comes amid a move to boost Beijing’s global security influence. According to SCMP, the report said: “Beijing plans to create more international platforms for exchange and cooperation to address security challenges in areas such as counterterrorism, cybersecurity, biosecurity, and emerging ...

  • Lithuanian, Czech chiefs of defense agree on further cooperation

    February 2, 2023

    Lithuania’s Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupsys and Major General Karel Rehka, Chief of the General Staff of the Czech Armed Forces, have agreed on further cooperation, the Lithuanian military said on Tuesday. “We agreed to expand military cooperation in the field of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear security) by participating in collective level ...