Sweden has officially joined the growing list of countries aiming to adopt robotics to boost their defence capabilities by purchasing the THeMIS Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) by Milrem Robotics, the world's leading robotics and autonomous systems developer.

The THeMIS Cargo, equipped with MIFIK—Milrem’s Intelligent Functions Kit, which enables autonomous mobility—will be used for trials and experimentations by the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration, the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FMV), and the Swedish Armed Forces.

The contract was signed at Eurosatory 2024 by Brigadier General Jonas Lotsne, Director of Land Systems at FMV and Sverker Svärdby, managing director of Milrem Robotics Sweden, in the presence of the Swedish Chief of Army, Major General Jonny Lindfors.

"We are proud to welcome Sweden as the latest user of the THeMIS UGV. Our collaboration will ensure that the Swedish forces are equipped with the most advanced robotic systems available, enhancing their operational effectiveness," said Svärdby.

The THeMIS UGV is renowned for its versatility, reliability, and advanced technological features. Although purchased as a cargo version for supply delivery, the vehicle can be adjusted to perform casualty evacuation, reconnaissance, and combat missions by integrating third-party technologies.

The integration process will involve rigorous training for Swedish military personnel to ensure seamless operation and maintenance of the vehicle. Additionally, Milrem Robotics will provide ongoing support and updates to ensure the system remains at the forefront of technological advancements.

Sweden's decision to adopt the THeMIS UGV represents a forward-thinking approach to modern warfare, embracing innovation to stay ahead in an increasingly complex security landscape

For 30 years, Telerob Gesellschaft für Fernhantierungstechnik mbH, based in Ostfildern near Stuttgart, has been developing and producing unmanned ground vehicles for explosive ordnance disposal (EOD), the handling of hazardous materials (HAZMAT) and the detection of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats (CBRN).

What started as a small sales office for nuclear applications with six employees has developed over the years more and more into the leading supplier of EOD robots. Telerob Gesellschaft für Fernhantierungstechnik mbH can proudly look back on 30 successful years and numerous important milestones.

As early as 1999 Telerob celebrates a world premiere: the first EOD robot with tool magazine and telescope is presented. Named tEODor, it developed into a bestseller in the following years and became a reliable tool for many armies and police units worldwide. In 2006, Telerob launched a new, compact generation of robots on the market: the delivery of the first EOD robot telemax laid the foundation stone for the telemax family, which steadily expanded over the years to include additional models and quickly enjoyed the same popularity as its larger colleague tEODor. The next technological leap was made in 2018 with the launch of the tEODor EVO: a modern, intuitive operating concept made the user's usually difficult and dangerous task easier. The EVO generation of the various telemax models followed in 2019. 2021 the next big step: the US technology group AeroVironment, Inc., a leading global provider of unmanned aerial systems (UAS), acquires Telerob, enabling an even greater range of robotic solutions.

And the journey is far from over. "Together with our mother company AeroVironment, we are working on new, innovative projects: Autonomous driving, voice recognition, but above all we want to offer our customers broader, integrated mission solutions at sea, on land, in the air and in near space in the future. This will make combatting threats even faster and more effectively. Much has changed over the past 25 years, but our aspirations have remained the same: Replacing human beings with machines where their presence would place them at great risk”, says Florian Grüner, Managing Director.

From dhs.gov

A post from Mary Ellen Callahan, Assistant Secretary, DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD)

Advances in Artificial Intelligence create great promise while also posing unique threats in the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) space. Today, we are releasing a first-of-its-kind federal government report evaluating the potential for AI to be misused to enable the development of production of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) threats, while also considering the benefits and application of AI to counter them.

We found that, at this time, barriers to deploying a weapon of mass destruction remain significant, particularly for the physical creation of a CBRN threat. But increased public access to AI tools, when combined with known inconsistencies in U.S. biological and chemical security regulations, are lowering those barriers. To manage this risk and prevent AI from further lowering these barriers or creating new CBRN threats in the future, we must work rapidly. Greater cross-sector collaboration — by governments, the private sector, and academia – is needed to ensure guardrails remain strong as AI technology evolves.

Developed by DHS CWMD through extensive consultation with experts in and outside of government, the report reflects the type of coordination necessary to realizing the promise and mitigating the threat of this technology. Through Voluntary Commitments in 2023, Frontier AI Developers are already moving toward safe, secure, and transparent development of AI technology. However, more work is necessary, and the report provides several recommendations to ensure the continued security of the American people, including:

• Sharing Expertise: Developers of the most powerful, cutting-edge AI systems – known as AI frontier models – have implemented structured testing efforts to find flaws and vulnerabilities in AI systems as part of their Voluntary Commitments, but each company has a different approach to testing. These varied approaches, coupled with inconsistent access to relevant CBRN expertise, make it vital that industry, government, and academia continue to collaborate and share their CBRN knowledge in order to increase CBRN safety and security standards in AI Models. The report mentions the DHS Artificial Intelligence Safety and Security Board as one mechanism to promote information sharing and establish best practices and risk mitigation strategies.
• Enhanced Protections of Sensitive Chemical and Biological Data: Developers should use heightened standards for accessing particularly high-risk specialized tools and services, such as tools for designing or developing biological materials or chemicals. These concepts could take advantage of well-established implementation models like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s “Secure by Design” initiative and could be applied to U.S. government grant awardees via funding agency terms.
• Training and Education: Developers should implement a CBRN threat awareness training for model evaluators or teams testing AI vulnerabilities to improve the security involved in model development. The government, international allies, and other security experts could provide expertise to support such training.

The responsible use of AI holds great promise for advancing science, analyzing large data sets, solving pressing challenges, and improving national security. We want to amplify the promise of AI in chemical and biological discoveries while reducing the peril of novel CBRN threats. CWMD is already integrating AI and machine learning technologies into our work, including radiological detection at the border and national biosurveillance. While government agencies have already started applying AI to certain fields like cargo and passenger screening, other fertile areas for further research include how to integrate AI into CBRN prevention and detection efforts like international arms control and monitoring efforts.

President Biden recognized the importance of this work in his October 2023 Executive Order 14110 “Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence,”, which directed DHS to produce this report. CWMD demonstrated its enduring value by taking on this challenge and delivering the report as a centerpiece of the AI E.O. six-month requirements. My vision for CWMD for 2024 is PREPARE-CONNECT-TRANSFORM and this report is an exemplar of each of these three areas. CWMD remains committed to ensuring the safety of the Americans from CBRN threats, and through a whole-of-community approach realizing the promise and mitigating the threat posed by AI in this space.

Pentagon senior leaders and Harford County Executive Robert Cassilly joined U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Chemical Biological Center leaders in cutting the ribbon on the center's newly renovated and expanded biomanufacturing pilot facility at Aberdeen Proving Ground in a ceremony on June 12, 2024.

The 25,000-square-foot facility fills a vital niche in the effort to free the nation from foreign suppliers and pioneer the creation of entirely new materials essential for national defense. Academic and Department of Defense research laboratories are synthesizing microbes that can produce chemicals and materials with extraordinary properties, but only at a gram-sized scale, said Michael Bailey, DEVCOM CBC director.

This facility increases production capability for these materials from the gram-size level to up to 1,000 kilograms so that industry can further scale production to the commercial level for real-world applications. DEVCOM scientists also optimize the microbes they receive to make them more suitable for scale-up.

Bailey hosted Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Science and Technology Michael Holthe of the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering and Harford County Executive Robert Cassilly. Each spoke about the newly renovated and expanded facility's value to the DoD Chemical Biological Defense Program, national defense and the Harford County regional economy.

"It is together that we build an ecosystem, of which this facility is a part, that fills an important gap," Bailey said. He predicted that the government investment in biotechnology at Aberdeen Proving Ground and the multiple partnerships required for success will positively impact Harford County and further resonate across Maryland. "Eventually, when this hub and the entire biomanufacturing ecosystem is up and running, the economic impact will be felt across the nation. These investments are being made today and will pay off tomorrow."

Date: October 28-30, October 2024
Location: Orlando, Florida.
Submission Deadline: September 09, 2024

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for CBRNe Convergence 2024. This premier event brings together leading experts, practitioners, and researchers in the fields of CBRNe defense and response. We invite you to contribute to this vital dialogue by submitting your latest research findings, case studies, and innovative solutions.

Previously organisations such as the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, United States Postal Inspection Service, 908 Devices, FEMA, The EPA CBRNe Consequence Management Advisory Team, The Netherlands Organisation for Applied Science Research, the University of Hertfordshire, and the United States Postal Inspection Service have presented their research at CBRNe Convergence.

As opposed to scientific conferences this is a chance for you to talk to the people that will directly benefit from your research, it is a chance to explain what it will mean to them and to gain insight from your peers.

Submission Guidelines:

Abstract Submission: Please submit an abstract of no more than 500 words outlining the scope, methodology, and key findings of your work.

Presentation Format: Accepted papers will be presented either as oral presentations or posters. Please indicate your preferred format when submitting your abstract.

Those that are selected for oral presentation will also receive the privilege of having their paper published in CBRNe World. Speakers also will receive free entry for the duration of the conference and workshops.

Poster submissions will receive a 20% discount off government delegate rates.

Important Information:

Abstract Submission Deadline: September 09, 2024

Submission Portal:

Contact Information:

For any questions or further information, please contact Zoe at

We look forward to your contributions and to seeing you at CBRNe Convergence 2024.

Report concludes that information obtained and analysed ‘not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds’ toxic chemicals used as a weapon in two 2017 incidents reported to OPCW by Government of Syria. 

The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Fact-Finding Mission (FFM) in Syria concluded that the information obtained and analysed is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds to determine that toxic chemicals were used as a weapon in the reported incidents that occurred on 9 August 2017 in Qalib al-Thawr and 8 November 2017 al-Balil, Hama Governorate, the Syrian Arab Republic.

Incidents Reported by the Syrian Arab Republic

• On 21 September 2017, the Government of the Syrian Arab Republic informed the OPCW Technical Secretariat about an incident that occurred near the village of Qalib al-Thawr in the eastern countryside of al-Salamiyah in the Hama Governorate on 9 August 2017. The Syrian Arab Republic reported that the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), launched AGS-type munitions containing unknown toxic gases, causing several Syrian Arab Army (SAA) soldiers to exhibit symptoms including suffocation, fainting, and vomiting.
• On 24 November 2017, the Syrian Arab Republic reported to the Secretariat an attack with mortars containing “poisonous” gases targeting the SAA in al-Balil, which is in the surroundings of Souran in the Governorate of Hama, on 8 November 2017.

OPCW Fact-Finding Mission Conclusions

The FFM obtained information regarding the two reported incidents from diverse sources, including interviews with witnesses, visit to locations of interest relevant to the incidents, medical records, and documents and correspondence exchanged with the Syrian Arab Republic.

The FFM pursued further information from all available sources. In doing so, it faced challenges in corroborating the information gathered regarding the reported incidents. Furthermore, given several identified gaps, such as contradictions in reports and lack of accurate information, the FFM cannot provide a toxicological assessment of the reported exposure.

The information obtained and analysed as a whole is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds for the FFM to determine that toxic chemicals were used as a weapon in the reported incidents that occurred on 9 August 2017 in Qalib al-Thawr and on 8 November 2017 al-Balil, Hama Governorate, the Syrian Arab Republic.

The FFM report was shared with all States Parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention and is to be transmitted, per standard practice, to the United Nations Security Council through the UN Secretary-General.

Read the full report

Blackline Safety Corp., a global leader in connected safety technology, today announced is largest contract to date – an $8.5 million deal to protect 1,025 workers at a major North American midstream company.

The contract expands the company’s original $3.5 million deal with Blackline – announced in September 2023 — to protect more than 850 workers. Combined with the previous deal, Blackline devices now protect all of the company’s nearly 2,000 field and site workers.

The midstream company purchased 1,025 G7 wearable gas-detection and lone worker devices, along with monitoring services. It also purchased 753 G7 Bridges to keep workers connected in remote areas via satellite.

Prior to the first deal, the midstream company performed a comprehensive review of all available gas detection and lone worker devices, and Blackline came out on top. The G7’s ability to tell them immediately when and where someone needs help — even in confined spaces and remote locations with no cellular signal — sealed the deal and the company moved to standardize on Blackline across their organization.  

“We’re thrilled Blackline has become the preferred safety tech provider for this major midstream customer,” said Sean Stinson, Blackline Safety President and Chief Growth Officer. “Our devices are unique in the market — no other gas detection company provides real-time connectivity even in remote areas. Workers are never alone when they have Blackline at their side.”

The award-winning wearable G7 — with features such as SOS latch, fall and no motion detection, and real-time connectivity — provides a critical lifeline in case of emergency. When pairing G7x devices with G7 Bridge, which provides satellite connectivity in remote areas or regions with poor cellular connectivity, even the most remote workers are connected in real-time.

This announcement is the largest in Blackline’s history, topping the $7.8 million utility industry announcement made in late 2021. These large, enterprise deals demonstrate the depth of Blackline’s market acceptance across a variety of verticals as customers around the world realize the value of Blackline’s life-saving technology.  

Washington Technology announced the following:

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has awarded 9 companies positions on a potential 10-year, $4 billion contract vehicle for research-and-development work focused on technologies to counter weapons of mass destruction.

DTRA received 11 bids in total for the contract that covers an initial five-year base period and a five-year optional ordering period, the Pentagon said in its Wednesday awards digest.

Awardees are as follows:

• Applied Research Associates (incumbent)
• Booz Allen Hamilton (newcomer)
• Leidos (incumbent)
• Noblis (newcomer)
• Parsons (newcomer)
• Peraton (incumbent)
• SRC (newcomer)
• Signalscape (newcomer)
• Two Six Technologies (newcomer)

The Pentagon's notice does not detail how the awards are broken out across the contract's three pools.

Pool one is technology-oriented and cuts across such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and software development. Pool two's focus is on operations and countermeasures in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environments. Pool three is mostly about targeting, information operations and irregular warfare.

Awardees will compete for task orders to support in DTRA’s mission of reducing and eliminating incentives for U.S. adversaries to develop and possess their own weapons of mass destruction. DTRA also lists the threats as potentially originating from fragile or failed states.

Assistant Director in Charge (ADIC ret.) Don Alway recently received the Presidential Rank Award from FBI Director, Christopher Wray, at a White House Ceremony. The Presidential Rank Award is the highest possible award for civil service. 

Don has always been a fan of the magazine and our Convergence events, and are chuffed to see him recognised for his "sustained extraordinary accomplishments … exceptional leadership, integrity and relentless commitment to the American People … and … for leading with confidence and humility while being faithful stewards of process and rigor.” 

Originally published by DHS https://www.dhs.gov/news/2024/05/29/cwmd-provides-cbrn-detection-and-monitoring-support-indy-500

On May 23 – 26, Assistant Secretary Mary Ellen Callahan, DHS Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Office (CWMD), visited Indianapolis Motor Speedway to learn about the safety and security measures in preparation for the 108^th running of the Indianapolis 500.  The Indy 500 is the largest single-day sporting event in the world, with an estimated daily attendance of up to 350,000 people. Indianapolis is a critical and long standing CWMD operational partner. The Indy 500 preparations and operations are a quintessential showcase of collaboration across federal, state, and local agencies to meet the mission of safeguarding the Nation from foreign and domestic threats.

CWMD’s Mobile Detection Deployment Program (MDDP) provided surge support to supplement the existing capabilities of Indiana law enforcement and public safety agencies. MDDP has extensive equipment designed to detect the release of harmful Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) agents before or during special events. The MDDP team worked with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department to integrate CBRN detection equipment into their enhanced steady-state surge operations for the Indianapolis 500 race events. The CWMD leadership team met with state, local, and federal agencies to hear about the CBRN and other protective measures in place for the race.

CWMD serves as the Department of Homeland Security's focal point for countering weapons of mass destruction efforts. By supporting operational partners across federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels, CWMD coordinates DHS efforts to safeguard the United States against CBRN threats.

If you are heading to Eurosatory 2024 you will be able to head over to the Supergum Group booth and set your eyes on the awaited IM76 respirator. 

Key features of the IM76:

• Enhanced Protection: The IM76 offers high-level filtration capabilities to safeguard against a wide range of hazardous agents, including chemical agents, biological pathogens, radiological particulates, and nuclear fallout.
• Comfortable Fit: The mask is ergonomically designed to ensure a comfortable and secure fit on a variety of face shapes and sizes. It features adjustable straps and cushioning to maximize comfort during extended periods of use.
• Wide Field of Vision: The IM76 is equipped with a large, panoramic visor that provides an unobstructed field of vision for enhanced situational awareness. This allows users to maintain clear visibility while wearing the mask.
• Durability and Longevity: The IM76 is constructed using high-quality materials that ensure durability and longevity in even the most demanding operational environments. It is designed to withstand harsh conditions and provide reliable protection over an extended period.
• User-Friendly Design: The mask incorporates user-friendly features such as intuitive controls, easy-to-adjust straps, and a quick-release mechanism for rapid doffing in emergency situations. It is also compatible with various communication devices and equipment.

Go check it out in Hall 5A #H285

That's right folks, it is Orlando time again. Three years has flown by and we are heading back to the sunshine state from 28-30 October 2024. 

2024 brings new changes to Convergence, firstly a new venue, the Hilton Orlando, and a shake up to the programme. 

This year we are introducing new, focussed workstreams with roundtable discussions led by, and comprised of leading specialists. 

The workstreams are Medical, Clandestine Labs, Special Sec events, and Assassination tools. More information on these, and the rest of the programme can be found on the event pages