Special operations forces pursue technologies for the urban fight.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana

The U.S. Special Operations Command is charging ahead with the development of advanced sensors, ammunition and weapons tailored for urban combat.

Confined spaces, hardened targets and night vision limitations are among the more critical factors driving this effort, said Army Col. Thomas Spellissy, formerly in charge of special programs at the command.

The command is evaluating existing technologies from domestic and foreign producers, and commissioning separate developments for more specific requirements. Regardless of the sources, all these technologies first have to pass muster with war fighters, said Spellissy.

The paramount area is fusion technology as it relates to night vision goggles and weapon sights. The so-called sensor-fusion technology combines image intensification, found in conventional night vision goggles, with thermal sensors, or forward-looking infrared, into a single image.

SOCOM intends to field fusion goggles next year, Spellissy said at a recent National Defense Industrial Association international armaments symposium.

"We are working on it, and we will have it by the end of fiscal year 2005," he said.

SOCOM has a new sniper scope under development, which shooters no longer need to reset, or "re-zero," at night. "This is the best piece of kit out in the field," he said about the improved night/day fire control and observation device that is produced by ITT Industries.

SOCOM wants fusion technology to be added during the scope's second and third development blocks, said Spellissy. The AN/PAS 13 thermal weapon sight, developed by Raytheon, also will have this advanced capability, according to his presentation.

Meanwhile, the command also plans to assemble a fusion equipment package to share with the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.

In addition, sensor fusion is making its way into one of SOCOM's most pressing projects--the development of a target designator to avoid fratricide. Called the precision target locator designator, it is meant for ground operators to acquire data for targeting global-positioning system satellite-guided and laser-guided munitions. The device must be able to transfer information directly to overhead platforms.

"We have classified [specifications], but we want a target range finder, laser designator with the latest optics to include fusion and to go out to a specified range and be able to geo-locate," said Spellissy. "No man [made] mistake should go through."

Spellissy said that the...