Major advances predicted for defense technologies.

• Author: Kennedy, Harold
• Position: Research And Development

Technological innovations targeted for military use also will have broad applications for homeland defense over the next decade, according to a panel of experts convened recently by the Battelle Memorial Institute, in Columbus, Ohio.

The panel forecast major advances in such fields as information and intelligence management, renewable energy sources, non-lethal weapons, detection and tracking systems, medical inoculations, cybernetics, individual warning devices, deployment and mobility, building safety, and military clothing and equipment.

"The result will be a transformation of U.S. national security over the next 10 years," said retired Marine Gen. Charles E. Wilhelm, Battelle's vice president for homeland security. Wilhelm previously served as head of the U.S. Southern Command, where he was responsible for all of the nation's military activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

"After 9/11, we no longer can draw boundaries between conducting military operations overseas and protecting U.S. citizens at home," he told National Defense. "We need innovative technologies that will do both."

To identify the 10 most promising dei'bnserelated technologies, Battelle assembled a group of science, technology and defense experts.

"Within about 90 minutes, we came up with about 150 candidates," said retired Vice Adm. Dennis V. McGinn, chief of Battelle's strategic planning. McGinn--a former Navy fighter pilot--stepped down last year as deputy chief of naval operations for warfare requirements.

"We found that [the 150] were all variations on a few themes," McGinn said. "We boiled them down to 30 concepts, then to 10." They included:

Information and intelligence management. In another 10 years, computer systems will be so powerful, accessible and easy to use that commanders will be able to get information precisely when and where they need it, creating in effect "knowledge warriors," the panel said.

Advanced sensors and reliable networks will provide enormous amounts of real-time information about security threats. Software programs, using "intelligent agents," will integrate vast amounts of data into patterns and displays allowing commanders to make quick mad effective decisions.

New information technologies will take advantage of rapid progress being made in sensors, data routing, data mining, high-speed computing, expert systems and displays. "We're going to need artificial help to put information together in a coherent and timely way," Wilhelm said.

First responders also need this technology, said McGinn. "They need to know: Should they enter the building? What floors are safe? Where are the entrances and the escape...