The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Pentagon’s research arm which was recognized with an Award for Excellence in Homeland Security the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program, has laid out a 60-day plan for developing, testing and delivering innovation smart materials for wearable technologies to provide better and more comfortably protection for warfighters from chemical and biological threats.
“The current [chemical and biological] threat environment consists of broadly acting, highly pathogenic, and sometimes immediately lethal threats that are capable of entering the body via multiple pathways, including skin, airway, ocular, and the gastrointestinal tract,” according to the agency in a broad agency announcement.
“Despite substantial financial investments and advances in the CB Defense enterprise over many decades, current personal protective equipment solutions add logistical, mobility, and thermal challenges to the warfighter/stability operations care provider, which place their missions at risk.
‘Molecular, nano, and other material solutions, when coupled with lessons from natural systems, will be integral for PPB technologies to protect against current and future CB threats,’ DARPA noted in the report.
Officials foresee the end product ensemble providing 100 percent protection against lethal exposure from 11 different agents, which includes Bacillus Anthracis (Anthrax), Sulfur Mustards, Organophosphates, Ammonia, Chlorine, Methylene Chloride, Synthetic Opioid Analgesics, the Toxin Ricin, Viral Hemorrhagics (Ebola, Marburg, Lassa, Yellow fever), and Influenza.
To test the PPB’s protection, they will equip preclinical models and/or robotic humanoid manikins to a model or ‘robotic humanoid manikins’ for at least 30 days with exposures of chemical and biological (CB) lasting up to 12 hours.
Also announced last year the DoD is a project which has been under development since at least 2015, to develop a radical X-ray bomb which could potentially destroy biological and chemical weapons without damaging the structures that contain them, without risk of spreading the toxic contents over a wide area.
Specialist electronics company Hyperion Technology Group has been contracted by the Dod to develop a prototype, which would fit inside existing warheads to neutralize chemical weapons, and could be used in close combat.
DARPA Recognized in 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency – DARPA
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‘Excellence in Homeland Security’
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Subterranean (SubT) Challenge
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Underground settings are becoming increasingly relevant to global security and safety.
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Rising populations and urbanization are requiring military and civilian first responders to perform their duties below ground in human-made tunnels, underground urban spaces, and natural cave networks.
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Recognizing that innovative, enhanced technologies could accelerate development of critical lifesaving capabilities, DARPA today announced a Grand Challenge: the DARPA Subterranean Challenge, or SubT for short.
(The DARPA Subterranean Challenge sought out multidisciplinary teams from around the world to compete in the development of the autonomy, perception, networking, and mobility technologies necessary to map explore and search underground networks in unpredictable conditions. Courtesy of DARPAtv and YouTube.)
The 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program surpassed expectations with a record number of nominations received from industry leaders and government agencies, and drew over 200 attendees to the ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Banquet – an exclusive gourmet luncheon and networking opportunity which filled to capacity, before having to turn away late registrants.
The event featured an impassioned and compelling keynote address by William J. Bratton, former police commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD) twice, the Boston Police Department (BPD), and former chief of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), as he walked attendees through 50 years of American policing history, the impacts on the communities, and the evolution of critical communication capabilities in our post 9/11 landscape.
Commissioner Bratton, one of the world’s most respected and trusted experts on risk and security issues and Executive Chairman of Teneo Risk a global advisory firm, was recognized as the ‘2019 ‘ASTORS’ Person of the Year’ for his Lifetime of Dedication and Extraordinary Leadership in Homeland Security and Public Safety.
Why the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program?
American Security Today’s comprehensive Annual Homeland Security Awards Program is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of physical, IT, port security, law enforcement, and first responders, in acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’
Over 200 distinguished guests representing Federal, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:
- The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
- National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC)
- United States Marine Corps
- The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
- Argonne National Laboratory (ANL)
- United States Postal Inspection Service
- DHS S&T
- United States Marshals Service (USMS)
- The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Police (PAPD)
- The Department of Justice (DOJ)
- The New York State Division of Homeland Security & Emergency Services (NYS DHSES)
- United States Border Patrol
- AlertMedia, Ameristar Perimeter Security, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Bellevue University, BriefCam, Canon U.S.A., CornellCookson, Drone Aviation, FLIR Systems, Hanwha Techwin, HID Global, IPVideo Corp., Konica Minolta Business Solutions, LenelS2, ManTech, Regroup Mass Notifications, SafeLogic, SolarWinds, Senstar, ShotSpotter, Smiths Detection, TCOM LP, Trackforce, Verint, and More!
Why American Security Today?
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
The traditional security marketplace has long been covered by a host of publications putting forward the old school basics to what is Today – a fast changing security landscape.
American Security Today is uniquely focused on the broader Homeland Security & Public Safety marketplace with over 75,000 readers at the Federal, State and local levels of government as well as firms allied to government.
American Security Today brings forward a fresh compelling look and read with our customized digital publications that hold readers eyes throughout the story with cutting edge editorial that provides solutions to their challenges.
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The AST Digital Publications is distributed to over 75,000 qualified government and homeland security professionals in federal, state and local levels.
‘PROTECTING OUR NATION, ONE CITY AT A TIME’
AST Reaches both Private & Public Experts, essential to meeting these new challenges.
Today’s new generation of public safety and security experts need real-time knowledge to deal with domestic and international terrorism, lone wolf attacks, unprecedented urban violence, shifts in society, culture and media bias – making it increasingly difficult for Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Military and Private Security Professionals to implement coordinated security measures to ensure national security and improve public safety.
These experts are from Government at the federal, state and local level as well as from private firms allied to government.
AST provides a full plate of topics in our AST Monthly Magazine Editions, AST Website and AST Daily News Alerts, covering 23 Vital Sectors such as Access Control, Perimeter Protection, Video Surveillance/Analytics, Airport Security, Border Security, CBRNE Detection, Border Security, Ports, Cybersecurity, Networking Security, Encryption, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Campus Security, Security Services, Corporate Facilities, and Emergency Response among others.
AST has Expanded readership into integral Critical Infrastructure audiences such as Protection of Nuclear Facilities, Water Plants & Dams, Bridges & Tunnels, and other potential targets of terrorism.
Other areas of concern include Transportation Hubs, Public Assemblies, Government Facilities, Sporting & Concert Stadiums, our Nation’s Schools & Universities, and Commercial Business Destinations – all enticing targets due to the large number of persons and resources clustered together.
To learn more about the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Award Winners solutions, Be on the lookout for the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Championship Edition Magazine – the Best Products of 2019 ‘A Year in Review’.
The ‘ASTORS’ Champion Edition is published annually in December and includes a review of programs, feature details on many of the winning firms, video interviews and more.
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DARPA ID’s Teams in 1st Scored SubT Challenge Featured in 2018 ‘ASTORS’
