Technology may help pilots see clouds from both sides now SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. (AP) =97 Air Force pilots will battle=20 familiar foes if there is a war in Iraq, and it won't just be Saddam=20 Hussein's forces. They will contend with clouds, dust and smoke =97=20 conditions that can obscure targets and potentially prevent them from=20 dropping bombs. In the Gulf War 11 years ago, smoke from oil fires, dust=20 and clouds hampered missions. Cloud cover in Kosovo in 1999 forced pilots= =20 to return from missions still carrying bombs. The story was the same in=20 Afghanistan. Now there might be a way to fix the age-old "fog of war"=20 problem. Airmen at Schriever Air Force Base are working with a company to= =20 develop a laser that can "see" through clouds and other cover, taking=20 clear, three-dimensional pictures of targets. It would allow pilots to=20 drop bombs when they otherwise might have to hold back. The pictures would= =20 also give nontechnical people such as diplomats convincing evidence of=20 targets. The project is called Combat Eye and is one of several being studied at the= =20 Space Battlelab, where a diverse 27-person crew works to figure out=20 problems facing troops in the field and provide solutions faster than=20 military red tape usually allows. The group includes a scientist with a doctorate, officers who staffed=20 nuclear missile silos, space experts, a munitions commander and a special=20 operations veteran. They work in offices inside a high-security, windowless= =20 building at Schriever Air Force Base, east of Colorado Springs. But Space= =20 Battlelab isn't looking to create the next fighter jet. The outfit trolls= =20 for projects, finding existing technology =97 often from small companies =97= =20 that can solve problems in the field quickly. It gets ideas from trade=20 shows, word of mouth and pitches from companies. The goal is to develop a= =20 project and hand it off for funding in two years or less. Typical military= =20 rules often mean five years or more before projects are delivered. The Air Force created the first battlelabs in 1997 to take advantage of=20 technology that moves much faster. The other six battlelabs study areas=20 such as information warfare and security and unmanned planes, which helped= =20 get drones in the air over Afghanistan. The Space Battlelab usually=20 focuses on satellite-related technology and taking photographs through=20 clouds could be the lab's biggest coup. Military leaders have grappled=20 with how to overcome smoke and other conditions for centuries. The United=20 States has radar that captures some images through cover, but Combat Eye=20 could serve up much better pictures. The device sends a burst of "ballistic photons" through clouds. Some get=20 through, bounce off the target, come back through the clouds and are=20 captured by a lens. Repeated shots are needed until an image is=20 captured. The device has been tested but not funded, so it's not likely to= =20 be ready for war in Iraq. Still, there's a chance. Military brass have pressed burgeoning technology into service before. For= =20 instance, the Global Positioning System wasn't fully operational in 1990 as= =20 the Persian Gulf War brewed. Commanders made GPS a priority, focusing=20 satellites on the Persian Gulf and rushing receivers to troops. It played a= =20 key role in the war, allowing U.S. land forces to navigate the featureless= =20 Iraqi desert. Fielding a system that can take pictures through clouds and other cover=20 could change combat as fundamentally as when technology allowed the United= =20 States to fight after the sun set, officials at the Space Battlelab=20 said. "We have opened up the night already," said Lt. Col. Bob Vozzola,=20 deputy commander of the battlelab. "This technology will help open up the=20 weather." In addition to Combat Eye, the lab is working with companies on projects=20 such as microsatellites that can be launched from the ground with a gun,=20 monitors to detect cloud cover to help telescopes connect with satellites=20 and blimps that could track battlefield action. "It's not just Buck=20 Rogers, way out there," Vozzola said of the lab's work. "It's real. It's=20 not just a dream." *************************************************** The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site/TnTisland.com Roj (Roger James) escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: www.tntisland.com Carib Brass Ctn site www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ Steel Expressions www.mts.net/~ejames/se/ Site of the Week: http://www.atlanticlng.com TnT Webdirectory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************