DARPA's Military Missiion & University Connections--Part 8

(See Parts 1-7 below)

In his March 25, 2004 statement before the House Committee on Armed Services’ Subcommittee on “Terrorism, Unconventional Threats and Capabilities,” the Director of DARPA, Dr. Anthony Tether, also indicated additional specific ways that the DARPA-funded research work that is currently done on U.S. university campuses at places like Columbia is used to help the Pentagon wage war in Iraq:

“We have a program that is testing the use of Kevlar air-bags to thwart rocket-propelled grenade attacks. The idea is to detect the incoming rocket-propelled grenade and then deploy an airbag to smother the round so it doesn’t go off and deflect it slightly. Because rocket-propelled grenades use directional shaped charges, deflecting it should greatly reduce the damage, even if the round still goes off.

“We are also working on various ways to detect improvised explosive devices. One of these involves a technique for detecting, identifying, and locating radio frequency-controlled improvised explosive devices in the considerable background clutter typical of cities.

“To improve communications among our warfighters, we are working on using Aerostats to connect line of sight systems like SINCGARS (Single Channel Ground and Airborne Radio System) and EPLRS (Enhanced Positions Location Reporting System), and on an inflatable communications tower in a box.”…

Next: Vice-President Cheney’s 50th Anniversary Tribute To DARPA’s Weapons Development Contributions