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While modernization in capability development can be a gradual and time-consuming process, it is essential to keep pace with up-to-the-minute technology and evolving threats. Stagnancy is too great a risk to warfighters’ lives. This is why the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) is committed to continuously refining and modernizing capabilities to ensure their effectiveness in CBRN-contested environments. These upgrades require keeping pace with advances in technology and integrating those improvements in the capabilities to keep warfighters safe and ready.
An example of this modernization can be found in the most recent, final testing of the Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) Sensor Suite Upgrade (SSU), or the NBCRV SSU, which resulted in a contract with Teledyne FLIR and will soon bring much-improved CBRN defense vehicle upgrades to warfighters.
The NBCRV SSU program intends to modernize the current Army Stryker NBCRV—a high-speed armored fighting vehicle—to address chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear (CBRN) threats on the battlefield. The upgrades will improve maintainability, reliability, and remote maneuverability from threats by including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), modular mission payload (a system where different equipment components can be easily swapped or added to a platform), a data processing unit, and more.
When the sensor suite upgrade kicked off in 2018, the development team set three goals: create a standalone package, introduce the ability to perform remote detection, and ensure improvement to reliability and mobility. The upgrade consisted of CBRN sensor capabilities that include detection, identification, digital mapping, and alerting of toxic industrial and chemical weapons vapors. This marked a shift in how the Army approached CBRN threat detection on the battlefield and served as a first step toward incorporating integrated early warning on the move.
Over the past six years, the NBCRV SSU program has incrementally improved capability and readiness of the enduring NBCRV Sensor system drawing from lessons learned and warfighter feedback. These improvements include equipment with command and control from a single application; reduced size, weight, and power consumption; improved reliability, maintainability, interoperability; and developing appropriate training for the system due to employment tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) being vastly different from the legacy system. Prior to the SSU, the NBCRV was required to enter and operate in CBRN contested environments.
Today, however, the NBCRV SSU has the capability to deploy standoff sensors or two Unmanned Aeriel Vehicles (UAVs) to survey an area of interest and detect any CBRN threats from a distance, enabling freedom of maneuver and adding a layer of safety for warfighters. The mission crew monitors, commands, and controls the sensors and unmanned systems, reporting critical information to the Tactical Operations Center (TOC). The CBRN officer analyzes the data and advises the Commander who makes the final decision for mission crew to don the proper protective gear and proceed or alter their route as conditions warrant. These improved monitoring and detection capabilities continue to enhance combat power through freedom of maneuver, timely information for decision makers, and, ultimately, a reduction in threat exposure or casualties.
When it comes to modernization, data plays a major role in NBCRV SSU’s ability to remain agile in CBRN environments. The Open Architecture Data Management System (OADMS), managed by a team at Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, provides real-time analytics and feeds into a larger battlefield common operating picture during NBVRV SSU testing. The system supports data acquisition, storage, transfer, and evaluation by layered visualization of NBCRV and the refereed system that simulates various driving scenarios. Such tools allow evaluators to assess performance of a CBRN system, based upon data collected, displayed, and stored within OADMS. Consequently, its use during testing ensures accurate performance data collection and evaluation of the system under test.
While the earliest goals of the NBCRV SSU’s development team have been achieved, it doesn’t stop there. The JPEO-CBRND’s modernization efforts continue with the fielding of the first Vehicle Integrated Platform Enhanced Radiation (VIPER) detection, indication, and computation systems to be integrated into NBCRV SSU. VIPER is an internal point sensor that provides warning and situational awareness to vehicle crews and is tailored for radiological-nuclear environments. Incorporating the VIPER sensors into the NBCRV SSU enhances additional detection capabilities for the vehicle and integrates seamlessly with the data and outputs. Since the NBCRV SSU is the first platform integrating the VIPER and a proof-of-concept for the JPEO-CBRND’s JPM CBRN Sensors team, they are eager to continue expanding implementation of the important and novel compact radiological and nuclear detection device onto other ground and air platforms within the Army.
Modernization of CBRN sensors capabilities and the information landscape they help provide is a continuous effort. The JPEO-CBRND's P.A.I.D. U.P. philosophy means delivering these critical capabilities requires an agile and iterative process without a hard “finish line.” These JPEO-CBRND acquisition professionals and their partners are committed to advancing the CBRN modernization needs of the future fight and delivering state-of-the-art, refined CBRN defense capabilities to protect our warfighters.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2025 16:55 |
| Story ID: | 489139 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 110 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Stryking a Path Forward with Sensor Suite Upgrades: Modernizing the Stryker NBCRV, by Vashelle Nino, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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