Eyes in the Sky

Clearing IEDs and preventing terrorist bombings is an area of great technical importance to the military and the world's governments. Air support remains one of the most effective tools for ground troops clearing IEDs in Afghanistan. The country does not have a flat terrain, and the ground force's field of vision is cut off beyond the hills, where an enemy could be waiting to strike from. Air support also gives troops the ability to "see" ahead, and clear the way before having visuals on the road beyond. What the Pentagon Channel's video above implies, however, is a third, powerful advantage in enhanced communication with civilians in war zones.

The situation being filmed in this video illustrates how air support can determine the difference between daily life (i.e. farming) and planting roadside explosives. A task force is called to clear a road of suspected IEDs, and multiple truckloads of specialists and a helicopter are deployed. This massive force travels down a small, dusty road in Afghanistan only to find that civilians are digging holes for agricultural purposes. They are able to determine their intentions because of the helicopter flying overhead, which is able to relay this information without the ground forces having to travel ahead and risk an unnecessary confrontation. Bringing a powerful force into a civilian situation can create feelings of mistrust in the local communities, and US forces rely on strong connections with these communities in order to properly combat real terrorist threats. Therefore, air support aids military operations by providing troops with intel that can improve communications with civilians.

In some ways, this video also shows the clear need for increased unmanned air systems deployment in war zones. If one car had a single UAS, they could have involved a third of the troops sent to the area, and the helicopter would not have been needed at all. The valuable intelligence gathered from unmanned systems in the sky helps not only to cut down costs on aircraft but also on the number of missions troops are sent out on. Sending dozens of military personnel and driving/flying tens of millions of dollars worth of equipment to check a dusty road in Afghanistan, only to find farmers preparing their fields, should become a thing of the past now that unmanned systems can gather information remotely and accurately. In fact, the Department of Defense anticipates this and has plans for it in their Drone Roadmap 2010-2035. We can look forward to unmanned systems cutting military spending in the very near future.

Open-Source Microsoft Kinect Physical Therapy

"It works, it's not expensive, and we've seen great results from it." - Dr. Glen House, describing NeuMimic's test trials with stroke patients

Seven Air Force cadets have begun collaborating with Dr. Glen House of Colorado's Penrose St. Francis Health Services on a physical therapy system called "NeuMimic." The software for the program runs on a computer and a Microsoft Kinect gaming camera attached. The camera allows the software to track the trainers movements, which the patient must then follow. These movements are represented by colorful stick figures that are first recorded by a trainer, then followed by the patient; the program tracks the patient's ability to accurately follow these movements, and then send the scores back to the trainer. NeuMimic allows for adjustments to difficulty, and sends the patient's progress reports back to the trainer/physician with information about the highest difficulties that patient could achieve. This creates a new metric for tracking rehabilitative progress. Most important of all, it allows for continued physical therapy training and benefits even when the instructor is not in the room, which increases the overall access to care that patients have to physical therapy training and gives the patient more autonomy in their care.

The Microsoft Kinect, seen here taken apart, has been used for many purposes beyond gaming, including robotics, for its ability to track body movements and positioning. Photo via Hacked Gadgets.

NeuMimic helps cut down on costs because it allows for physical therapists and trainers to work with more patients at a time and provide differentiated feedback without being in the room every time a patient wants to practice his or her therapy. Microsoft Kinect's camera is very low cost, and the program is available for free online. The project is now being considered as a remote physical therapy solution for stroke victims, as it has already demonstrated successful rehabilitative potential with stroke patients. The software is available online and can be downloaded and used with a Kinect device for free on any Windows computer: here is the link to the project homepage. Computer science developers have also been invited to collaborate with the cadets on the project, and can download the SDK kit from the NeuMimic website to improve the technology.

Are ICBMs Outdated?

"Since direct wartime nuclear operations against Russia alone, or Russia-China in combination, were Cold War scenarios that are no longer plausible, and since overflying Russia en route to more southerly targets (in China, North Korea, Iran) risks confusing Russia with ambiguous attack indications and triggering nuclear retaliation, the U.S. ICBM force has lost its central utility." - Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, May 2012, Pages 7-8

The missile test launched at 4:36 A.M.  on December 17, 2013 from Vanderburg Air Force Base in California. Photo via US Air Force.

The LGM-30G Minuteman III is an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) that can reach targets over 6,000 miles from launch. It weighs roughly 80,000 pounds and travels 15,000 miles per hour (Mach 23). According to the US Air Force, there are currently 450 Minuteman missiles in the US ICBM arsenal. There are a number of difficulties with Minuteman III's silo-based launch tactics, including its flight trajectory toward N.Korea, Syria, and Iran going over Russian airspace; Russia's nuclear arsenal is cited as the only one capable of wiping out the US's weapons, and a launch to strike a more southern target could trigger a retaliation response.

Launch ranges from Minuteman III sites, Malmstrum, Minot, F.E. Warren, and a few others. The team from Malmstrom was involved in the most recent launch from Vanderburg. (Global Zero US Nuclear Policy Commission Report, Page 7)

The Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, authored by Gen. James Cartwright, Sen. Chuck Hagel, Amb. Richard Burt, Gen. Jack Sheehan, and Dr. Bruce Blair reports that the Minuteman land-based missile systems would be "eliminated." Read the full report here.

Our nation's leadership has shifted its public stances on nuclear weapons over the past decade from necessary deterrent technologies to dangers that must be dismantled, and President Obama's administration has widely promoted a public and international rhetoric of removing nuclear weapons from our arsenal. In the Global Zero U.S. Nuclear Policy Commission Report, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel even states that the Minuteman III missiles must all be dismantled in the hopes of creating a nuclear-free world. (Page 6) Nevertheless, the military continues to upgrade and maintain Minuteman III missiles; they've been called "the US's prime nuclear deterrent" and are promised to continue being implemented as such "through 2020", according to ATK, an aerospace and defense contracting firm. Despite efforts to lower the number of nuclear weapons, the administration continues to improve the range and destructive capabilities of these technologies, implying that the US is not yet completely ready to give up the Mutually Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) thinking of the Cold War era.