Military intelligence Soldiers with the 25th ID train on the One World Terrain #drone and mapping system on Feb. 4, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
The OWT’s Tactical Handheld Automated Navigational Mapping and Observation System, or THANOS, provides 3D terrain #mapping with accuracy down to a two centimeter differential, allowing operators to virtually ‘move’ through the battlespace using only a mouse and keyboard.
Story by SSG Thomas Calvert
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – Material scientists from the U.S. Army and Department of Energy conducted a study of plasma-treated aluminum nanoparticles with the goal of improving future propellants and explosives.
Researchers from the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, Army Research Laboratory, and the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the Argonne National Laboratory, investigated a new class of surface-engineered aluminum nanoparticles. They published their findings in the peer-reviewed Journal of Applied Physics for a special issue, Fundamentals and Applications of Atmospheric Pressure Plasmas. The journal featured the article on the cover of its Feb. 14, 2021, issue.
“The ultimate goal of the effort is to extend the range and disruptive power of Army weapon systems,” said Dr. Chi-Chin Wu, a materials scientist at the laboratory. Wu leads this effort and is the first author of the article. “The paper presents results that support of ongoing investigations of aluminum nanoparticles for use as novel energetic ingredients in propellant and explosive formulation.”
The study exploits plasma-based surface treatment and chemical synthesis techniques, she said.
“Images and data obtained from two state-of-the-art transmission electron microscopes at the Center for Nanoscale Materials at the Argonne National Laboratory revealed valuable information on oxide shell phase transformation and the dispersive nature of the deposited carbonaceous materials,” Wu said. “This provides tremendous insight for further optimization.”
The new plasma approach enhances the reactivity of commercial 40-60 nanometer particles. For comparison, a human hair is typically 60,000 nanometers in width. According to Wu, the method involves first treating with a helium plasma to etch away a significant portion of their inert oxide shell and then treating with a helium/carbon monoxide plasma to deposit a reactive surface coating.
“Plasma science is a fascinating emerging technology for many applications but has yet to be sufficiently explored in the energetics community,” she said. “All this is done in a custom dielectric barrier discharge plasma reactor. The resultant particles were then characterized by high resolution transmission electron microscopy revealing important nanoscale surface and chemical composition features. We are constantly seeking new energetic materials with higher energy densities and faster energy release rates.”
Plasma treatment and synthesis, coupled with comprehensive material characterization, is critically important for optimizing methodologies and materials for scale-up and transition, she said.
Dr. Rose Pesce-Rodriguez, also from the laboratory and a co-author of the study, said the plasma approach developed by Wu has opened new possibilities for the U.S. Army to effectively surface-engineer metallic nanoparticles for energetics applications.
“Aluminum is just the first example,” Pesce-Rodriguez said. “Since 2018, several parallel efforts involving in-house, DOD, DOE and academic collaborations have blossomed. Making headway on this problem is difficult because samples are so small and require specialized technology to image and analyze.”
According to Pesce-Rodriguez, the microscopy tools available at DEVCOM-ARL and Argonne enabled Wu and collaborators to do a “remarkable job” of characterizing the new plasma-treated particles.
“We’re looking forward to more exciting discoveries,” Pesce-Rodriguez said. “It seems we’re learning something new almost every day.”
Wu said her ultimate goal is for DEVCOM-ARL to develop and transition energetic materials through a unique combination of innovative plasma technologies and advanced materials characterization techniques.
Collaborative partners in this study are Drs. Jianguo Wen and Ilke Arslan at the Center for Nanoscale Materials, Argonne National Laboratory.
“It’s been great to collaborate with Dr. Chi-Chin Wu and her team on advanced disruptive energetics,” Wen said. “This gives Argonne the opportunity to bring our expertise and unique capabilities to challenging Army problems.”
Dr. Mark Tschopp, the regional lead of ARL Central in the Chicago area, said this is a great example of collaboration between the Army and the Department of Energy.
“It combines the expertise of scientists at both laboratories along with unique facilities at the Department of Energy User Facility Center for Nanoscale Materials,” he said. “Expanding the Army team to include other partners is vital to tackling some of the fascinating and challenging science that the Army Research Laboratory is pursuing in areas such as at the intersection of energetics and plasma science.”
According to Wu, the work is an example of how the laboratory is working to operationalize science to provide energetics for transformational advances.
“It brings material science expertise into energetics for advancing future weapon systems,” she said.
The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Office of Basic Energy Science supported use of the Center for Nanoscale Materials, an Office of Science user facility, under an existing contract.
By U.S. Army DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory
KEENE, NH — Can’t find earplugs when you need them? No need to search pockets or range bag for earplugs because the Samson M-LOK® Earplug Holder allows you to attach your favorite triple flange earplugs onto any M-LOK® compatible rail. Always have hearing protection with your firearm when you need it. Applications include competition shooting, target shooting, self-defense, hunting, LE/Military, and more.
Each kit includes two (2) Earplug Holders and two (2) triple-flange earplugs. These are now available on the Samson website for only $19.95.
The M-LOK® mounting attachment installs to handguard with a standard 1/8″ hex wrench (not included).
For more information contact esales@samson-mfg.com.
BARNEVELD, Wis. – Vortex Edge™, our state-of-the-art training facility, is ready to accommodate shooters of all skill levels, from those looking to take their first steps to elite law enforcement teams. Our team has been hard at work developing classes that will make you a safer, more effective shooter, and we’re thrilled to open our doors for all your firearms training needs.
If you can’t travel to our campus, you can still experience Vortex Edge™: We’ll be regularly releasing videos and content, and we’ll be active on social media celebrating all things firearms training.
Head over to vortexedge.com to learn more about our facility and class offerings, and to meet our team. Be sure to follow Vortex Edge™ on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
Normally, the Danger Zone auction is held during an evening event at SHOT Show. With this year’s cancellation, the Brian Terry Foundation decided to go virtual, 29 March – 5 April, 2021.
Brian Terry Foundation was created to honor the life, service, and sacrifice of Brian Terry. The foundation raises awareness on border related security issues that affect the overall safety and welfare of U.S. Border Patrol agents. The foundation also raises money for the families of fallen U.S. Border Patrol agents and provides educational scholarships for students pursuing a career in law-enforcement.
Please participate in this year’s online auction either as a vendor or bidder. To become a vendor, visit www.trainmdfi.com/DangerZone. If you want to bid, watch this space for a link to the auction, as we get closer.
CTOMS Academy is scheduled to launch at the end of March. This is a new online training platform that CTOMS has been developing over the last 2 years. With such a high demand for their training, CTOMS wanted to offer a solution on a much broader scale, while at the same time improving the delivery consistency, quality, and making access to it more convenient and cost effective. This led to the creation of an inhouse video production capability. Mission Essential Training remains the practical training division of CTOMS and continues to run in person tactical medical training.
The courses are arranged in building block formation, where different training modules will build on each other. These modules are engaging, narrated videos that include animation and video demonstrations to provide visual representation of the topics. The videos are on average 10 minutes, making accessibility and progress of the training convenient.
There are both civilian and tactical oriented casualty approach courses. The tactical medical programs cover the principals of TCCC, but do not offer formal TCCC Certification as this requires the verbatim use of the PHTLS slides. Instead, these courses use animation and live demonstration videos edited into in depth narrated script.
Phase 1 launch includes foundation building courses. Subsequent course releases will include a wide variety of topics that will both stand alone and build upon the existing courses. These include guest contributors who are experts in their fields.
Follow CTOMS on Instagram and Facebook for updates, teasers, and promotions as they get closer to their launch date, and we will continue to post updates here on SSD as well.
AMHERST, Mass. (February 25, 2021) – OrthoLite®, the industry leader of branded, high performance and comfort footwear solutions, unveils OrthoLite O-Therm™, an innovative new thermal insole technology that sets a new standard in cold-weather footwear protection. O-Therm offers all of the known benefits of open-cell PU-foam, while combining the world’s lightest and most insulative cold barrier protection. This technology is only possible with O-Therm’s proprietary aerogel’s unmatched thermal properties and is unrivaled in any other footwear offering. For the consumer, this means your feet will stay warmer, you can stay outdoors longer, feel more comfortable, perform better and go farther in cold weather conditions.
O-Therm is the first and only aerogel-infused, open-cell PU foam. This new technology creates a thermal barrier that blocks the cold and maintains footwear temperature regulation. Using an advanced aerogel, the world’s most insulating material, the proprietary combination of materials in O-Therm delivers unmatched thermal insulation and all-day comfort underfoot for cold-weather protection.
“OrthoLite’s proprietary aerogel is O-Therm’s secret sauce,” explains Rob Falken, Vice President of Innovation at OrthoLite. “Our advanced aerogel traps micro-pockets of air without the need for loft, and it won’t lose its effectiveness when compressed under foot. OrthoLite’s aerogel is unlike any other aerogel solution in that it is nano-porous inside of a multi-porous structure, and that creates a supreme thermal barrier which blocks both cold and heat. In addition, O-Therm’s advanced silica aerogel powder is the lightest man-made material, weighing in at only three times the weight of air,” Falken notes.
O-Therm advanced aerogel is also exceptionally hydrophobic, which means it repels water and moves moisture away from the foot to provide a drier, more comfortable shoe environment. Exclusive to OrthoLite, this proprietary advanced aerogel requires no special handling or encapsulation – a world’s first.
OrthoLite worked with third-party thermal test laboratory, New York City-based Vartest Laboratories, to quantify the thermal performance of O-Therm aerogel insoles under extreme cold conditions -78°C (-108°F). The third-party test results validate that O-Therm is a breathable thermal barrier that is 54% more effective on average in comparative testing to other thermal insoles when tested at -78°C (-108°F).
O-Therm retains all of the comfort and performance benefits of OrthoLite open cell PU foam. O-Therm is a 2mm base-layer thermal foam that can be combined with a wide range of OrthoLite top-layer foams to create a custom insole solution tailored to a broad range of footwear categories, including: outdoor, casual, work, ski and snowboard, fashion, and other cold weather footwear categories. The innate thinness and moldability of O-Therm also makes it an ideal thermal barrier solution for footwear linings and strobel layers—bringing unsurpassed cold block technology without adding bulk or weight.
“We are proud to introduce this new thermal innovation to the footwear industry,” says John Barrett, President of OrthoLite. “We see tremendous potential in the market—in cold weather footwear applications and beyond.”
As a vertically integrated U.S. company with facilities around the world, OrthoLite collaborates with its brand partners to create and produce custom insole formulations that deliver unrivaled comfort and performance. For additional information on the new O-Therm technology, please click here.
During a recent visit to Tac M’s ed Solutions they presented me with this Critical Event Individual Kit. It’s a very cool very of an IFAK, but what makes this particular one so interesting is that they made it while I was there touring the facility. One of our first stops was to their dedicated R&D department where they cook up new ideas and make short runs of custom products. They showed me their laser cutter and talked about how they were starting to integrate laser cutting more and more into their softgood designs.
After lunch, they presented me with this kit which features the SSD logo laser cut into the Black pouch and contrasted with MultiCam Black. They didn’t even ask me for a vector file of the logo. They went out on the web, found it and converted it into a format they could use on their cutter.
When I got it, I was pretty amazed, but once I opened it up, my smile became even wider. After all, the whole purpose of a pouch is to carry and I wanted to see what they had stuffed it with. Created as part of Tac Med Solutions’ NFPA 3000 compliant TacMed Critical Event Response System, the pouch include internal panels that can be adjusted to fit your exact equipment loadout and attaches to your vest or belt via PALS compatible straps.
They offer standard load detailed below, or you can specify contents.
Contents:
1x Signature Series OIFAK Pouch (Black)
1x SOF® Tourniquet Gen 4 (Rescue Orange)
1x OLAES® Modular Bandage (4″, Flat-Packed)
1x TACgauze Wound Wrapping Gauze
1x HALO Chest Seal (Vented, 2-pack, IFAK Size)
1x Trauma Shears (5.5″)
1x TacMed™ Combat Casualty Card
1x Sharpie (Black)
3PR Nitrile Gloves (Black, Size XL)*
Even with all of that, there’s still some room to spare so for my kit, they added something extra, the RISE (Rigid Immobilization System for Extremities), which I think is the coolest product launched during this year’s SHOT Show on Demand.
It is the most compact splint I have ever run across. It can be configured as a straight splint, 90-degree splint, or pelvic binder by using a windlass or ratcheting tourniquet with the available cutout slots. As you can see, it will still fit into most individual first aid kits, including all standard military-issue IFAKs. It’s also radiolucent, blood and chemical resistant.
This version of the Critical Event Individual Kit won’t be offered for sale, it was just a demonstration of their capability. Unfortunately, this custom service won’t be available for individual purchases. However, Tac Med Solutions will integrate custom logos for unit and agency orders (minimums apply).
www.tacmedsolutions.com/Critical-Event-Individual-Kit
*I’m going to swap the gloves out because it can be difficult to discern blood from other fluids with Black gloves, particularly in the dark.
