61 years ago the UK, Belgium and the Netherlands suffered suffered at the hands of a severe flood (Watersnoodramp) caused by a heavy storm and high tides.
Wikipedia has good background but to summarise, the devastation was massive.
The UK death toll exceeded 300 but in the Netherlands, it was over 1,800.
The War had seen many of the dikes used for military fortifications and maintenance activity had slowed down or ceased completely. During the post war rebuilding phase many of the repairs were of the expedient type and it was later noted that some of these areas were the first to give way to the combined effect of storm and tide.
After the immediate rescue and recovery activities had completed there were many gaps in the sea defences to close. Most of these were completed in a relatively short period but some of the larger and more complex gaps would need a great deal of heavy duty construction. Compounding the reconstruction was the twice daily tide and amount of damage.
The Allies had previously used surplus D Day Phoenix Mulberry Harbour caissons for a similar task in 1945 and 1946 on the island of Walcheren so the same technique was proposed. After extensive scale modelling eight Phoenix caissons were floated over from the UK although some were lost in heavy seas during the journey.
Over a period of several months they were used to close the gaps in destroyed sea defences in a number of locations.
What happened to them?
One of the more fascinating aspects of this little known story is that they are still there
The actual sea defences no longer rely on the caissons but the Dutch decided to turn them into a museum, a museum that commemorates the floods and those involved.
On 6 November 2003, 50 years after the closing of the last breach at Ouwerkerk, the four caissons and the surrounding area were awarded National Monument status by the Minister of the Interior, Johan Remkes , and from that day were known as the National Monument Watersnood 1953 .
In recognition of the importance of this National Monument, the Foundation Caissons Ouwerkerk has changed its name to Foundation National Monument Watersnood 1953 and the articles have been amended accordingly.
Since 2001 a museum was situated in one of the caissons. The focus of this museum has been on commemoration, remembrance and knowledge. Since april 23th 2009 we use all four of the caissons.
The caissons were a decade old when they were used by the people of the Netherlands, the other survivors can still be seen in Portland Harbour, off the Queens Pier.
In order to meet the WWII demand for airfields in the South East of England a massive build programme was started but the chances of these airfields falling into the hands of an invading German Army and Luftwaffe was not lost on the planners.
To mitigate the risk all airfields within 1 hours drive of the coast were to have specific denial arrangements. These ranged from simple instructions on how to smash a fuel valve with a conveniently located hammer to detailed instructions on emptying fuel tanks and destroying electrical equipment.
A method was also sought to deny the runway to enemy gliders and transport aircraft and so the Canadian Pipe Mine was devised by the 1st Canadian Tunnelling Company. 50-70mm steel pipes were inserted into the ground using hydraulic pipe pushing equipment and laid in a criss cross pattern about 6ft under the surface. They were subsequently filled with explosives, usually a blasting gelignite called ‘Polar Blasting Gelignite’ which was very powerful.
They were also called McNaughton tTubes after the GOC of 1 Canadian Division who according to his biographer got the idea for using hydraulic rams from bootleggers who used the method for creating an offsite distribution point for their whiskey!
Only 9 airfields were identified for mining initially but this rose to include other locations, by the end of 1942, after the threat of invasion had receded, 30 locations were mined, not all of them airfields. It is estimated that over 40,000ft of pipe mines were installed.
During the war some of the pipe mines were made safe and removed because of the deterioration of the explosive filler but most were left in situ. After the war Canadian engineers were tasked with removal but it seems from reading different sources that records were incomplete and some doubt exists whether the clearance activity was completed. Additional clearance efforts were made, one that resulted in the death of Ukrainian worker at one of the locations.
Since then a number have been cleared by the Royal Engineers and private contractors such as Ramora, click hereto view a gallery of images from 49 EOD Squadron Royal Engineers, many Canadian Pipe Mines on display.
Operation CRABSTICK was the name given to the effort to clear WWII pipe mines, a recent Freedom of Information Act releaseprovided a little more information.
20 pipe mines were discovered during construction work in 2006 at HMS Daedelus in Lee-on-Solent requiring a 5 week operation by 33 Engineer Regiment to clear them that also saw the first deployment of the QinetiQ Appliqué Robotic Kit (ARK) a system designed to allow remote control of a standard JCB type backhoe loader. ARK can be installed in less than 12 hours and enables remote control up to 1km away using an encrypted data link.
A more recent example was cleared by Ramorafrom the BAE site on the Isle of White, formerly RAF Somerton.
Clearly, the post war clearance operation did not clear them all and who knows how are are still in the ground!
The Barracuda Modular Soft Armour System (formerly from Protaurius ) employs a matrix of ceramic balls to provide protection against small arms and automatic weapons up to STANAG Level III and beyond by increasing the thickness of the containing structure. The balls also stop ricochets and the containers can be refilled as needed.
It looks like a neat solution for rapid deployment and situations where steel plate, composites, sand bags or Hesco/Defencell are not suitable. At 180kg per M2 it is not as lightweight as the more exotic composites but still much lighter than concrete.
The videos below show firing trials using different weapons and ammunition with images from fragmentation tests
BAE have delivered the final Terrier Combat Engineer Vehicle (CEV). There are now 60 vehicles delivered from what has been a troubled development and manufacturing phase. The production facility at BAE in Newcastle has been sold to Pearson Engineering.
Product description from BAE.
Likened to a combat ‘Swiss Army Knife’, Terrier is one of the most versatile, agile and adaptable combat vehicles and can carry out multiple roles in the most demanding battlefield conditions. Typical applications include providing mobility support (obstacle and route clearance), counter-mobility (digging of anti-tank ditches and other obstacles) and survivability (digging of trenches and Armoured Fighting Vehicle slots). With a flying weight of 32 tonnes, which allows it to be transported in the A400M airlifter, Terrier provides strategic air transportability as well as being extremely mobile on the ground on all terrains, reaching speeds of up to 70 kph and with a road range of 600k
Terrier CEV is a capable and deployable vehicle with many advanced features like remote control and the UK’s A400M aircraft will have a specially modified floor to carry one.
A soldier uses a games consol style controller to control a Terrier armoured digger, which is controlled by remote control during an unveilling at the Defence Armoured Vehicle Centre, Bovington, Dorset.
Royal Engineers Terrier MSV Remote Control
Royal Engineers Terrier MSV Remote Control
Although the Pearson Engineering Bridge Launch Mechanism (Medium) has been tested on Warrior I could see Terrier being used to carry BR90 bridge components like the No 12 Bridge in support of SV Scout for example. It does not have the same protection or capacity as the larger Titan and Trojan but they are double the weight.
Bridge Launch Mechanism (BLM)
BR90 Bridging Components
Both Australia and France have shown some interest in Terrier and could Terrier be used in other roles or as the base for different variants?
The printer deposits a high–performance concrete precisely under computer control. It works by laying down successive layers of concrete until the entire object is created. The printer can make things which cannot be manufactured by conventional processes such as complex structural components, curved cladding panels and architectural features.
The aim of the initial 18-month development programme is to develop the world’s first commercial concrete printing robot. Working with Skanska are a number of influential collaborators including Foster + Partners, Buchan Concrete, ABB and Lafarge Tarmac. As a result of this programme, Skanska aims to explore opportunities opened up by the new technology and help develop a 3D printing supply chain.
Although none of these partners are talking about using 3D concrete printing for military applications the benefits would be many. Their main objective is to use the technology to create shapes that cannot be created by normal processes but in an expeditionary context, the main objectives would be speed and resource economy, including personnel
Some of the proposed applications are literally out of this world.
Could astronauts one day be printing rather than building a base on the Moon? In 2013 ESA, working with industrial partners, proved that 3D printing using lunar material was feasible in principle. Since then, work continues to investigate the technique. The shielding against radiation provided by a 3D-printed block of simulated lunar regolith was measured, providing important inputs for next-stage designs… Soon the Agency is due to investigate another lunar 3D printing method, harnessing concentrated sunlight to melt regolith rather than using a binding liquid.
But how might lunar 3D printing one day be used in practice? Foster+Partners, contributing architectural concepts for the original study, put together this outline of a hypothetical mission to 3D-print an entire a lunar base, illustrating the design factors that steered them in their work. The rim of Shackleton Crater at the lunar south pole was chosen for the base location. The Moon’s rotation is such that the Sun only grazes its poles at low angles. The result is a near-constant ‘peak of eternal light’ along the rim of Shackleton Crater, beside regions of permanent shadow. Building in the vicinity of such a site would offer plentiful solar power, and relief from the extremes of heat and cold found across the rest of the Moon.
In reality any lunar base remains firmly on the drawing board, but each small step forward in research makes future lunar colonisation a little more feasible. In October 2014 more than 350 experts came together for a two-day Additive Manufacturing for Space Applications workshop at ESA’s ESTEC technical centre in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. They discussed the potential of 3D printing – also known as Additive Manufacturing – to transform the way the space industry operates and begin preparing common standards for its use.
The European Space Agency has also been working with Norman Foster and Partners, and in this case, an Italian company called D-Shape
A story from the Telegraph shows the value of combat engineering.
The Telegraph led with;
Secret British role in halting Isil ‘massacre’ in Lebanon
Clandestine British squad worked at speed to coordinate huge effort to build 12 towers along Syrian border to prevent town from falling to Isil forces
I think the Telegraph is getting more like the Sun every day!
The UK, through the FCO and DFiD has supported the Lebanese government and people for some time and this is just one of those areas in which we can have a reasonably effective impact for a very reasonable cost.
The Daily Star has learned that four towers will be constructed on the volatile border initially, and if the scheme is successful further ones could be erected elsewhere along the frontier.
But the Army will have to convince potentially suspicious and skeptical local residents – some of whom actively support Syrian rebels – as well as the Syrian army, that the observation towers do not pose a threat to either side but are there to reinforce the Army’s presence in the north and help it better monitor the border.
The four towers are located in hills or promontories in Mqaibleh allowing views across Wadi Khaled to the north, Shadra, Menjez and Abboudieh, the latter three overlooking the Kabir River valley that marks the border. A fifth tower will be erected at the Hamat air base and army training facility.
Troops will undergo a two-week training course on the tower at Hamat before deploying along the border.
Each tower will be constructed from six stacked shipping containers with the lower levels surrounded by Hesco blast barriers. The observation room at the top of the approximately 10-meter high tower will be protected by bulletproof glass and surrounded by anti-missile fencing. A bomb shelter constructed from sandbags and Hesco barriers at the foot of the tower will provide additional protection. Surveillance of the border will be conducted by sophisticated remote control long-range cameras equipped with night vision allowing clear resolution images up to 20 km away. All video footage is recorded and may be monitored from an operations room on the ground floor of the tower.
The project began last year when Army Commander Gen. Jean Kahwagi requested assistance from the British Embassy to help the army better control the northern border.
The British suggested to Kahwagi that that the Lebanese Army build fortified observation towers modeled on the British army’s “Sangars,” which have been used in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In December last year, the UK announceda £10m package of measures to help the Lebanese Land Border Regiments.
Hardly a secret, the December 2013 announcement described the measures in more detail;
A joint LAF-UK project team briefed the Minister on the ongoing construction of 12 border watchtowers, and demonstrated to the Minister a range of new equipment being delivered to the Land Border Regiments, including vehicles, body armour, radios, HESCO bastion, and long range observation cameras. The team also briefed the Minister on the training programme that accompanies the equipment, and the work of the Joint Project Implementation Team to integrate these new capabilities into the Land Border Regiments’ operations.
Minister Robertson then inspected 70 of the 164 Land Rovers being donated to the LAF for border patrolling, and presented the keys for the vehicles to Brigadier General Manuel Karejian, Acting Deputy Chief of Staff Equipment.
Following his visit the Minister said: ‘ I am very pleased to see how the UK is supporting the LAF in response to the LAF Capability Development Plan. It is a great honour to handover to the LAF this first batch of 70 Land Rovers. These vehicles will provide the Land Border Regiments with much needed off-road mobility. I know that another 94 will arrive in Lebanon before the end of the year, along with secure VHF radios, 1,500 sets of body armour to protect the troops, and fixed and mobile observation towers to protect and reassure border communities. This is the UK’s largest project with the LAF, and we are proud to be able to support Lebanon’s stability in these very uncertain times’.
Brigadier General Maroun Hitti, Deputy Chief of Staff Plans of the Lebanese Armed Forces said: ‘The mission of the Land Border Regiments is to defend and control the land borders, to facilitate the legitimate movement of goods and people, and to reassure and protect border communities. The LAF works hand in hand with other security agencies to reinforce state authority in a challenging and complex environment. The equipment and training being provided by the UK gives us the key capabilities we require. What is important now is to deploy these capabilities to full effect in the field as quickly as possible.’
Secret and clandestine, not so sure.
On the 14th of October this year, the Minister for the Middle East (Tobias Ellwood) updated parliament on the UK’s support for the Lebanese Armed Forces in a written statementto Parliament;
As part of this commitment, since 2012, the UK has been assisting the LAF to establish and mentor the LAF Land Border Regiments (LBRs). The mission of the LBRs is to observe, identify, deter and interdict activities by illegal armed actors in the near border areas, in line with agreed international human rights standards. Between 2012 and 2014 around £14m of Conflict Pool funds was allocated to enhance the capabilities of 1 and 2 LBRs. These efforts have resulted in the construction of 12 Protected Border Observation Posts along 140km of the border, and the deployment of the two LBRs.
Recent ISIL actions in the Arsal area, and the threat that ISIL poses to UK interests, now make it imperative that the LAF expands the presence of the LBRs southwards, as part of an overall strategy to bring the entire eastern border with Syria back under the authority of the State. The Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces has recently authorised the establishment of 3LBR to cover a further 70km of the border south from Arsal to Tfail. He has requested UK assistance consistent with that already provided to 1 and 2 LBRs.
The Departmental Minute laid today therefore sets out our intention to gift a package of £3,596,844 of equipment to support the establishment of the 3rd Land Border Regiment of the Lebanese Armed Forces. The proposed gift will be funded by the Government’s Conflict Pool Programme and will consist of the following UK sourced equipment:
800 sets of Personal Protective Equipment, including body armour, helmets, gloves, belts, first aid kits, camouflage clothing and protective glasses: £793,600
14 Land Rover Defenders and additional equipment to enable them to operate in difficult terrain: £408,244
5 Protected Border Observation Posts and 6 Mobile Observation Platforms, with observation aids and ballistic protection for fixed 3LBR positions: £1,395,000
Radio equipment to allow the command elements of 3LBR to link back to LAF HQ in Beirut: £1,000,000
Alongside the gift, the UK is expanding its existing package of training and mentoring with additional operational and engineering expertise worth £1,402,197.
Still not sure about being secretive and clandestine, the Telegraph might want to look up UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and UNIFIL.
Much of the drive behind this has been the British Ambassador to Lebanon, Tom Fletcher, this typifies the kind of quiet but effective diplomacy and engagement with the security agenda that should be the model for other locations.
Anyway, the story is about combat engineering and ISTAR connectivity, a few images of the watch towers, guard towers or Sangars on the Lebanon/Syria border
The watch towers or sangars are straight out of the Northern Ireland and Afghanistan text book, ISO containers and HESCO Bastion continuing their multi date world tour.
I wrote about Sangars and watch towers a while ago, specifically the Expeditionary Elevated Sangarthat was developed for Afghanistan making use of Cuplock scaffolding and Hesco.
The Joint Deployable Exploitation and Analysis Laboratory (JDEAL) is a capability managed by the European Defence Agency that builds upon the work of the Multinational Theatre Exploitation Laboratory Demonstrator (MNTEL) in Afghanistan.
The Multinational Theatre Exploitation Laboratory Demonstrator (MNTEL) came from a directive from EDA member states in 2010 to develop a deployable forensic laboratory and use it in Afghanistan. The objective was to demonstrate the value of such a deployable capability in the overall Counter IED workstream.
A €1 million contract was let to the Spanish company Indra in late 2010 and by September 2011 it was operating in Afghanistan, although initially at a lower level of capacity.
Although later called MNTEL it started out as the Theatre Exploitation Laboratory (Demonstrator) or TEL(D), managed by the French in Kabul which examined over 6,000 devices and built up a valuable library of data. Personnel from from France, Spain, Poland, Romania, Sweden and the Netherlands manned the facility until its withdrawal and recovery in summer this year.
The TEL(D) datasheetdescribes three levels of exploitation;
Level 1
Recording and sampling of information are key to Level 1. Often associated with incidents such as IED finds or the tragic consequences of when an IED has functioned, first responders, specialised Weapons Intelligence teams or Explosive Ordnance Disposal teams have the difficult task of trying to gather as much information as possible under time pressure due to the fact that the environment can be hostile
Level 2
Intermediate processing in theatre through forensics investigation is what comprises Level 2. This implies a forward deployed laboratory for the investigation of IED incidents and related activity with the purpose of aiding the C-IED effort at formation and theatre by informing the commander of the IED threat faced
Level 3
Level 3 involves the full scale crime laboratory that is dedicated to performing more time and resource consuming analysis that is not possible in theatre.
In March 2012 the MoD provided evidenceto the House of Commons European Scrutiny Committe which included information on the forensics laboratory.
The EDA deployed a C-IED Theatre Exploitation Laboratory (Demonstrator) (TEL(D)) in Afghanistan this summer, under a French lead. The UK already have a national capability integrated into ISAF and whilst the UK are not active participants in the EDA’s C-IED project, we have provided assistance including information (subject to national caveats) to inform the Agency’s work based on our own national Level 2[33] capability.
As the UK already have a national capability up to and including Level 3, we therefore do not participate in an EDA activity that does not add benefit to the UK’s capability.
We do, however, encourage other Member States to participate in this project as we believe that more EU nations developing their own C-IED exploitation expertise could potentially reduce the burden on the UK. We will continue to monitor this work with interest and provide encouragement and support and keep our position not to participate under continual review.
This national capability was provided by Marshall’s, click hereto read more
JDEAL has now officially opened, based at Soesterberg in the Netherlands, the lead nation for the project.
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From the press release, JDEAL facilities include;
Detailed visual examination and high quality image capture
Technical exploitation reporting
Biometric analysis (latent finger print recovery)
Electrical circuitry (primarily radio parts)
Document and media recovery (focused on the mobile phones often used as IED triggering devices)
Chemical analysis
Mechanical exploitation as well as other material exploitation.
JDEAL will be a deployable capability and provide a venue for training and research and development when not deployed. Although only once complete setup is currently available, a second will be added in 2015 to provide greater capacity.
Evidently, Europe has a great deal of experience, expertise and capability in this area.
I have looked at the potential for 3D printing, or contour crafting, on a larger scale to deliver tangible benefits to the task of building expeditionary infrastructure but Andrey Rudenko has gone the whole hog and built a castle!
The Royal Engineers Python minefield breaching system is getting an upgrade that includes changing the explosive filler to an Insensitive Munition compliant RX4400, improvements to the arming unit and upgrading the trailers.
Think Defence 