NATO EXPLOSIVE ORDNANCE DISPOSAL CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE EOD Live Demonstrations, INCHEBA EXPO Centre, Bratislava, Slovak Republic 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Summary 2. Background 3. Event Outline 3.1. Live Demonstrations 3.2. Static Exhibitions 3.3. Senior Military Leaders Seminar 3.4. Conference 4. Outputs 4.1. Considerations 4.2. Final words 5. Specification 6. Abbreviations used 2 1. Summary The NATO EOD Demonstrations and Trials 2018 (D&T18) took place in Bratislava, Slovakia from 19 – 20 September 2018. The purpose of D&T18 was to develop knowledge and broaden experience among EOD, C-IED and MILENG communities of interest. Organizing this event once every two years is already a tradition, one of the successful projects of DAT POW. This time, the event was organized by NATO EOD COE, Slovakia, in cooperation with NATO MILENG COE, Germany and NATO C-IED COE, Spain under the auspices and sponsorship of the NATO Emerging Security Challenges Division, supported by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) of the Slovak Republic and Counter- IED Report as a media partner. The leading theme of 2018 year’s event was “Multidisciplinary approach to EOD” as a challenge for the NATO and Partners Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) coming from different EOD and related domains, academia, industry and other organizations involved in the fight against terrorism. Bringing together all these important security providers is considered as a receipt of success for the DAT POW. Equally important is the fact that it provided the favorable organizational framework to discuss, deepen and clarify certain aspects, identify some gaps or threats related to the specific EOD activities and to foresee possible ways ahead. Opening Ceremony ‐ Cutting of a ribbon (from left to right) ‐ H.E. Radovan JAVORČÍK, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to NATO, Peter GAJDOŠ, Minister of Defence (SVK), LTG Daniel ZMEKO, Chief of Defence (SVK), COL Róbert CSÁSZÁR, Director of NATO EOD COE. 3 D&T18 was organized as a two-day event. All activities during D&T18 took place at the INCHEBA EXPO Centre, Bratislava, Slovakia. The first day after the opening ceremony offered to visitors and guests the opportunity to visit the booths of various exhibitors from industry and academia. These have been complemented by live or screen demonstrations of the latest technological achievements. The second day was designated to the conference, the initiation of discussions with focus on Multidisciplinary approach to EOD. Participants had the opportunity to familiarize with the nowadays capabilities of the EOD, C-IED and MILENG equipment, including the new techniques, procedures and technologies developed for protecting the forces or population. The scientists, producers and experts also presented the current and future trends in the development of new EOD, C-IED and MILENG devices/tools. More than 150 experts (SMEs, guests) from 15 countries (Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the USA) took part in D&T18. More than 200 visitors witnessed static exhibitions and live demonstrations provided by exhibitors from 17 NATO and Partner countries. Welcoming Address – H.E. Radovan JAVORČÍK, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic to NATO 4 2. Background The NATO Explosive Ordnance Disposal Centre of Excellence provides expertise in the field of EOD to NATO and Partner countries and also: supports NATO operation in the field of explosive ordnance disposal by improving interoperability and cooperation between NATO member countries, Partner countries, international organizations and the NATO entities - like NCS, NFS, schools, ... trains and educates staff officers and specialist in the field of EOD offers recognized expertise and experience. Therefore, as a logical consequence, since 2010 the NATO EOD COE took over the responsibility for organizing the series of NATO EOD Demonstrations and Trials. Later on, in 2016, NATO C-IED COE was invited to co-organize the event with NATO EOD COE. This year NATO MILENG COE joined the two Centers of Excellence in co- organizing the D&T18. First NATO EOD Demonstration and Trials was organized in Trencin, Slovakia. Since then the event has been organized every second year under different theme: “Detection – a unified effort of involved parties to defeat new emerging threats and protect human life and environment” in 2012, “New technologies – assistance and limitation of the EOD in post-ISAF era” in 2014, “Protection as complex and composite responses to terrorist threat” in 2016, and “Multidisciplinary approach to EOD“ in 2018. Since 2015 the D&T is conducted in harmonization with C-IED Technology Workshop – another DAT POW Project, led by NATO C-IED COE. As such the two projects are regularly conducted, having only one Project per year. Organizing of biennial events for experts from industry and military as EOD and C-IED conferences, demonstrations and trials has become an excellent tradition which helps entire EOD and C-IED related community to better understand each other, exchange the latest information and increase the cooperation. Thanks to these activities we can now define new possible ways of progress, especially via new research focused on EOD and C-IED technology development and later through the integration of new EOD and C-IED TTPs in training and operations. 5 3. Event Outline 3.1. Live Demonstrations Live Demonstrations are an integral part of Demonstrations and Trials exhibitions as it offers to companies the opportunity to present the functionality of their products in simulated, or real life conditions. Due to the limited resources and limitations incurred by the INCHEBA EXPO Centre, the exhibitors could use only the indoor area to demonstrate their products` capabilities. Therefore, several functionalities of some EOD equipment were impossible to be performed. There was no possibility to use any pyrotechnical tools and no possibility to “shoot” live X-ray images. Despite these limitations a total number of 15 companies from 10 countries participated in the Live Demonstrations and introduced their latest product developments. The presented products can be broken down into following categories: Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROV) The ROV is an essential part of the EOD Operator tool kit. However, the year 2018 was relatively modest in terms of ROV demonstrations. Only 3 companies presented their products. If we compare the ROVs that performed their Live Demonstrations to those in 2016, we can see improvements in flexibility (ROVs compatible with large spectrum of EOD/CBRN tools), battery operation time and user friendliness to the operator. We could also see a unique feature on Caliber MK3 by ICOR which has a separate arm for disruptors (Dual arm configuration). 6 Detection and Identification The ability to detect threats is absolutely vital to any force facing IEDs in their area of operations. Further identification of IED`s components is extremely valuable to the EOD operator, so that he can plan his disposal procedure. Altogether, 9 companies demonstrated their latest tools that can aid the operator to Detect and Identify explosive or CBRN threats in the operational environment. We could see improvements in the already established technologies (X-Ray, Spectroscopy, Mass Spectrometry, Magnetometry). The tools are faster, more flexible, more accurate and easier to use. There were also some innovative solutions. Sensys Sensorik has shown how an operator can utilize Unmanned Areal Vehicles to obtain a very accurate Magnetometric survey from a safe distance. EBINGER presented a detector that will not trigger IEDs with magnetic switches due to its non-magnetic signature. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) The Bomb Suit is another crucial piece of equipment for an EOD operator. The latest models presented by the Exhibitors are considerably lighter and more flexible, while increasing the level of protection for the Operator. There were also improvements in the cooling system, communication system and other accessories (e.g. voice command activation, battery pack flexibility). Another form of PPE we saw during the Live demonstrations was presented by SAFER. They developed a system combining a metal detector and electric stimulation that prevents a person from stepping on a mine or IED trigger with a metallic content. 7 Training Enhancement Realistic training can greatly improve performance in real life situations. During the Live Demonstrations the visitors were able to see two companies that addressed this aspect of EOD Operator`s preparation. DSA Detection emphasized the need to train with accurate ordnance replicas, as they make the training realistic and affordable. The progress in Virtual Reality and its potential use in training was presented by VRAI. Summary The Live Demonstrations presented a steady progress in technology applicable in the field of EOD. While there were no groundbreaking technologies, that would revolutionize the EOD approach, we could see several innovative ideas on how to merge existing technologies to maximize their effectiveness. Even small improvements in speed, ergonomy, reliability or user friendliness will make the job of EOD operator easier and at the end, it will contribute to saving of human lives. The table below shows the list of companies and a short description of their Demonstration. Company Country Demonstration Website name description NOVO DR Israel X-ray - Extremely https://www.novo-dr.com/ Lightweight System (starting from