Mil-Tech

Powering the Military with “Game-Changing” Solar Tech

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Defense, or DOD, is on the ground with our troops offering help and support – albeit in some very unexpected ways.

According to Tony Bui, an engineer with the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, or CERDEC (located at Fort Monmouth, NJ), newly developed renewable energy devices will give U.S. troops more mobility, allow them to stay in the field longer, and protect the average soldier from exposure by ensuring that battery changes happen once in a blue moon. Literally.

The first is called REPPS (the Rucksack Enhanced Portable Power System). Made up of flexible solar photovoltaic (PV) panels rated at 62 watts, it represents a continuous, portable power generation system that can be used to keep laptops and similarly sized electronics running in the field.

Charging can be done in five or six hours. For larger items – that is, larger than a laptop and smaller than a Jeep – REPPS units can be chain-ganged to deliver even more electricity, thanks to integrated power conversion technologies.

Another system, called RENEWS (Reusing Existing Natural Wind and Solar system), marries solar and wind energy and integrates inverter technology to allow soldiers to connect to the device through AC/DC (alternating or direct current) outlets.

Because the device also incorporates battery storage of electricity, RENEWS needs the combined muscle of two soldiers to transport. Even so, it provides all the electricity needed to power communications and surveillance equipment, even in the boonies, where vehicle- and grid power often aren’t available.

Both are still in development, but thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; 2009), 700 REPPS and 125 RENEWS will soon be headed to the troops in Afghanistan.

As Fort Bliss Commanding General Howard B. Bromberg noted, “We are looking for game-changing technologies…”

Lased and Confused: Off-the-Shelf Infrared Lasers Could Ward Off Missile Attacks on Military Helicopters

Helicopter-mounted lasers that can dazzle and defend against heat-seeking missiles are now under development, researchers reveal.

The military often relies heavily on helicopters in areas such as Afghanistan, where rough terrain can make it hard for airplanes to land and for troops and vehicles to travel on the ground. However, as the Soviet Union discovered in the 1980s during their war there, copters are easy targets for enemies with shoulder-launched missiles, “and now, unfortunately, the U.S. is on the other side with Afghanistan,” says Mohammed Islam, a laser and fiber-optics scientist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. “To consider the magnitude of the problem, there are about 3,000 helicopters in the U.S. armed forces.”

Islam and his colleagues are now devising a way to protect helicopters from such attacks using off-the-shelf lasers. The missiles normally home in on aircraft by targeting the infrared radiation given off by the latters’ engines; the lasers jam the sensors on these heat-seekers from up to three kilometers away by shining infrared beams at them, buying the helicopters enough time to maneuver away.

Most lasers emit just one wavelength, or color. To deflect missiles, the researchers are employing what are known as mid-infrared supercontinuum lasers, or MISCLs, that give off a much broader range of wavelengths—from the visible (800 nanometers) to the mid-infrared (4.5-microns). (A nanometer is one billionth of a meter; A micron is one millionth of a meter.) Because these lasers emit such a broad spectrum, they inundate the opposing sensors with all the infrared wavelengths the missile might look for; any attempts by opponents to block these dazzling rays by painting reflective or absorptive coatings on the missile beforehand would also blind its sensors to the same wavelengths from the copter engine.

Less than 10 percent of the light from the laser is a visible dim red; the rest falls within the infrared range. Altogether, the latest version of the device packs about 10 watts of power concentrated into a searing beam. “People who put their hands in its beam quickly move the hand away,” Islam says.

The new laser uses technology from the telecommunications industry, which relies on multiple wavelength lasers to create many highway lanes for data signals to travel within fiber optics. “It’s a clever way of using lasers that you can essentially buy off the shelf,” said laser scientist Anthony Johnson at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, who did not take part in this research.

Laser-based defenses have already found their way onto some aircraft, but the laser optics in these systems can currently have up to 84 moving pieces—precision components that can easily get knocked out of alignment by the rumbling on a copter. “Our lasers have no moving parts, which means they can withstand a helicopter’s shake, rattle and roll,” Islam explains. The hope is to replace the lasers in existing aircraft antimissile defense systems that detect and train beams on their targets. The system is being commercialized through Islam’s company, Omni Sciences.

In terms of weight current laser-based aircraft antimissile defense systems weigh on the order of 16 kilograms, whereas this new laser is more in the 4.5-kilogram range. When it comes to cost, “for our next prototypes, we’ll probably have the parts cost $25,000 to $30,000, and with the packaging and testing we could probably sell it profitably for $100,000,” Islam says. In comparison, laser-based aircraft defense systems today cost roughly $1 million, he explains.

The researchers developed a first-generation, DVD player–size prototype for the U.S. Army in 2008, and are working on a second-generation, laptop-size device for 2011 that is four times more powerful. Although Islam says that helicopters probably face the greatest need for such laser-based protection against missiles, “it’s potentially applicable to all aircraft,” he suggests.

Islam says the laser could also aid in border surveillance—the chemicals involved in explosives often emit specific light wavelengths when hit by infrared rays, which means these lasers might be able to detect guns and bombs from afar. “You could put them maybe a kilometer or two apart at borders to monitor someone passing, instead of having a border patrol agent every 60 feet,” he says.

www.scientificamerican.com

Lockheed Martin still pursues hybrid airship future

Losing a half-billion dollar contract award will not discourage Lockheed Martin from continuing to pursue hybrid airships as a future business.

The company’s advanced development programmes (ADP) division instead has released a new marketing campaign, with a promotional video posted on YouTube on 24 August revealing new details about the company’s technology.

Lockheed systems engineer Bob Ruszkowski confirms the company “absolutely” sees opportunities for new business, despite losing a competition for a $517 million contract from the US Army in June.

A Northrop Grumman/Hybrid Air Vehicles team instead won the deal to build the long-endurance multi-intelligence vehicle (LEMV), for deployment to Afghanistan in early 2012.

“We are exploring opportunities for hybrid airships beyond LEMV,” Ruszkowski says.

Lockheed lost the contract despite investing significantly in hybrid airship technology. The ADP, or Skunk Works, division manufactured a demonstrator aircraft called the P791, which first flew in January 2006.

“The P791 demonstration aircraft still exists. It’s still in our hangar. It’s available to use again for other demonstrations,” Ruszkowski says. “We learned quite a bit from it, and we’re exploring other opportunities for hybrid airships.”

In the new video, P791 programme manager Bob Boyd and other programme officials describe details of the hybrid airship technology.

The P791 is described as guided by a two-axis thrust vectoring system that is steered by fly-by-wire flight controls. The tri-hull airship is built using a “high-strength, lightweight woven material that’s heat-sealed together”, Lockheed says.

Lockheed’s hybrid airship also incorporates an air cushion landing system with four pads, which both soften landings and “grab” the ground so no mooring equipment is required.

The company plans to offer a hybrid airship as both a surveillance and cargo aircraft. In the latter configuration, new versions of the technology scaled up to seven times its current size could haul as many as 300 freight containers at a time, Lockheed says.

The video also offers hints that Lockheed sees an opportunity with hybrid airships to break into the commercial aircraft market for the first time since the early 1990s. Its future airships will be designed to offer availability rates on a par with commercial aircraft, of between 95 and 99%, the company says.

Thermal weapon sight contract for Army rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapons goes to BAE Systems

U.S. Army officials needed thermal weapon sight technology for rifles, machine guns, and mounted weapon systems for infantry soldiers in combat. They found their solution from the BAE Systems Electronic Solutions segment in Lexington, Mass.

BAE Systems won a $123 million Army contract to continue production of thermal sights that improve situational awareness and survivability for infantry soldiers, company officials announced today. The order increases the BAE Systems total thermal weapon sight contract value to more than $1 billion since 2004, company officials say.

BAE Systems Electronic Solutions produces light, medium, and heavy thermal weapon sights using the company’s MicroIR uncooled infrared sensor technology to generate superior IR imagery without the need for bulky, power-consuming cryogenic cooling equipment.

In April BAE Systems also received a $14 million contract to provide thermal weapon sights to the Canadian army. These weapon sights enable operators to see deep into the battlefield in darkness and through smoke, fog, and other obscurants, to help them detect and identify targets at long ranges.

The company tests its thermal sites for their ability to withstand harsh battlefield environments, and to date has delivered more than 80,000 sights to meet Army fielding requirements in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Army wants soldiers to have improved carbine

Soldiers, get ready for a better carbine. The Army has launched a dual strategy designed to give you a more accurate, durable and lethal weapon that will be the mainstay for the next 40 years.

The first part of that strategy is to radically overhaul the M4 starting now and give grunts an improved version of the special operations M4A1. Simultaneously, the second part challenges industry to come up with a new carbine that can outperform the M4. The competition opened in early August.

“This is an historic event. We have not done a carbine competition in our lifetimes,” Col. Douglas Tamilio, project manager for soldier weapons, told Army Times. His office is spearheading the M4 Carbine Improvement Program. “We don’t switch rifles and carbines too quickly, and it is not an easy thing.”

The M4 has faced some criticism from soldiers and others who have cited problems with its lethality and reliability, including a 2007 “dust” test in which the M4 performed the worst among four weapons tested, with the greatest number of stoppages.

Tamilio, a career infantry officer, said the weapon has “served the Army extremely well” and touted the 62 improvements made to the M4 in the past 19 years. But, he said, “We can’t sit on our laurels and say M4 is good enough.”

Deadlier weapon

The improvements have begun on thousands of M4s being built now, and thousands more will get conversion kits.

The upgrades will be done in phases. The improvement plan’s first phase essentially distributes an improved M4A1, which is notable for its heavier barrel and automatic fire. The heavier barrel reduces warping and erosion, resulting in better performance and longer life. It also allows for a higher sustained rate of fire.

The Army also is adding ambidextrous controls.

The Army has 12,000 M4s on the production line, and has told manufacturer Colt to turn them into A1s, said Brig. Gen. Peter Fuller, Program Executive Office Soldier.

In addition, 25,000 M4A1s would be purchased beyond existing contracts, as well as roughly 65,000 conversion kits, Tamilio said.

“The Army would like to convert about 150,000 in the near term for infantry brigade combat teams,” he said. The optimal plan would be to convert all the M4s, he added, but funding will be a large factor in that decision.

More changes external to the weapon are also improving its reliability and lethality, Fuller said.

Soldiers will experience fewer jams, thanks to a new magazine that doesn’t allow rounds to move, he said.

And the new M855 A1 ammo provides more stopping power at shorter distances. The older round had to get into a yaw dependency for maximum effect. If it hit the enemy straight, it would punch right through them. The new ammo is not yaw dependent. If it hits the enemy, he is going down.

Many combat vets surveyed in 2006 described how enemy soldiers were shot multiple times but were still able to continue fighting. The survey included 2,600 soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

One in five U.S. soldiers polled recommended a more lethal round. The new round is designed to address that.

“It’s not enhanced performance, it’s consistent performance,” Fuller said. “It really performs the way you want a round to perform, and it’s optimized to the M4.”

Better accuracy

The second phase of the M4 improvement program begins this fall and will focus on increasing the M4’s effectiveness and accuracy, with emphasis on the bolt, bolt carrier assembly and the forward rail assembly.

Over time, reliability will degrade with the bolt, as that component provides the weapon’s action. Officials will host an open competition for a new bolt assembly to determine whether different materials and coatings can enhance the bolt. The Army also is interested in “unique design changes” that have arisen within the industry, Tamilio said.

The service also looks to strengthen the forward rail assembly on top of the receiver. This lends stability to the weapon and serves as the mount for weapon attachments, but restricts the barrel movement that is required for accuracy when re-engaging the target. The Army wants to determine whether a free-floating rail is the answer.

Officials also will look to provide a more consistent trigger pull for better control, according to a June Congressional Research Service report.

New operating system

The third phase, focusing on the operating system, will begin in about 18 months, Tamilio said. The goal is to improve the gas system by allowing less gas and dirt in, or replacing it with a conversion kit similar to the HNK16 that would put a piston in the M4.

Both have their benefits and detractors, the colonel said. The piston reduces the number of moving parts and provides better stability, but there is “a little more metal on metal,” which can diminish durability and accelerate fatigue.

A gas-impingement system is far smoother in operation, and supporters say its reduced heat and carbon deposits will decrease malfunctions. But the gas system requires a lot more elbow grease to get it clean.

The 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta, or “Delta Force,” replaced its M4s with the HK416 in 2004, according to the congressional report. That weapon combines the operating characteristics of the M4 with the piston system.

“There’s a lot of dynamics involved,” Fuller said. “When you go to a piston charger, you’re actually driving that bolt down at an angle versus back, so you have to make sure you understand it might not be the same weapon.”

The next carbine

The competition for the Army’s next-generation carbine opened in early August, and the service is looking for the “future Army weapon for any environment,” Fuller said.

The Army’s open, industrywide Individual Carbine Competition was approved Aug. 4 by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council.

No caliber restriction has been placed on a new design. The requirements, instead, are for the most reliable, accurate, durable, easy-to-use and easy-to-maintain weapon out there, Tamilio said.

It will be at least a 500-meter weapon and have a higher incapacitation percentage, meaning if a shot doesn’t kill the enemy, it will put a serious dent in his medical record.

This weapon will be modular and able to carry all the existing attachments soldiers use.

It can have a gas or piston system.

Interchangeable barrel sizes, such as those seen in the SCAR, are not a “must have,” but “certainly won’t be a negative thing,” Tamilio said.

But above all, Fuller wants a weapon that has the soldiers’ approval.

“We really need to figure out lethality from a ‘soldier in the loop’ perspective,” he said. “If you can’t shoot the weapon accurately, it doesn’t matter how lethal it is.”

To meet that goal, Tamilio will release a draft request for proposal late this year. It is a warning order of sorts that will give industry a preliminary idea of what is expected. An industry day will follow in which officials will answer questions and provide clarity.

The official RfP will go out early next year, in the second quarter of fiscal 2011, which begins in January. Manufacturers will have a set time, typically a few months, to respond with their proposed weapons.

Next comes the “extreme, extensive testing” and selection of the weapons, Tamilio said.

During testing, hundreds of thousand of rounds will be fired over 12 to 18 months as weapons are tested to their destruction point. The primary goal is to determine if they meet Army specifications. But evaluators also will know whether a weapon can live up to its manufacturer’s claims.

“If they say it has a barrel life up to 20,000 rounds, we’ll test to that,” Tamilio said.

Weapons will also be tested to see if they maintain accuracy throughout their life cycle — something the military has not tested before, Tamilio said. A weapon typically loses accuracy as it ages.

“This is a huge importance for us,” he said.

Soldiers will be involved in virtually all aspects of this testing, Tamilio said. From the individual to unit, he said the tests will focus on what soldiers really care about: “When he pulls the trigger, it fires in a reliable fashion, and what he aims at, he hits.”

Mixed reviews

Investing in an improved M4 has met some opposition.

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., in April 2007 asked Army leadership why the service planned to spend $375 million on the carbine through fiscal 2009 “without considering newer and possibly better weapons available on the commercial market.” The senator’s letter questioned the M4’s reliability and lethality and called for a “free and open competition” to evaluate alternatives.

Nevertheless, improvements have been recommended from within the service. The Army Infantry Center in a Small Arms Capabilities-Based Assessment in 2008 identified 42 separate ideas for material solutions to address capability gaps. Thirteen solutions called for new or improved munitions, and 10 involved aiming devices, optics or laser designators. Only seven suggested modifying or developing new small arms.

After-action reports from soldiers both praise and criticize the M4’s reliability and lethality. The mixed reviews are reflected in the congressional report:

• A February 2001 U.S. Special Operations Command study said the M4A1 was “fundamentally flawed” and suffered “alarming failures … in operations under the harsh conditions and heavy firing schedules common in [special operations forces] training and operations.”

• An Army report from July 2003 on small arms performance during Operation Iraqi Freedom found the M4 was “by far the preferred individual weapon across the theater of operations.”

• A December 2006 survey requested by Army’s Project Manager for Soldier Weapons and conducted by the Center for Naval Analyses polled 2,600 soldiers who had engaged in combat action in Iraq or Afghanistan. More than half said they never experienced a stoppage in the M4 or M16.

The study found that the frequency of disassembled cleaning did not affect the number of stoppages. The type and amount of lubrication used had little effect on stoppages, though dry lubricant decreased reports for M4 stoppages. Nearly nine in 10 soldiers said they were satisfied with the M4.
• A December 2007 test — resulting from Coburn’s letter — evaluated the M4 against the HK416, the HK XM8 and the FNH SCAR. Each system had 10 weapons on the line, and each fired 6,000 rounds under sandstorm conditions. The XM8 had 127 stoppages, the SCAR had 226 stoppages, the HK416 had 233 stoppages and the M4 had 882 stoppages. The Army later modified that number to 296 stoppages, attributing the difference to discrepancies in the test and scoring.
When you’ll get it

A new weapon could be selected by the end of 2011. How long it would take to field a new weapon would depend on funding. Fielding could start fairly quickly, but will take up to 10 years, Tamilio said.

No cost estimate of producing a new weapon is available from the Army, as the dozens of potential manufacturers have yet to receive specifications and generate the subsequent design.

By Aug. 19, the Army had 41 respondents to its market survey, Tamilio said.

“Industry is waiting for this,” he said. “They are excited about this … and that’s exactly what we want.”

How the dual-path strategy unfolds remains to be seen, but it means every soldier should be getting a better carbine.

That’s because there are 1.1 million soldiers, but only 500,000 M4s in the system. If the Army selects a new carbine, it may purchase 1.1 million. But a more likely scenario would see 500,000 purchased for infantry brigade combat teams, and the existing and improved M4s given to support troops to replace their M16s.

If the M4 turns out to be the weapon of choice, then the ICBTs will likely be fitted with the improved M4s, and the existing M4s would again be given to support troops to replace their M16s.

For soldiers “consistently using that M4 and satisfied with that M4, to know the Army is going out there to get you something better … that’s pretty damn exciting,” Tamilio said. “And that’s only going to make you more effective on the battlefield.”

www.armytimes.com

New unmanned helicopter can cut US troop losses in war zones

An unmanned helicopter that is expected to reduce US troop losses in war zones is being developed.

The Kaman K-MAX helicopter has been adapted by defence company Lockheed Martin to fly without a pilot and can carry up to 6,000lbs of cargo – more than the aircraft’s empty weight, reports the BBC.

Transporting equipment to troops at Forward Operating Bases on the frontline would be the K-MAX’s primary use.

It would help reduce the need for large vehicle convoys lowering the risk of soldiers being ambushed or injured by IEDs (improvised explosive devices).

And it can be flown into under-fire areas without risk to aircrew.

A ground-based operator using a laptop is able to control the aircraft. They can input a flight plan detailing the destination and route.

It can also be flown hands-on from the cockpit if necessary and uses counter-rotating intermeshing rotor blades to generate its lifting power.

The adapted K-MAX can winch four different loads on its cargo hook and each can be programmed to release at different times. Its maximum airspeed with an external load is 80 knots (92mph).

It can also fly in weather conditions that would ground other helicopters and could also be used to lighten the workload of aircrew ensuring they get enough rest.

The helicopter is being developed for the US Army’s ‘Autonomous Technologies for Unmanned Air Systems’ (ATUAS) programme.

However the US Marine Corps could make use of the aircraft.

In Lockheed Martin’s contract to develop the helicopter the US military describes the project as having an “indefinite delivery” of an “indefinite quantity”, so a precise deployment date is currently unknown.

But if testing goes to plan it’s thought it could be sent to Afghanistan for assessment sometime towards the end of 2011. (ANI)

Oshkosh wins a contract to Terrain Vehicles by U.S.

Oshkosh Defense, a division of Oshkosh Corporation, announced today it has received an award to provide continued aftermarket support for MRAP All Terrain Vehicles (M-ATV) in the U.S and Afghanistan.

More than 55 fully-trained Oshkosh field service representatives (FSR) will provide in-theater and U.S.-based M-ATV support for the U.S. Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force for another year. The FSRs will support the Armed Forces, as directed, with vehicle maintenance, operation, diagnostics and training.

“As warfighters continue to receive Oshkosh-built M-ATVs in Afghanistan, our service representatives are needed on the ground to support the program in multiple capacities,” said Ken Juergens, Oshkosh Defense vice president and general manager, Joint Programs. “As a result of this award, Oshkosh M-ATV experts and aftermarket-support FSRs are available to the Armed Forces for another year – most having worked with this platform since the first M-ATVs rolled off our lines last July. Our service team’s mission is ensuring that the M-ATV vehicles and those operating them are ready for any mission.” Embedded directly in support of military units, Oshkosh FSRs provide onsite technical assistance, ensure proper maintenance procedures, correctly identify parts and provide troubleshooting techniques and maintenance training to troops.

“With decades of support to the military, Oshkosh knows that properly maintained vehicle fleets have higher readiness rates and reduced life-cycle costs,” Juergens said. “The urgent need for the M-ATV required that training be completed simultaneously with vehicle maintenance training so our FSRs are working side-by-side with the Warfighter to maintain mission-ready fleets for the more than 5,000 M-ATVs in-theater.” The company also received an aftermarket order for more than 290 explosively formed penetrator (EFP) protection kits. The EFP kits are scheduled to be delivered in the second quarter of fiscal year 2011. The FSRs are expected to support the Armed Forces from September 2010 through September 2011.

Together, the combined awards from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command (LCMC) are valued at more than $58 million.

US Army to Provide Humvees to Afghanistan Forces

The US Army has awarded a $619m contract to AM General to supply 2,526 high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, or Humvees, to the Afghan Police Force and National Guard, according to the US Defense Department.

The Humvee is a one platform with multiple mission roles truck, used by the US military since 1985.

Humvees are designed for transportation of personnel and light cargo behind the front lines, not as a front line fighting vehicle.

Work will be carried out in Indiana, US, and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

AM General has produced more than 200,000 Humvees for the US Army.

Internet and e-commerce industry in Iraq

We are to consider today Internet and e-commerce industry of one of the Arabic countries, located in Western Asia, Iraq. This Muslim country is spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert. Iraq is bordered by Jordan to the west, Syria to the northwest, Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, and Kuwait and Saudi Arabia to the south. The economy of the country is dominated by the oil sector, which has traditionally provided about 95% of foreign exchange earnings.

As for the country’s telecom market, it has undergone much repair and development since the end of hostilities. Until the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Internet access was tightly controlled and very few people were allowed to go online.

Thus far, the most developed and mature appeared to be mobile sector, with four operators sharing the market. But Zain of Kuwait’s subsidiary Zain Iraq has much the largest market share, with well over 50% share. Actually, boom in mobile sector can be partially explained by the lack of any significant fixed-line market, with infrastructure almost non-existent outside of the capital, Baghdad. There is also a great lack of fibre-optic backbone infrastructure, both nationally and for international connections. With better backbone infrastructure mobile Internet services could probably be successful but as yet 3G/HSPA services are not available.

Since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, Internet access has become commonplace. At present, the stress is making on developing the network, with the national regulator launching a tender for wireless local loop licenses. The major development has been the establishment and rapid growth of mobile services from a zero start following the award of three temporary mobile licenses.

Several Wireless Local Loop licenses have been awarded and operators have launched services using CDMA networks but they have not as yet made much impact.

The incumbent Internet services provider, Uruklink, used to be the sole Iraqi ISP. However, currently the leading operator faces competition from other ISPs, including broadband satellite Internet access services from both Middle East and European VSAT hubs.

The premier military telecom service provider competing the national incumbent appeared to be TS2, an Internet Provider for US Army soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Despite most of all active TS2 users are Polish and US Army soldiers, the operator’s solutions have been implemented also for private companies and organizations. Before end of 2007 year, the TS2 solutions have been available for numerous NATO military entities. Since 2009 TS2 started advertising satellite Internet services for the US Marine Corps in Afghanistan. At present, TS2′s network in Iraq and Afghanistan has over 15 thousand military users of local broadband satellite connections. TS2 also delivers telecommunication services for Iraq-based Police Transition Teams.

Since 2006 several other companies were launched their services, offering cheaper services and smaller bandwidth affordable for single users such Advanced Technology Systems-Iraq. As of 2010, the top 4 ISPs in the capital of the country operate:

• Rose Telecom, delivering speed up to 4/0.7 Mbps in off-peak times and 512/128 in peak times
• Halasat, offering speed up to 3/0.5 Mbps in off-peak times
• Earthlink, targeting home/single users
• ATS-Iraq, also targeting individual users

Among other ISPs operating on the Iraqi market successfully, according to ostamyy there are:

• Afaq Link Technology – offers communication and Internet services by providing satellite system and wireless services in Iraq.
• Baghdad Telecom – provides infrastructure solutions in the areas of wireless, security and other IT solutions to small, medium and large entreprises in Iraq.
• Nashita – represents a leading ICT US-based ICT Company providing Satellite Internet in Iraq since 1999 and now provides both dedicated and shared VSAT satellite internet service in Iraq.
• Iraq Satellite Internet Services – delivers high-speed Internet connectivity in Iraq with our high-performance Galileo satellite network.

Interestingly, because of the disappearance of phone lines since 2004, all the Iraq’s ISPs uses the Wi-fi Technology to deliver Internet connection. The Iraqis are waiting for the current government to start repairing the phoneline to provide them with the cable/DSL Internet.

Internet access, limited prior to the war, has grown quickly since then due to the availability of satellite broadband access and the opening of Internet cafes. Nevertheless, Iraq has the lowest in the Middle East penetration level, with 1.1% Iraqis connected, as says www.internetworldstats.com. In order to compare, we are to note, that only 0.1% of people in Iraq, or 12,500, were subscribed to the Web. At present, mainly Iraqis get Internet access at Internet cafes with satellite connections.

Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD) for Iraq is .iq, administered by Network Information Center of Iraq. Registrations are mainly available at third-level domains beneath following second-level categories:

• gov.iq – Governmental entities
• edu.iq – Educational Institutions
• com.iq – Commercial entitites
• mil.iq – Military Institutions
• org.iq – Non-profit organizations
• net.iq – Network Service Providers

Importantly, .iq domain name had previously been in limbo for years, as the delegated manager was imprisoned in Texas on charges of alleged connection to Hamas for which he was later convicted in 2005. Some talk of redelegation and relaunching began taking place at the time of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and in 2005 a redelegation to the National Communications and Media Commission of Iraq was approved by ICANN.

As for e-commerce sector in Iraq, it’s eventually on the initial stage of its development due to the imperfection of Internet infrastructure in the country.

However, more and more businesses are launching their websites; and business cards are now displaying e-mail addresses.

Besides, there was launched a new Iraqi Business Center that represents a partnership between the CPA and the Iraq Ministry of Trade and provides on-site business counseling for the local Iraqi business community.

The Center is located at the Convention Center in Baghdad and has an informative website at www.iraqibusinesscenter.org, which however, is temporary under construction. The Iraqi Business Center website provides a database of Iraqi companies seeking subcontracts and international partners for work in Iraq.

The sites like this, or some others like, for instance, the US Department of Commerce Iraq Reconstruction Task Force website, target to promote the present and future use of the internet by businesses wishing to do business in Iraq.

Importantly, the US Commerce has one of the best websites for obtaining Internet information regarding business opportunities in Iraq.

An international business center was recently opened in Kirkuk. It is operated between the local government, Coalition forces, the Kirkuk Chamber of Commerce, and the Kirkuk Contractors Union. One of the prevalent goals is to facilitate coordination between local and international businesses and to facilitate unsolicited bids for reconstruction work.

Since 2003 the Central Bank of Iraq has authorized Iraq’s private banks to process international payments, remittances and foreign currency letters of credit. However, national banks are still not offering on-line banking services and transactions. Thus far, Iraqi banks need to do e-business in order to provide security. This would include authentication, data integrity, confidentiality, payment gateway.

As for the e-government page, since 2003 Iraq has been in transition and led by the US Coalition Provisional Authority. Future goals for the Iraqi and other e-governments include a national ID, health care database, and e-voting.

However, some barriers still exist in Iraq for successful e-government deployment. Among them, like in other countries in the region, there are: societal rigidity, weakness in ICT education, unfair income distribution resulting in lack of access to ICT education and technology. Iraq faced brain drain when thousands of Iraqis fled the country or were forced to leave during Saddam Hussein’s regime.

Well, despite this Muslim country cannot boast about the high level of ICT progress and as the result of e-commerce sector development, some good signs of future success in this sphere are obvious.

Robocopter combat cargo skyhook chosen by US forces

A US military competition aimed at finding a robotic unmanned helicopter able to haul supplies to isolated bases in Afghanistan has a winner, according to reports.

The US Marines’ “Immediate Cargo Unmanned Aerial System” compo has now been subsumed into an Army-run effort known as Autonomous Technologies for Unmanned Air Systems (ATUAS), and Aviation Week notes that a contract has been awarded to Lockheed Martin.

Lockheed’s offering for the unmanned robocopter contest was an automated version of the existing Kaman K-MAX intermeshing-rotors manned aircraft, and it appears that this will now be developed into the US forces’ first robot cargo skyhook.

The ATUAS K-MAX, in trials earlier this year, has shown that it can shift 3,000lb of cargo across 150 nautical miles in two flights within six hours – all without any input from ground operators other than specifying the destination and route. The machine is expected to offer the same performance, delivering cargo to a point within 10 metres of the target coordinates, even in weather which would ground a normal manned chopper. The K-MAX team has also shown off a nifty “four-hook carousel”, which lets the droidcopter make multiple dropoffs in a single flight.

The only serious rival to the K-MAX was the A160T robocopter offered by Boeing: but this gave a less-impressive lifting performance in trials, and also lacks the option for manned piloting, which could prove useful for legal reasons in civilian-controlled airspace.

The ATUAS capability really could be good news in Afghanistan, where supplies need to go by helicopter as much as possible, and sometimes have to be rushed in urgently to forward bases which are under fire at the time. The need to keep air crews within their allowed operating hours, and the need to lift them and their associated things – armour protection for instance – makes manned helicopters very expensive and eats into their lifting ability. Furthermore manned cargo helicopters must normally be escorted by Apache attack choppers, a thing which would presumably be unnecessary with ATUAS.