- Reaction score
- 64
- Points
- 530
http://www.canada.com/components/print.aspx?id=93797270-d22e-4084-8f8e-6e8fb97b019a
DND rushes to buy helmet beacons
'Urgent' order for 6,000 infrared devices designed to let ground forces be seen by pilots
Glen McGregor
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, September 07, 2006
In the aftermath of a deadly friendly-fire accident in Afghanistan, the Canadian military is making a rush order for thousands of infrared beacons that help ground troops be seen by allied aircraft.
A contract notice issued yesterday said the Department of National Defence has an "urgent requirement" for 1,000 infrared strobes and 5,000 infrared markers for use in Afghanistan.
DND was unable to say yesterday whether the Canadian troops strafed with cannon fire from U.S. A-10 jets near Kandahar early Monday were equipped with infrared-emitting units to make them more visible from the air.
One soldier, Pte. Mark Graham, was killed and 30 others injured in the accident, which occurred about 5:30 a.m. Afghanistan time, shortly after dawn. One report described weather conditions at the time as hazy.
Infrared strobes ordered by DND are typically used on military vehicles and can be seen with proper equipment from more than 25,000 feet above. The smaller infrared markers are attached to soldiers' helmets and are used to help them see each other when using night-vision goggles.
Like many modern combat aircraft, the low-flying A-10s used by the U.S. air force in Afghanistan are equipped with infrared targeting systems. The strobes would show up as bright flashing lights on an A-10's cockpit display.
Pilots could also see the strobes when wearing night-vision goggles.
Although there may been enough dawn light to see at the time of the accident, the A-10 pilots would likely have used their infrared systems, which can be superior to the naked eye even in daylight and particularly in poor weather.
"All the armed forces in the world are struggling with combat ID," said Alan Sarsons of Primex Project Management Ltd., the company that received the DND order. He called the infrared beacons "a very effective tool" in helping identify friendly forces.
Primex has sold infrared equipment to DND, but Mr. Sarsons didn't how many were available to troops currently in the field.
"This is biggest buy they have ever done," he said.
The contract notice published on the federal government's Merx electronic tendering system says the equipment will be used in Operation Archer, a Canadian mission in and around Kandahar.
In an interview with the Kansas City Star this week, an A-10 pilot flying in Afghanistan described the difficulty in identifying allied ground troops.
"At night, we have infrared cameras, and we can pick things out, (although) it is a little more difficult to pick out friendly people from enemy people at night," said Col. Anthony D. Johnson, a reservist who flies A-10s with the 442nd Fighter Wing.
Indeed, the same aircraft were the involved in another friendly-fire accident in July. One soldier was briefly hospitalized with a concussion when an A-10 dropped a laser-guided bomb on a Canadian position west of Kandahar -- in the same region where Pte. Graham was killed this week.
In another friendly-fire accident on a firing range near Kandahar in 2002, Canadian soldiers placed infrared glow sticks on the ground before they were bombed by U.S. fighter jets.
There was no sign that the F-16 pilots who mistook the Canadians for enemy forces were able to see the beacons --possibly because of their high altitude.
A DND official said yesterday it was too difficult to get more information on the use of infrared equipment in this week's accident because the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan are "swamped" by requests for information about ongoing operations.
DND rushes to buy helmet beacons
'Urgent' order for 6,000 infrared devices designed to let ground forces be seen by pilots
Glen McGregor
The Ottawa Citizen
Thursday, September 07, 2006
In the aftermath of a deadly friendly-fire accident in Afghanistan, the Canadian military is making a rush order for thousands of infrared beacons that help ground troops be seen by allied aircraft.
A contract notice issued yesterday said the Department of National Defence has an "urgent requirement" for 1,000 infrared strobes and 5,000 infrared markers for use in Afghanistan.
DND was unable to say yesterday whether the Canadian troops strafed with cannon fire from U.S. A-10 jets near Kandahar early Monday were equipped with infrared-emitting units to make them more visible from the air.
One soldier, Pte. Mark Graham, was killed and 30 others injured in the accident, which occurred about 5:30 a.m. Afghanistan time, shortly after dawn. One report described weather conditions at the time as hazy.
Infrared strobes ordered by DND are typically used on military vehicles and can be seen with proper equipment from more than 25,000 feet above. The smaller infrared markers are attached to soldiers' helmets and are used to help them see each other when using night-vision goggles.
Like many modern combat aircraft, the low-flying A-10s used by the U.S. air force in Afghanistan are equipped with infrared targeting systems. The strobes would show up as bright flashing lights on an A-10's cockpit display.
Pilots could also see the strobes when wearing night-vision goggles.
Although there may been enough dawn light to see at the time of the accident, the A-10 pilots would likely have used their infrared systems, which can be superior to the naked eye even in daylight and particularly in poor weather.
"All the armed forces in the world are struggling with combat ID," said Alan Sarsons of Primex Project Management Ltd., the company that received the DND order. He called the infrared beacons "a very effective tool" in helping identify friendly forces.
Primex has sold infrared equipment to DND, but Mr. Sarsons didn't how many were available to troops currently in the field.
"This is biggest buy they have ever done," he said.
The contract notice published on the federal government's Merx electronic tendering system says the equipment will be used in Operation Archer, a Canadian mission in and around Kandahar.
In an interview with the Kansas City Star this week, an A-10 pilot flying in Afghanistan described the difficulty in identifying allied ground troops.
"At night, we have infrared cameras, and we can pick things out, (although) it is a little more difficult to pick out friendly people from enemy people at night," said Col. Anthony D. Johnson, a reservist who flies A-10s with the 442nd Fighter Wing.
Indeed, the same aircraft were the involved in another friendly-fire accident in July. One soldier was briefly hospitalized with a concussion when an A-10 dropped a laser-guided bomb on a Canadian position west of Kandahar -- in the same region where Pte. Graham was killed this week.
In another friendly-fire accident on a firing range near Kandahar in 2002, Canadian soldiers placed infrared glow sticks on the ground before they were bombed by U.S. fighter jets.
There was no sign that the F-16 pilots who mistook the Canadians for enemy forces were able to see the beacons --possibly because of their high altitude.
A DND official said yesterday it was too difficult to get more information on the use of infrared equipment in this week's accident because the Canadian Forces in Afghanistan are "swamped" by requests for information about ongoing operations.
