Kooy Symposium: Extreme Circumstances

People, resources and more

In exercises but especially when things get 'real', soldiers actually always operate under extreme conditions. Cold or very hot and humid environments, the absence of light or communication, physical strain... How does a soldier maximally hold out in these conditions and what technical solutions offer support? The annual Kooy Symposium held on 10 April in Stroe gave an overview of existing possibilities and allowed speakers to philosophise about needs and future developments. They also showed many examples from various sectors of society. Over 300 visitors witnessed.

The Kooy Symposium links technology, business and defence through a topical theme highlighted from the different target groups. On the one hand, to reflect the current state of affairs, and on the other to establish the usefulness and necessity with regard to necessary technical developments for defence.

Setting the scene

The relevance of focusing on 'Extreme conditions' was traditionally explained in the first 'Setting the Scene' block. This was kicked off by Major Erik Wegewijs and exercise physiologist Gerard Rietjens of the Commandant Korps Commandotroepen. Their realistically presented story told of the maximum extreme conditions under which his men have to operate during a mission. Reaching unknown, rough and dangerous terrain by means of an overnight parachute jump. Covering relatively long distances on foot with heavy packs. This under conditions further characterised by temperatures that rise during the day and can drop significantly at night. Thereby the constant threat of a possible enemy nearby.

Some of the hardships soldiers endure are based on willpower and founded on the core values of courage, policy, loyalty, honour and pride. But these are not enough. Protective lightweight clothing, compact food, advanced communication equipment, opportunities to make drinking water from 'nothing'... Both men challenged the audience to think along about solutions to maximise the military's resistance in these conditions.

From dry and cold

That this will only become more important in the coming period, Drs Monika Sie Dhian Ho emphasised in the following lecture. As director of Clingendael, she defined two potential conflict and mission areas that our Armed Forces may also face in the future. The first is the Middle East and North Africa where climate change in particular is leading to drought and devastation, thereby increasing the likelihood of conflict. A second area of concern concerns the Arctic. When the ice caps melt here, the inhospitable area turns into an economically attractive region for oil and gas extraction and provides space for new shipping routes. This could lead to tensions between Arctic countries if the Arctic becomes a hunting ground for superpowers.

Pieter Swart, as an employee of Shell, shared with the audience in the closing section of Block 1 his experiences of the conditions in which work was done within the Sakhalin II project. One of the world's largest integrated and export-oriented oil and gas projects. Extremities are mainly the very low temperatures, the suddenly highly variable weather conditions and earthquakes. He stressed that besides all the technology, resourcefulness, perseverance and vision regarding safety, transport, weather conditions, logistics, communication and rescue work are also important.

Policy & Vision

The second 'Policy & Vision' block featured both industry and defence. Ing Sven Krijgsman talked about the many 'teachable moments' you face within a company like Mammoet when heavy lifting and transport work has to be carried out. Because equipment often has to be moved quickly from one location to another for the next job, employees have to deal with, among other things, hydraulic oil whose appearance varies at different temperatures (in terms of volume and viscosity). Long-term storage also takes its toll while human-machine interaction is also a factor to consider.

Majmarns Roelof Docter of the Joint Knowledge Centre Military Performance under Extreme Circumstances (JKCMOX) discussed its mission: To support operational units in performing, as safely as possible, the primary task by providing knowledge in the areas of Mountain, Jungle and Arctic. What do soldiers need to live and survive, to move in metres of snow or mud and to fight? To this end, the JKCMOX develops, among other things, safety regulations for the three types of areas, draws up manuals and doctrines and conducts scientific research. Thereby constantly 'dealing' with challenges of connectivity, energy supplies and high-tech versus low-tech.

Lkol M.Sc. sPTO Ted Meeuwsen spoke passionately about the conditions under which air force pilots have to perform. Conditions that can lead to a shortage of oxygen (hypoxia) and disorientation and where the pilot must still be able to process large amounts of information under high G-forces. Also at night. Supporting technology consists of more advanced simulators, human centrifuges, hypobaric chambers, Reduced Oxygen Breathing Devices, disorientation demonstrators and new developments such as Virtual and Augmented Reality. In doing so, it is important to keep innovating quickly to keep up with rapid technological developments with the knowledge that humans - with all their competences and limitations - remain central.

A contribution from science was made at the end of Block 2 by Professor Hein Daanen, Professor of Behavioural and Movement Sciences at the VU. In his lecture, he proved that people are much better at adapting to warm conditions than to cold.

Excellent technologies

The concluding third block 'excellent technologies' includes short pitches of technical solutions that are still being worked on or are already available. Possibly for defence, but more often for the outside world, making the symposium an important venue for cross-fertilisation between the two parties.

From his position at the Knowledge Centre Weapon Systems and Ammunition, Drs Koen Bakker started with all the means used to test and validate ammunition. How do extreme conditions - temperature, humidity, mechanical stress during transport - affect the functioning, service life and reliability of ammunition? Examples such as a smoke canister launcher 'in the cold', 'remote controlled weapon station' in heat and an AT missile on a ring baffle during a vibration test passed the review, among others.

LTZ1 Sander Kool, expert diving and explosive ordnance disposal with the Royal Netherlands Navy, looked into the future with his presentation 'Back to the future - from Uhlenbeck to autonomy underwater'. In it, autonomous systems, underwater positioning and augmented reality will play a leading role.

Industry

The business community was represented by Photonis Technologies, among others, with brightness amplifiers that enable optimal perception of the environment in poor lighting conditions. Chemshield presented Solaflon, a fluoropolymer that offers protection against chemicals, acids and UV. Unlike other fluoropolymers, this is not a powder to be applied through complex processes, but a transparent coating that can be applied by roller or brush to a variety of materials. During the symposium, contacts were established between this company and a partner that may start using it as a coating on protective clothing.

As a co-organiser, TNO presented a test facility for testing protective equipment in the context of CBRN. Furthermore, the research institute was represented at the exhibition with a stand showing 3D printed metal parts.

Rob Luijnenburg spoke appealingly from Fugro about the search for Malaysian Airlines flight MH 370. After analysing all known data, the search started in a search area of over 120,000 km2 about which hardly any information was available. During the search for the wreckage, personnel had to deal with great water depths, very rough seabed topography, no shelter from storms and hurricanes and extremely high waves. To ensure their safety, the extreme conditions were approached in a three-step plan: tools, work procedures and behaviour and attention. For the actual search, four techniques/technical products with decreasing range and increasing accuracy respectively were used: 1. Deepwater Multi Beam Sonar, 2. Deep Tow, 3. Autonomous Underwater Vehicle and 4. Remote Operated Vehicle.

If your partner knew what you were thinking - or vice versa

Closing the symposium was Prof Peter Werkhoven, now corporate science director TNO - Human enhancement. He took the participants through the development of robotics, (autonomous) artificial intelligence and how in the future our brains could be read, written and eventually directly connected to each other. No more science fiction, but lab-scale proven techniques. In doing so, Werkhoven certainly appealed to the visitor's (humorous) imagination but also to a sense of concern about possible applications by those with less good intentions.

Kooy Prize 2019

The Kooy Prize 2019 was awarded to Olivier Baas, who researched the non-linear magnetic behaviour of ferromagnetic ship steel during his graduation project at TU Delft (Faculty 3ME, Master Offshore Engineering). His fundamental research, substantiated by experiments, had a dual purpose. 1. 1, To contribute to the development of a system to monitor cracking in steel structures using magnetic techniques, the CrackGuard. 2, To contribute to the development of so-called closed-loop degaussing for surface ships with which the magnetic signature of these ships can be minimised over a longer period of time. Important to prevent magnetic detection of naval vessels by, for example, sea mines and relevant in the context of the new frigates to be built.

Extreme conditions
Defence continues where others stop

Maj. Gen. Koot barracks, Stroe - Wednesday 10 April 2019 | 10:30 - 19:00

Electricity, infrastructure, means of communication, heating, order in the streets, dry feet: In the Netherlands, everyone is used to it. But what if all that disappears, or you have to go to an area where none of that exists. An unthinkable scenario for many, but not for the armed forces. It continues where others stop, Attacks or natural disasters in the Netherlands, but also military intervention in the oppressive heat of the tropics, the bone-chilling cold of the arctic, or hostile areas without a shred of light, or entire regions without communication capabilities. How real is this and what does your world look like then. How do you prepare for this and what technologies can help. These are the questions addressed in the Kooy symposium 2019...

The full programme with the most up-to-date information can be found here.

Organiser

Defence and Security

NLR, APA, TNO, KVMO

Name and contact details for information

Marjolein de Wit- Blok

mw@kividv.nl

Registration deadline is 01-04-2019

Register

You can register until: 01-04-2019

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