Four of the top 10 inventions the Army recognized as the “Best of 2006” were developed or tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground or in Adelphi, Md., Army officials announced last week.
Each year the Army recognizes 10 new inventions that help protect soldiers in the field or improve their effectiveness, and this year projects ranging from remote sensors to Humvee-mounted remote-detonation systems brought recognition to the U.S. Army Research Laboratory, which has facilities in Aberdeen and Adelphi.
Dave Davison, spokesman for the Army Research Lab, said many of the inventions were still classified, so their developers could not elaborate much on exactly what they did or how they worked.
“They?re pretty sensitive ? they don?t want to tip off people who would be looking for ways around them, especially the counter-IED systems,” Davison said.
Three of the top 10 inventions were designed to help soldiers cope with the Improvised Explosive Devices used by insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq, including the Blow Torch Counter IED System developed at Adelphi.
The system is designed to set off IEDs at safe distances to minimize damage and injury to soldiers and vehicles, and it can be mounted on the front of vehicles such as the armored Humvee.
The Army Research Lab?s facilities at Aberdeen developed a new armor-plated door to be used as an “interim” solution as the Army seeks to replace or improve the protection of its vehicles. Within a week of starting work, a prototype kit was developed with installation instructions and safety certification, according to a statement to the Army News Service.
Other Army Research Lab inventions on the top 10 list included “Constant Hawk,” an aircraft-mounted sensor and intelligence-gathering package; and the “OmniSense” unattended ground sensor system, which can automatically detect and classify people and vehicles as part of a perimeter defense system.
Davison said only the armor kit was developed solely at Aberdeen Proving Ground; the other three were created in electronics labs at Adelphi.
“Best of 2006” Top 10 Inventions
» Blow Torch Counter Improvised Explosive Device System, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
» Integrated Robotic Explosive Detection System, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
» Plastic Shaped Charge Assembly for Remote Destruction of Buried IEDs, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny Arsenal, N.J.
» Humvee Crew Extraction D-ring, U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Research, Development and Engineering Center, Redstone Arsenal, Ala.
» M1114 Humvee Interim Fragment Kit 5, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
» Remote Urban Monitoring System, U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, Fort Belvoir, Va.
» Constant Hawk, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
» OmniSense Unattended Ground Sensor System, U.S. Army Research Laboratory, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md.
» EM113A2 Rapid Entry Vehicle, U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, Picatinny, N.J.
» BuckEye System, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Vicksburg, Miss.
? Source: www.army.mil/news
