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fense [OSD] agencies, the national laboratories, Federal funded research and development centers [FFRDC's] and industry that may also have countermine application. Both of these studies have been conducted in consideration of the threat, the mission in Bosnia, the maturity of the technology that is being looked at, the training and supportability requirement that may be necessary in order to employ that technology in theater. We will be reviewing the outcome of both of these efforts within the next 7 to 10 days and making appropriate recommendations to Dr. Kaminsky and the Joint Staff. În order to provide you with an understanding of how the DOD science and technology activities address and may apply to the countermine needs, I will be followed by Mr. George Singley, Deputy Director of Research and Engineering, who will discuss the Department's plans for future countermine technologies.

He will be followed by Dr. Fenner Milton from the Office of the Secretary of the Army, who will address the Army efforts to respond the technological challenge of mine countermeasure operations.

General Beauchamp from the Army Materiel Command will provide an overview of their activities in the fielding of support ability of Army countermine systems.

Mr. Reingruber, of the Office of Low Intensity Conflict, will address the Department's demining capabilities.

Our last witness, who is not from the Department of Defense but from the National Research Council, is Dr. Mike Dow.

Once again, I want to thank you for the opportunity to be here today. I hope the information we provide will lead you to conclude we are doing everything possible to provide our forces with the most effective countermine technology and systems available; that our activities are closely coordinated across the Department of Defense, from research through acquisition; and that we have established a procedure that will permit us to respond to critical needs and take advantage of technical breakthroughs. With your continued interest and support, we can ensure our forces are equipped with the most advanced and relevant technologies and are properly trained to maximize their potential.

[The prepared statement of Mr. Bachkosky follows:]

25-974 96-3

Mister Chairman, Members of the Subcommittees, and Staff, thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today. I want to discuss our technology efforts in response to the landmine threat in Bosnia. It gives me particular pleasure to appear together with my associates, each of whom are key individuals in our coordinated effort to identify new technologies which could be developed and potentially procured in order to improve countermine capabilities of both U.S. Forces participating in Operation Joint Endeavor in Bosnia and, additionally, might support future Bosnia-like operations. It is clear to all of us that the mine threat in Bosnia represents a significant operational and technical challenge.

As the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Advanced Technology I am specifically charged with assuming responsibility for oversight of Advanced Technology Development Programs designated for exceptional management attention because they represent technologies which might be of significant value in addressing needs. In accomplishing this task I coordinate and work closely with the Joint Staff, the Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC), the Unified Military Commanders, individual Military Service operational and science and technology leaders and the key Department of Defense research and technology agencies such as the Advanced Research Projects Agency.

I employ the Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration (ACTD) process to accomplish my responsibilities. Established in 1994, the ACTD process is

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playing a significant role in revolutionizing the DoD technology transition process and in ensuring the Department can respond quickly and effectively to today's dynamic military needs. ACTDs are designed to rapidly transition promising mature technology from developers to operational users. Each ACTD represents a close teaming between both the technological and operational communities of the Department of Defense. They are clearly user oriented and I take particular efforts to ensure they are user driven. In each ACTD, the operational military user is the key individual charged with ensuring that the technology under evaluation is relevant to the mission or task at hand and that it in fact can be operated and supported under field operating conditions. Each ACTD is an integrated effort to assemble and demonstrate a significant, new and improved military capability based upon mature advanced technologies. Typically we will conduct a series of exercises or operations at a scale size adequate to establish both the operational utility and system integrity of the technologies under evaluation. ACTDs allow the warfighting user to:

- Evaluate a technology's military utility before a commitment is made to acquisition.

- Develop concepts of operation for employment of the new technology. - If the technologies under evaluation represents a “value added” to the warfighter the ACTD will allow retention of a low cost residual capability available for future military operations.

It is important to note that ACTDs are not a replacement for our formal

acquisition process. Rather, they are a means to permit the military user to

evaluate new technologies, assess their operational impact and enable our military forces to make more informed acquisition decisions.

To date the Department has initiated twenty ACTDs. Ten were begun in Fiscal

Year 1995 and an additional ten commenced in Fiscal Year 1996. Perhaps the most visible ACTD has been the Predator Medium Altitude Endurance Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) which began in Fiscal Year 1995.

Another key ACTD is the Joint Countermine ACTD. Initiated in Fiscal Year 1995 this ACTD is a teaming between the operational and science and technology communities of the Army, Navy and Marine Corps. The objective of the Joint Countermine ACTD is to demonstrate the capability to conduct seamless land and amphibious mine countermeasure operations from sea to land. The demonstration will be accomplished by integrating on-going Army, Navy and Marine Corps technology developments along with fielded military equipment. As such this ACTD leverages mine countermeasure and neutralization technology investments of the individual military services and laboratories and will

demonstrate an integrated, seamless capability. This ACTD will demonstrate coupling of selected current countermine capabilities with developing

technologies, leading to an improved integration and enhancement of joint countermine capabilities. A key goal of the ACTD is identify and evaluate operational concepts and doctrine in Mine Countermeasure and Countermine operations involving both Operational Maneuver From the Sea and follow on land operations. Key mission areas considered will be mine surveillance and reconnaissance on both the sea and land, mine and obstacle clearance of both the sea and land. and overt mine reconnaissance, detection, neutralization and clearance operations.

The Joint Countermine ACTD consists of two closely connected demonstrations. Demonstration I, planned for Fiscal Year 1997, focuses on near shore capabilities with emphasis on in-stride mine detection and neutralization of mines and obstacles in the beach zone and on the land. Demonstration II, planned for Fiscal Year 1998 emphasizes surveillance and reconnaissance and stresses a "seamless" transition of countermine operations from the sea, through the surf zone and across the land.

The United States Atlantic Command in Norfolk, Virginia is the operational sponsor for the Countermine ACTD. Management of the technical challenges, including the individual mine detection and neutralization technologies under review, the requisite simulation to support mission planning and assessment and the command and control links is under the cognizance of an ACTD Joint

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