1. FOPEN-GXP Program Overview Vincent Sabio Program Manager
9/22/2010

2. Outline
Motivation
Architecture/CONOPS
Participants
Schedule
Summary

3. Motivation: FORESTER Program
Objective: Standoff capability to detect dismounts moving under foliage to deny enemy ability to hide under foliage
Solution: UHF Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) radar installed on helicopter
UHF to penetrate the foliage
Helicopter flies into the winds and maintains zero ground speed to enable detection of low velocity targets (dismounts)
Transition to SOCOM, October 2009
SOCOM has 2 year program to demonstrate YMQ-18A/FORESTER OCONUS
DARPA will build, test 3rd FORESTER and deliver to SOCOM
FORESTER Coverage for a YMQ-18A (A160T) at 15 kft
Antenna steering allows coverage of 90° sector
Max range ~15 km for dismounts under foliage
Real-time Detection of dismounts under foliage and detections transmitted down data link
Continuous coverage over 90° sector
Area coverage: 145 km2
Revisit area every 20 seconds

4. FORESTER Data Collections
Ft. A.P. Hill, Virginia – Jan-Oct 2007
FORESTER on Black Hawk
Single canopy
Mocoron, Honduras – Sept-Oct 2008
Double canopy
Ft. Stewart, Georgia – November 2009
FORESTER on YMQ-18A (A160T)
Single canopy
Central Camp, Belize – August 2010
 Referred to as “Country 1,” or just “C-1”
Double canopy

5. FORESTER Success Motivates FOPEN-GXP
FORESTER detects moving dismounts under foliage at standoff ranges
Successful tests at Mocoron, Honduras on Black Hawk in Mar 2008
Successful NAI tests at FT Stewart, Georgia on A160 in Sep 2009
FOPEN-GXP will meet SOUTHCOM/SOCOM needs for exploitation tools
Discriminate persistent false alarms from activity
Discriminate humans from animals
Determine group position, size, and direction of travel
Identify activities of particular interest
FOPEN-GXP will build a FORESTER exploitation system
Transform ‘dots’ into actionable information
Integrate with existing ground control station and radar operator tools
Make interoperable with DCGS-A, NGA tools, and MASINT dissemination
Ft. Stewart, 2009, ~30 mins of detection data displayed
FORESTER detects groups of dismounts moving between NAIs under foliage

6. Are they people or animals? If people, how many are there?
The Challenge
Are they people or animals?
If people, how many are there?
Where are they going?
What are they doing?

7. Outline
Motivation
Architecture/CONOPS
Participants
Schedule
Summary

8. Architecture FOPEN-GXP Functional Architecture A-160 Ground Station
Platform
controller
Radar
Doppler signatures
Doppler Discriminator
Platform controls (waypoints, surv-eillance positions)
Radar service requests
GMTI detections
(incl. BF Tags)
Classification
likelihoods
Key
To be developed on F-GXP
Platform & Sensor Planner*
Group State Estimator
Not modified
Prioritized information needs
Activity Detector
Group state estimates (pos, direction, size)
Data
Target deck & mission constraints
Elevation, land cover, LOC models
Activity estimates
Activity models
*Phase 2
FOPEN-GXP Phase 1 Goals:
Create working versions of Doppler Discriminator, Group State Estimator and Activity Detector
Integrate modules
Demonstrate integrated functionality on FORESTER data

9. CONOPS
Understanding the potential FORESTER OCONUS CONOPS will help tailor the solution to the desired mission capability
Questions asked of SOCOM/SOUTHCOM:
What IPB is typically available when the platform is dispatched/chopped to a new AOI?
How does the platform assist in refining the initial IPB, outside of its standard/defined mission?
How are NAIs defined within the intended operational context of the FORESTER system?
How are NAIs nominated? Are they typically known in advance? Are they discovered during operations? Both?
Typically how many NAIs will there be within a single AOI? Single digits? Tens? Hundreds?
Without GXP, how long will the FORESTER typically be expected to stare at single AOR, before stowing the radar and moving on to the next AOR?
Answers may come…
Meanwhile, we know that analysts favor a toolbox of tested, reliable, algorithms that they can choose to apply to make sense of the data.

10. Outline
Motivation
Architecture/CONOPS
Participants
Schedule
Summary

11. Program Structure Associate Contractors:
Single System Integrator (SRC) responsible for producing a system with the best-of-breed algorithms from associate contractors
Multiple Contractors developing each module:
Module A: Doppler Discriminator
Distinguish Human/Animal/Clutter
Down-select to single contractor for integration in 6-8 months
Module B: Group State Estimator
Track group movement
Estimate group composition
Down-select to single contractor for integration in months
Module C: Activity Detector
Characterize all human activity in area
Single contractor
Multiple approaches will be down-selected prior to Phase 2

12. Performers’ Roles System Integration and Analysis
Integration Framework
Module A:
Doppler Discriminator
Group State Estimator
Activity Detector
ASI
ISL†
TSC†
BAE* LM
BAE*
BAE*
SRC, BRSC*, TSC*
Contractor team will need to maintain cooperative/associate relationship within a partially competitive environment
Government team will assure fairness
* SRC Subcontractors
† SBIR Contractor

13. Government Team Organization Key Personnel Role DARPA Vince Sabio
Government Program Manager,
Chief Bottle Washer
RDECOM STTC
Frank Tucker Jerry Speer
Contracting Officer’s Representatives
Schafer,
CACI
Rob Carlisle Susan Carothers
DARPA Technical SETA,
DARPA Financial SETA (BFM)
MEDavis Consulting
Mark Davis
Subject Matter Expert
IAI
Neil Carender Ron Goodman
Systems Analysis,
IV&V Support and Analysis
CERDEC
Peter Lamanna Kevin O’Hanlon
System Verification (IV&V),
FORESTER test planning
MIT LL
Jen Jao Mike Yamaguchi
Advanced Radar Modes Analysis,
Future GXP Capabilities

14. Outline
Motivation
Architecture/CONOPS
Participants
Schedule
Summary

15. Ft Stewart and Honduras Data Data to Support FOPEN-GXP
Schedule
FY10
FY11
FY12 Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Ft Stewart and Honduras Data
Country-1
Tests
Country-2 Tests/Ops
Data to Support FOPEN-GXP
Development & Testing
Insert
Sys v1.0
Insert
Sys v2.0
Down-Select
Doppler Discriminator
Data
Down-Select
Group State Estimator
Inserts
F-GXP v1.0 Demo & Test
Demos
F-GXP v2.0 Demo & Test
Activity Detector
BAA
Ind. Day
Awards
Contracts
System
Version 2.0
System Integration
Phase 1
Phase 2

16. FORESTER Data
Contractors will be provided with FORESTER data and ground truth
~40% of “good” data gathered in Honduras and at Fort Stewart
Representative data of every target placed and every configuration of dismounts deployed
No guarantee that every phenomenon is viewed from every azimuth for every parameter in dataset
A portion of C-1 data and ground truth will be provided when it becomes available
Data will be provided in multiple formats
STANAG 4607
FORESTER RDM
Data will be provided with different pre-processing algorithms applied
SRC’s default FORESTER format
MIT LL’s format with clutter mitigation applied

17. Phase 1 Down-Select
Down-selects will be based on the demonstrated functionalities of the modules
All modules will be hosted on CERDEC’s test bed
Modules will largely be evaluated “in isolation”
Determine which module best serves the government’s need for optimal functionality in a working exploitation system at the end of Phases 1 and 2
Modules will be run against sequestered data from the same flights as provided data
Fort Stewart and Honduras only for Module A
Potentially for Belize data for Module B
Entire segments
Functionality will be assessed by independent reviewers on the government team, with appropriate recusal

18. Data to support FOTM and IFSAR were gathered in C-1
FOPEN-GXP Phase 2
Phase 2 will focus on:
Complete integration of FOPEN-GXP system
Integration of system with available planning tools
Phase 2 may also address some key challenges in FORESTER exploitation
Platform Endurance
“FORESTER On The Move” (FOTM)
SINR Improvement for Doppler Discrimination
Deterministic motion compensation via on-board accelerometers
“Bald Earth” Maps for Group-State Estimation and Activity Detection
Bald-Earth mapgen from IF-SAR collection geometries
Data to support FOTM and IFSAR were gathered in C-1

19. Outline
Motivation
Architecture/CONOPS
Participants
Schedule
Summary

20. Summary
Key challenge for FOPEN-GXP Phase 1 participants will be to advance their development on schedule to meet the intended down-selects
Module A and B performers will need to lean forward
DARPA will continue to work with transition partners, SOCOM and SOUTHCOM, so that FOPEN-GXP development is focused on their exploitation requirements
FOPEN-GXP is an exciting program that will develop a truly groundbreaking new capability!

21. Back-Up

22. FORESTER Detection & Exploitation Processing Challenges
dBm2
Range (m)
Torso
Limb harmonics
Single dismount Doppler signature
Radial Velocity (m/s)
100 50 -5 -3 -1 1 3 5 -4 -2 2 4
-20
-40
-60
-10
-30
-50
CPI: 5 s
Principal challenges
Complex dismount signatures
Doppler signatures are aspect dependent, attenuated by foliage, time varying and complex, due to required dwell times
Human & wildlife must be distinguished
Airborne platform motion
Platform-antenna interactions
Wind-blown clutter
Clutter false alarms
Target discrimination
Dismount signatures vary with movement, group size, observation geometry, and foliage conditions
UNCLASSIFIED/FOUO