Madrid, 2 February 2022.- The Spanish Guardia Civil has recently incorporated two units of the aunav.NEO explosives deactivation robot, destined for the Explosives Deactivation and CBRN Defence Service (SEDEX). Manufactured at aunav's facilities in Aragón, Spain, the platforms will be used in international peace missions involving members of the Guardia Civil.

The aunav.NEO is the latest and most advanced development from aunav, a brand specialised in robotic solutions for Defence and Security. It is unique on the market with its variable geometry system, making it possible to increase and decrease the width of the robot during missions to adapt to different operating environments. It is also the lightest and most versatile model in the company's line-up.

Each of the units supplied to the Guardia Civil includes a UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle) platform, an articulated robotic arm, vision and communications modules and the company's new portable control unit, the aunav.ROCS, which has significantly reduced its weight and dimensions compared to previous devices. The robot is prepared for handling suspicious packages and opening and accessing different types of vehicles.

 ¨We have been working with the TEDAX of the Guardia Civil for two decades, and we are very proud of their continued reliance on our products", said Pablo Vázquez, general director of aunav, who stressed that "we consider our Security Forces and Corps' trust in us to be aunav's most valuable asset".

Specifically with regards to the aunav.NEO, Pablo Vázquez highlighted "its great versatility and the important technological leap it represents. It's the result of aunav's extensive experience in explosive deactivation and robotic engineering, as well as the close work with customers to improve our products".

The EDIDP’s CBRN Reconnaissance and Surveillance System project has been selected by the European commission

Aiming at improving European capabilities for Chemical, Biological Radiological and Nuclear risk detection, early warning and surveillance, the CBRN RSS project brings together technologies from 15 EU institutes and companies, including Bertin.

Led by the Austrian Institute of Technology, the project of the European Defence Industrial Development Programme is implementing a concept based on unmanned systems with modular payloads, that can adapt to each type of CBRN threat.

The CBRN RSS project will provide users with greater flexibility and modularity thanks to numerous sensors, samplers, and platforms that will transfer the information collected to a remote control and command system. This report will be then forwarded to decision-making bodies in a standard NATO format, thus deepening threat understanding and enhancing  responsiveness, while ensuring operators’ maximum safety.

Bertin Technologies is contributing to the CBRN RSS project with three detection and sampling instruments: biological air sampler Coriolis Compact for air safety monitoring, stand-off gas cloud detector Second Sight MS, and a new UAV capable gas sampler.

Including a database of 50 gases, this highly sophisticated camera can detect and identify Toxic Industrial Components (TIC) and Chemical Warfare Agents (CWA) up to 5km, with the widest field of view. The Second Sight MS also distinguishes itself by its unique gas-X feature, to detect unknown, impure or mixed gases that are not registered in the database.

As for the Coriolis Compact, it is a dry cyclonic air sampler developed with the French Defense Procurement Agency (Direction Générale de l’Armement DGA). Due to its small footprint, this all-terrain microbiological air sampler can be integrated into the smallest autonomous equipment such as EDIDP’s CBRN Reconnaissance and Surveillance system, to detect potential pathogens.

Thanks to support from the DGA and the collaboration of all parties involved, this project is a first step toward a European modular and responsive CBRN reconnaissance and surveillance system that will significantly improve population protection.

* European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP)

The Latvian National Armed Forces has awarded a contract to Avon Protection for supply of their market leading CBRN respiratory protection including FM50 mask systems, filters, spares and accessories.  

Latvia joins other NATO Nations and Partners including Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Norway and The Netherlands in purchasing the FM50 to protect their armed forces. In 2020, the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) awarded Avon Protection a 10-year contract to supply a complete CBRN personal respirator system. Since the contract award Avon Protection has received orders for over 200,000 masks and has successfully delivered world class training on the system to users across NATO.

Today, over 3.5 million users rely on Avon Protection products that have been developed to counter the multitude of CBRN threats in modern conflict, anti-terrorist and peace-keeping operations. The FM50 product range, as deployed through the NSPA contract, is the most operationally proven and widely deployed armed forces respirator in the world.  

Commenting, Steve Elwell, Vice President at Avon Protection, said: “We are proud to continue supporting NATO in enhancing CBRN capability and enabling greater interoperability among coalition nations. The growth of both new partners to the framework such as Latvia and increasing deployment of capability to existing partners demonstrates the continued confidence and reliance on Avon Protection to supply products of the highest quality and performance to protect armed forces around the world.”

Originally published by Yale School of Health

Masks, physical distancing, good hygiene, and ventilation can help reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in public places. But even when these measures are taken, scientists have sometimes detected SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in indoor settings.

Now, Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) researchers have developed a passive air sampler clip that can help assess whether a person has been exposed to SARS-CoV-2, which could be especially helpful for workers in high-risk settings, such as health care facilities and restaurants. The device is described in the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters.

“The Fresh Air Clip is a wearable device that can be used to assess exposure to SARS-CoV-2 in the air,” said the clip’s creator Krystal Godri Pollitt, an assistant professor of epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences) at YSPH and an assistant professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale.

“With this clip we can detect low levels of virus that are well below the estimated SARS-CoV-2 infectious dose,” Godri Pollitt said. “The Fresh Air clip serves to identify exposure events early, alerting people to get tested or quarantine. The clip is intended to help prevent viral spread, which can occur when people do not have this kind of early detection of exposure.”

COVID-19 is primarily transmitted through the inhalation of virus-laden aerosols and respiratory droplets that infected individuals expel by coughing, sneezing, speaking or breathing. Researchers have used active air sampling devices to detect airborne SARS-CoV-2 in indoor settings; however, these monitors are typically large, expensive, non-portable, and require electricity. To better understand personal exposures to the virus, Godri Pollitt and her colleagues sought to develop a small, lightweight, inexpensive, and wearable device that doesn’t require a power source. The Fresh Air Clip was the result.

The device captures virus-laden aerosols that deposit on a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface. The team tested the air sampler in a rotating drum in which they generated aerosols containing a surrogate virus, a bacteriophage with similar properties to SARS-CoV-2. They detected virus on the PDMS sampler using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) protocol, showing that the device could be used to reliably estimate airborne virus concentrations.

In further testing, the researchers distributed Fresh Air Clips to 62 volunteers, who wore the monitors for five days. PCR analysis of the clips detected SARS-CoV-2 RNA in five of the clips: Four were worn by restaurant servers and one by a homeless shelter staff person. The highest viral loads (more than 100 RNA copies per clip) were detected in two badges from restaurant servers. These results indicate that the Fresh Air Clip could serve as a semiquantitative screening tool for assessing personal exposure to SARS-CoV-2, and also help identify high-risk areas for indoor exposure, the researchers report in their study.

“The Fresh Air Clips are easy-to-use, non-invasive, and low-cost,” Godri Pollitt said. “These features make it easier to scale-up this kind of exposure monitoring for COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses so that the clips can be made available across larger groups of workers in high-risk jobs, such as restaurant servers, health care workers, and teachers.”

The Fresh Air Clip is currently being used in other research projects. Godri Pollitt said she hopes to make the clips available to the public in the future.

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Rothberg Fund. Dr. Jodi Sherman, associate professor of anesthesiology and of epidemiology (Environmental Health Sciences) at Yale and Jordan Peccia, Yale’s Thomas E. Golden Jr. Professor of Chemical & Environmental Engineering, were co-investigators on the NSF grant supporting this research. Yale doctoral student Darryl Angel and postdoctoral associate Dong Gao were co-first authors on the paper.

In the last quarter of 2021, Environics have opened a new regional office strategically located in Beijing, more precisely in Haidian district. Together with a local sales team headed by Sales Manager Yuchao Xiong, the aim was to strengthen Environics presence and foster new business opportunities in the China CBRN market.

Environics start the year of 2022 with a positive sight, having already established cooperation with two local partners focused on rescue and on public security industries. These partnerships are targeted at providing better services for relevant Chinese organizations in these fields. Furthermore, they have already receied the first order of new generation handheld detectors via one of their new loacl dealers. 

Since 1998, Environics has delivered more than 1,600 chemical detectors to China Civil Defense Organizations. Environics chemical detectors are currently in use in Beijing & Shanghai metro stations.

China Civil Defense Organizations
Fire, wild, and work safety rescue teams are the main components of China’s rescue forces, with a total of more than 450,000 members, responsible for fire rescue, natural disaster rescue, traffic accident rescue, chemical accident rescue, among other duties. At the same time, the police force, with a total number of about 2 million, undertakes the responsibility of maintaining public security and preventing and combating terrorist activities.

Environics CBRN Solutions, will help continuing to tackle emerging and evolving chemical hazards in Chinese territory.

Argon Electronics (UK) Ltd. has launched a training simulator for the Mirion AccuRad PRD. Developed jointly with Mirion Technologies, the AccuRad-SIM is the latest simulator product to be created using Argon’s ground-breaking highly realistic Gamma simulation technology.

The Accurad-SIM incorporates all of the features of the actual detector including the highly innovative Radar search capability. Trend monitoring and all user interface features are also simulated and integration with all Mirion AcuRad software applications is maintained.

Accurad-SIM simulates the effects of shielding and inverse square law response and permits highly realistic search and monitoring training scenarios to be implemented in complete safety without the need to use radiological sources of safety personnel.

Compatibility with other Argon simulated radiation detectors and also PlumeSIM permits multi agency multi detector exercises to take place with ease.

Steven Pike, Argon’s Managing Director exclaimed “The creation of AccuRad-SIM is the latest in a series of simulator products that Argon has created for Mirion product and we are especially proud of the short development timescale achieved which is testament to the superb cooperation between the Mirion and Argon product and engineering teams.”

The Home Team is looking to deploy Rover-X, a four-legged robotic dog, for missions that are highly risky, and to partner frontline officers in their security patrols. Rover-X is developed jointly by HTX (Home Team Science and Technology Agency) in collaboration with Klass Engineering and Solutions, Ghost Robotics and A*STAR’s Institute for Infocomm Research (I²R).

Saving Lives and Properties

A case in point is leakage of hazardous materials in a chemical plant. Rather than sending emergency responders from the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) inside the plant and exposing them to the hazardous material (HazMat), Rover-X can be deployed instead. Equipped with sensors and cameras, Rover-X can navigate the plant autonomously and send vital information to a remote command-and-control station (the HazMat Control Vehicle) manned by SCDF officers. The information will enable the SCDF officers to understand the situation within the plant without entering the premises, and make informed decisions on how best to manage the incident.

Lieutenant-Colonel (LTC) Kenneth Mak from SCDF’s HazMat Department said, “SCDF’s HazMat specialists operate in dynamic and risky environments. The deployment of Rover-X instead of our responders in the heart of high-risk areas will improve safety for our people. Combined with the robot’s advanced detection and monitoring capabilities, SCDF can manage HazMat incidents more effectively and safely.”

Rover-X can also be used to support disaster rescue efforts, and in routine chemical plant inspections to capture visuals of the plant as well as to pick up any visual anomalies or gas leakages.

Rover-X’s special capabilities are as follows:

• Sensors and operating modes that enable it to navigate autonomously with minimal human intervention.
• Legged-locomotion and sensors for footstep planning to navigate stairs, kerbs and other terrains that are challenging for traditional robots on tracks or wheels.
• Functional payloads such as cameras, thermal imagers and gas sensors that can detect and measure the concentration level of gases.
• Machine vision and onboard video analytics to obtain insights about Rover-X’s surroundings.

Cheng Wee Kiang, Director of HTX’s Robotics, Automation & Unmanned Systems Centre of Expertise (RAUS CoE), said, “The development of Rover-X will transform the way homeland security operations are carried out in the future. This is part of the robotics strategy that HTX is helming, in partnership with the rest of the Home Team. Rover-X adds to HTX’s array of ground robots and offers different mobility options and payloads to support diverse homeland security operations. Its deployment will enable the Home Team to achieve enhanced efficiency and effectiveness.”

Enhancing Public Safety and Security

“Rover-X started out as a robotic dog for search and rescue operations,” said Ong Ka Hing, Deputy Director (Ground Systems), RAUS CoE, “and we have now broadened its application within the Home Team. Our engineers worked closely with the frontline officers to understand their operations and unique requirements, and rigorously tested out many iterations to design and deliver the capabilities that they need.”

Rover-X's ability to follow an officer on patrol and constantly scan the environment for threats also makes it a potential operational partner for frontline officers of the Singapore Police Force (SPF). Using its video analytics capabilities, Rover-X can detect people in unauthorised areas, as well as look out for unattended baggage. Rover-X can also conduct security patrols independently. With its vigilant scanning and on-board video analytics capabilities, early warning can be provided to SPF on potential threats and enable SPF to respond more promptly.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Lim Jim Kai, of the Future Operations and Planning Department (FOPD) in the Singapore Police Force (SPF), said, "Rover-X can increase the operational effectiveness of SPF. As a frontline partner to Police officers, its ability to detect threats early allows our officers to be better prepared against aggression and violence. Coupled with autonomous navigation and on-board video analytics capabilities, Rover-X can patrol establishments independently. This will allow Police officers to focus on more critical tasks and be more effective in our security duties."

Common Robotics Dashboard

To further strengthen the Home Team’s robotics and automation capabilities, HTX is also developing a common robotics dashboard to enable Home Team officers to monitor and operate a fleet of different robots simultaneously from a command-and-control centre.

The first prototype of the common robotics dashboard is being trialled by the Singapore Police Force (SPF) at Toa Payoh Transport Hub from 17 to 28 Jan 2022. Police officers are using the dashboard to control multiple Multi-purpose All-Terrain Autonomous Robots (M.A.T.A.R.) deployed to patrol the grounds. This trial will enable the Police to simulate different scenarios faced by M.A.T.A.R., such as detection of anomalies, and responses such as dispersing a crowd and responding to the anomaly events.

DSP Lim said, "The common robotics dashboard will better enable us to deploy and operate M.A.T.A.R. as force multipliers. It allows a single operator to have control over multiple frontline robots. ”The common robotics dashboard is developed by HTX in partnership with NCS and A*STAR’s I²R to handle multi-robot operations. It will enable the Home Team to scale up its fleet of robots in future without the need to correspondingly increase manpower to operate them.

Destruction of the U.S. chemical weapons stockpile located in two states has reached the 75% completion mark, with a combined total of more than 2,352 U.S. tons of chemical agent destroyed as of Jan. 14, 2022.

For the final push to destroy the remaining stockpile at the Pueblo Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (PCAPP) static detonation chamberswill be used, a form of incineration that represents a change, including additional environmental permitting, in how stockpiles are being destroyed. If emissions tests come within ranges acceptable to state officials, the detonation chambers will help keep the country on track to eliminate the weapons before a congressionally-mandated deadline at the end of 2023. 

Throughout the disposal projects at Pueblo, and the Blue Grass Chemical Agent-Destruction Pilot Plant (BGCAPP), robots have been used to help dismantle the weapons in a process where shells are opened, bursters neutralized, and the steel is recycled. The mustard agent goes to a reactor and is rendered into thiodiglycol, a chemical compound then consumed by microbes in a closed sewage system. The final product is a kind of contaminated salt that then goes to a landfill. 

This process, used only on shells, does not work as efficiently and safely on mortar weapons. The static detonation chambers, or SDCs, are better-equipped to handle them, as well as any leaking or otherwise problematic shells that pose a threat to workers and plant operations. The chambers have fallen under the scrutiny of citizen watchdogs as they were not part of initial destruction plans in Pueblo. The site has faced scrutiny from the public for environmental and health concerns for decades.

“We have said from the very beginning of this program, ‘No, we don't want incineration,’” said Irene Kornelly, a member of the Colorado Chemical Demilitarization Citizens' Advisory Commission, which closely follows the process of weapons destruction.

However, concerns over the use of SDCs at the site have been put to rest by state regulations, she said, adding that the commission is convinced the plan won’t be a threat to community health.

Teledyne Technologies has promoted an executive vice president for its defense business in Dr. JihFen Lei, who returned to the company last year after a stint leading the Pentagon’s science and technology enterprise.

She will be in charge of the effort to further realize product and market synergies out of Teledyne’s acquisition of FLIR that completed last year. Lei will continue to serve as general manager of the Teledyne FLIR Defense surveillance business she took the helm of last year, the company said Tuesday.

Teledyne FLIR Defense is the new name of the company’s defense technologies segment that comprises two businesses -- surveillance, and unmanned and integrated solutions.

Most recently at DOD, Lei was principal deputy and acting director of defense research and engineering. She is also a former director of NASA’s John Glenn Research Center.

Lei's elevation was not the only announcement out of Teledyne on Tuesday regarding executive roles.

David Cullin, former acting general manager of the “UIS” business, has been promoted to vice president and general manager and will report to Lei under the new organization. Cullin has led UIS on an acting basis since the fall, when its then-leader Roger Wells joined Mercury Systems as head of microelectronics.

A 17-year company veteran, Cullin’s career at Teledyne includes roles as general manager of FLIR’s detection business and chief technology officer for government systems. He joined FLIR in 2005 after nearly two decades in government including the Defense Department.

Emirati police say a suspected drone attack may have sparked an explosion that engulfed three oil tankers in Abu Dhabi and another fire at an extension of Abu Dhabi International Airport that killed three people and wounded six.

A suspected drone attack by Houthi rebels targeting a key oil facility in Abu Dhabi killed three people and sparked a separate fire at Abu Dhabi's international airport on Monday January 17th 2022.

Police in the United Arab Emirates identified the dead as two Indian nationals and one Pakistani. It did not identify the wounded, who police said suffered minor to moderate injuries at an industrial area where Abu Dhabi's state-owned energy company runs a pipeline network and an oil tanker storage facility.

Police have said that while an investigation is underway, preliminary findings have indicated that there were small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas and may have caused the explosions and fire. 

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have claimed they were behind an attack targeting the United Arab Emirates on Monday, without immediately elaborating. The Iranian-backed Houthis have claimed several attacks that Emirati officials later denied took place.

A package of radioactive medicines was found in the street by a member of the public after being lost in transit between two London hospitals.

The item, containing radiopharmaceuticals, is thought to have not been secured properly in the vehicle and, after coming loose, it came into contact with an internal door release and fell out during the approximately hour-long journey.

Radiopharmaceuticals are radioactive medicines commonly used for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases including cancer, and are routinely transported to medical facilities across the country.

The package was lost while being moved between Siemens’ Mount Vernon Hospital in London and London Bridge Hospital in September.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation, which has since served an improvement notice on Siemens Healthcare Limited, said there was no risk to the member of the public or harm to the environment from the undamaged package.

The person who found it is said to have “quickly” contacted Siemens Healthcare to collect it, but no duration for how long the package was missing was given.

It is understood such an incident is relatively rare.

The ONR said its investigation into what happened found shortfalls in Siemens Healthcare’s radiation risk assessment for the transport of the material, and said the company did not have appropriate plans in place to respond to the loss of the material.

An improvement notice was issued under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

The ONR said Siemens Healthcare has made progress in improving its arrangements since the incident, but added more work is needed and that the notice must be complied with by January 21 next year.

Scientists from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and three other institutions are seeking to develop a multi-pathogen vaccine that will protect against three bacterial biothreat pathogens.