Defense against CB agents is accomplished at several levels: enhancing survivability of land combat systems and helicopters, detecting CB agents before personnel are exposed, protecting personnel once agents are employed, decontaminating following exposures, and providing safe and effective medical countermeasures. Related areas include modeling and simulation (M&S) of agent characteristics and modernizing armored systems for CB survivability.

Standoff short–range CB detection is being pursued with lasers that can detect, identify, and map chemical vapors, aerosols, and liquids on the ground at ranges of 3–5 kilometers (km). The longer range biological threat will be detected at ranges up to 50 km using eye–safe lasers with enhanced imaging capability that will employ polarization and multiple wavelength excitation to increase discrimination range against natural biological backgrounds (FY00).

Passive technologies such as surface–excited infrared thermoluminescence, being studied for their ability to detect CB agents on the battlefield, require development of atmospheric databases, spectroscopic detection algorithms, and optical telescope designs for airborne and space platforms (FY10). These approaches are being evaluated against the use of multiple point sensors, either distributed throughout the battlespace or mounted on mobile platforms (FY02).

Because of the unique characteristics of CB agents, their physico–chemical properties must be carefully mapped to ensure detection, and a theoretical basis for detecting unknown but related agents must be developed. Infrared, visible, and ultraviolet (UV) spectroscopy, as well as mass, Raman, and laser desorption or electrospray particle trap mass spectrometry (MS), are being applied to this problem. Finally, aerosol science is providing the basis for the development of new optical methods for interrogating aerosol clouds from a distance for the purpose of detection.

Figure IV-1. Bioaerosol Sampler and Detector

In the post–World War II era, detection was a simple matter of knowing what agents potential adversaries possessed and designing analytical procedures to detect them. The proliferation of a broad spectrum of biological agents such as toxins, viruses, and bacteria, and the potential for genetically engineered pathogens have complicated this task immeasurably. The ideal detection system would operate continually in a standoff mode and would be capable of detecting all known—and even unknown—agents.

The second major theme in CBD is protection, and this may be divided into individual and collective protection. The foci of individual protection are to reduce the physiological burden of the protective mask and clothing, thereby reducing performance degradation, to integrate the mask into future soldier systems, and to protect against future CB threat agents. To accomplish these goals, new materials will be needed to decrease breathing resistance (FY05) and increase binocular vision (FY05). Computer–aided design (CAD) and rapid prototyping techniques are being employed to both improve mask performance and manufacturing processes. Supporting this, new physiological and protection tests are being developed. For clothing, selectively permeable and smart membranes are being assessed for enhanced protection and reduced heat stress. Selectively permeable membranes laminated to lightweight shell fabrics will provide low thermal insulation and high vapor transmission. Incorporation of reactive materials into the membrane will reduce the need for carbon and extend service life. Collective protection S&T efforts focus on advanced filtration and sheltering concepts for assembled troops that promise to reduce the power, weight, and volume of systems as well as to improve protection against NBC threats. Efforts to enhance vapor and aerosol filtration are concentrating on novel materials and processes. Temperature swing adsorption (TSA), pressure swing adsorption (PSA), and catalytic oxidation (CATOX), as well as improvements to existing single–pass filter systems, are under investigation to provide new systems requiring reduced logistical support through greatly increased service life and improved reliability against an evolving CB threat (FY01). Additionally, adsorbent materials with desirable surface characteristics and precisely controlled pore structures are under investigation to identify improvements to the traditional activated carbon substrates (FY10). Investigations are ongoing to assess regenerable fine particle filtration concepts with the potential of providing long–term protection against that class of NBC threats. Also under way are investigations of the integration of regenerative filtration technologies into host weapons systems, the ability to incorporate a surface acoustic wave sensor into a filter bed to signal impending loss of its filtration capacity, and performance of fielded filters against nonstandard threat materials such as industrial vapors. Finally, modeling efforts to describe filter performance based on fundamental properties and process parameters are in progress. Efforts to improve shelter technology are concentrating on novel materials that are more affordable and provide better protection against a broad range of NBC agents.

The major challenge will be to identify new materials offering improved protection against a broad and evolving spectrum of NBC agents while reducing the physiological burden to the soldier. More specifically:

The third major theme is decontamination, and this can be divided into three categories: immediate—carried out by the individual soldier, operational—carried out by the decontamination unit, and thorough—performed by the chemical company, usually at an equipment decontamination site. Both hydrolytic and oxidative reactions are being studied, with the goal of formulating stable decontaminants with new reactants for rapid destruction of mustard, and V and G nerve agents. Catalytic materials such as enzymes have been cloned and assessed for their ability to destroy chemical agents under mild, ambient conditions, thus avoiding damage to delicate equipment and the environment. An enzyme that degrades G class nerve agents has been scaled up and produced via biomanufacturing, and will be subjected to a NATO field test (FY98). Enzymes that degrade V–class nerve agents are being screened for efficacy and down–selected for scale–up (FY98). Ultimately, these new catalytic materials may be incorporated into sorbents and self–decontaminating coatings, fibers, or paints (FY10) (see Figure IV–2).

The main technical objective is to design decontaminating materials with highly catalytic properties, long shelf life, and an ability to function under a broad range of temperatures and pH.

The use of M&S is an essential aspect of the current and future CBD program. Advanced computer simulation technology will allow soldiers to be immersed in a realistic and physically accurate computer–generated combat environment that includes CB agent cloud movement and target effects under variable weather, terrain, and foliage conditions. This capability will allow the military user, for the first time, to experience the impact and consequences of CB weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in operational situations and, more important, will demonstrate the potential value of CBD equipment (FY01). Simulations of both conceptual and actual CBD equipment will result in improved and stable performance requirements to be established early in development (FY01). The distributed interactive simulation (DIS) network will enable the user to evaluate the "value–added" of each CBD item at every phase of development (see Figure IV–3). By means of virtual prototyping, soldiers will contribute to the detailed design of new equipment throughout the development cycle. The combination of constructive (wargaming) and virtual (3D) simulations will permit CBD hardware performance characteristics to be optimized prior to production. Virtual prototyping will greatly decrease the acquisition time and associated costs of development, including test and evaluation (T&E) elements. The mutual interaction between user and developer, provided by M&S throughout the acquisition cycle, will result in superior CBD products within the limited funding and resource constraints anticipated for the future.

Figure IV-3. Simulation of Intercept of Chenical or Biological Agent Munition
Click on the image to view enlarged version

As the threat evolves and proliferates, it becomes increasingly important to be able to identify, synthesize, and assess the physico–chemical and toxicological properties of new compounds. These studies are being used to develop quantitative structure–activity–property relationships and, ultimately, to predict the behavior of new compounds in biosystems. Novel, short–acting sedatives are being developed from these efforts as potential less–than–lethal chemicals for a variety of applications, and candidate nontoxic simulants with reduced environmental impact are also being selected and tested.

The two main objectives for M&S are to develop models that accurately predict the effect of chemical and biological warfare (CBW) agents on battlefield performance, as well as the protective capability of CBW defense equipment. Second, to model structure–activity relationships to predict the threat potential of new compounds and their behavior in both bio– and ecosystems.

The roadmap of technology objectives for Chemical and Biological Defense is shown in Table IV–10.

The influence of this technology area on TRADOC FOCs is summarized in Table IV–11.