PORTABLE SECURITYRapidly Testing Portable Security Systems

At Coyote Canyon, the challenge was not just whether a drone could be detected by radar or whether a sensor could spot movement across rough terrain. The bigger question was whether all that information could move through a portable security system fast enough to help people make decisions in the field.

For two weeks, Sandia National Laboratories led a field exercise designed to test rapidly deployable security technologies in rugged, remote conditions. The exercise brought together drones, ground sensors, radar, high-definition cameras, communication networks and Sandia-designed and developed portable security systems to see how they worked as part of one integrated system.

Jeff Hoaglund, a technical project lead for systems engineering research and development, said the exercise drew on Sandia’s extensive experience in physical protection systems, its work on the U.S.-Mexico border and its role managing the Physical Security Center of Excellence for the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Office of Defense Nuclear Security.

“Sandia has decades of experience doing physical protection system design and evaluation,” Hoaglund said. “We have a very specific process that is systems-performance based.”

A Need for Rapid Testing
Military leaders became interested in Sandia’s work because of the Labs’ border security experience and systems engineering approach. Hoaglund briefed the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, where the discussion centered on how to test new security technologies before they are deployed to operational environments.

“They looked at Sandia’s test and evaluation process. It’s very regimented. We test everything,” Hoaglund said. “We look at the systems approach — how all the different models interface and their interdependencies. If you try to improve one thing, how does that carry through the system?”

The military needed a way to evaluate technologies that could be deployed quickly to locations including the U.S.-Mexico border.

“It needs to be tested and evaluated before deployment to ensure it is appropriate, functional and does what they expect it to do,” Hoaglund said. “Originally, they asked us to give them guidance and subject matter expertise on the exercise and testing process.”

Sandia was later asked to host and lead the exercise for the Root Integration of Tools project.

“We were trying to inject the type of environment and terrain challenges they would see in areas where the technology may be deployed,” Hoaglund said. “We have mountains, steep terrain and open areas.”