2000 Counterdrug Research and Development Blueprint Update
Appendix B: Counterdrug Scientific and Technological Needs
The following
list of priority scientific and technological needs reflects inputs
from U.S. Customs Service (USCS), Department of Defense (DoD), U.S.
Coast Guard (USCG), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS), National Institute of Justice (NIJ),
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Institute on
Drug Abuse. The Agricultural Research Service of the Department of
Agriculture has also provided substantial input on their research
program needs which is included in Appendix C.
The individual
scientific and technological needs for each agency were combined into
one composite listing according to "short" (1-2 years), "medium" (3-5
years) and "long-term" (over 5 years) time horizons for Nonintrusive
Inspection, Wide Area Surveillance, and Tactical Technologies applications.
The needs have been cited "as submitted" with the agencies specifically
citing a particular need shown in parenthesis beside the description.
The Demand Reduction basic and applied research needs and initiatives
have been identified according to two categories: (1) improving treatment
through neuroscientific advances, and (2) improving the transfer of
biomedical research to the clinical setting.
NONINTRUSIVE
INSPECTION
Short Term
(1-2 years)
Improved x-ray
and gamma ray detector technology (USCS)
Accurate signatures
for detectable illicit drug emissions in operational environments
for physical and chemical detection (USCG)
Portable/transportable
capability to detect and classify drugs and contraband in vessels,
compartments and containers of all sizes during at-sea and port-side
inspections (DoD/USCG)
Portable /transportable
capability to detect false compartments or other anomalies in vessels,
compartments and containers of all sizes (USCG/INS)
Device for detecting
narcotics swallowers (USCS)
Portal detection
system for passenger screening (USCS)
Standards for
technologies that detect the presence of drugs on individuals (NIJ)
A cost effective
technology to detect small amounts of drugs in large volumes of mail
or other packages (NIJ)
A cheaper, quicker,
more reliable, and less invasive inmate drug testing device is needed
(NIJ)
A reliable replacement
for urinanlysis for drug use screening in a correctional environment
(NIJ)
Surface Acoustic
Wave - Immunoassay technology for narcotics detection (USCS)
Canine enforcement
program R&D facility (USCS)
Hand-held bulk
currency detector (USCS)
Medium Term
(3-5 years)
Program for selective
breeding of dogs for special applications (USCS)
Rapid detection
of drugs in cars, without removing occupants (DoD)
Long Term (over
5 years)
Improvements to
nonintrusive tools for drug detection and space accountability (better,
cheaper, lighter, smaller, more power efficient) (USCG)
WIDE AREA SURVEILLANCE
Short Term
(1-2 years)
Ultra-wide area
ocean surveillance tracking of low radar cross-section small craft
(DoD)
Over-the-Horizon
(OTH) radar technology to effectively detect and track specific types
of maritime targets (1) small craft (30-foot) with low radar cross-section
and (2) 100-foot slow moving ships (10-15 knots) (DoD)
OTH technology
that will provide 1nm positional accuracy for airborne targets (DoD)
Effective computer
"data-mining" to identify (1) commercial maritime smuggling vessels/containers,
(2) air smuggling aircraft in South America, and (3) land smuggling
trucks/companies on the Southwest Border (DoD)
Wide area surveillance
technology to locate active major cocaine hydrochloride labs (DoD)
Improved target
detection, sorting, classification, tracking and identification, including
OTH detection and tracking (USCS/USCG)
Improve the capability
to correlate multiple sensor inputs into one presentation (USCG)
Automatic sorting
and tracking (legitimate vs. suspect targets) (USCG)
Develop unmanned
aerial vehicles (UAV) applications with a multi-sensor package (>1000
nautical miles) (USCG)
Satisfy airspace
control concerns for UAVs (USCG)
Command and control
workstation that integrates surveillance, tracking, analysis and map
data and includes communication interface with other computer information
systems and voice communication networks (USCG)
Remote seismic,
magnetic and infrared ground sensing to provide monitoring without
agent presence at localized border areas (INS)
Night vision capability,
including fixed and mobile long range surveillance target acquisition
systems, wearable goggles, hand-held "pocket" units (INS)
Sensor alarm and
dispatch support to communicate appropriate responses to agents in
the field for events requiring response (INS)
Centralized command
and control system integrating data from unattended ground sensors;
infrared and other night vision systems, including an elaborate system
of fixed cameras along the border; and dispatch data (INS)
Remote long line
ground sensing to provide monitoring without agent presence in distant
areas (INS)
Faster, more agile,
quieter, and safer rotary wing capability (INS)
Medium Term
(3-5 years)
Advanced interceptor
vessel hull design (USCS)
Miniaturized covert
tagging and tracking devices (USCS)
Next generation
"tags" for aircraft, maritime, and ground targets (DoD)
Airborne, standoff
"tagging" of aircraft targets (DoD)
Airborne wide-area
surveillance technology to detect masked marijuana cultivation and
Meth laboratories (DoD)
Next generation
of tunnel detection technology (DoD)
Develop track
recording sufficient to reveal patterns and changes to patterns and
routes used by drug traffickers on land, sea, and in the air. Integrate
this capability with graphical information systems. Automatic integration
of all source databases. Significantly improve the positional accuracy
of OTH and relocatable OTH radar to 1-2 nautical miles (USCG)
Long Term (over
5 years)
Improvements to
wide area surveillance tools for drug detection and space accountability
(better, cheaper, lighter, smaller, more power efficient) (USCG)
TACTICAL TECHNOLOGIES
Short Term
(1-2 years)
Improved surveillance
sensors for maritime (including aviation and unmanned aerial vehicle)
use, radar, acoustic, high resolution night vision, low light TV,
infrared, other electro optical systems (USCG)
Portable, non
lethal capability to control, stop, or disable fleeing vessels (to
include non-ordnance and ordnance delivery systems adapted to aircraft
and high speed surface assets) (USCG)
Improved communications
systems to share data across platforms, including tactical picture,
from multiple sensor inputs: voice, data imagery, tactical situation
information (USCG)
Real-time worldwide
tracking system for aircraft, vessels, vehicles, and packages (DEA)
Personnel safety
and security system for counterdrug agents with worldwide coverage
(DEA)
A system that
provides voice identification at a Title III workstation (DEA)
A system that
provides facial identification under surveillance conditions (DEA)
A method to detect
and classify go-fast boats (DEA)
A method to detect
operating clandestine cocaine manufacturing labs (DEA)
A method to detect
operating clandestine methamphetamine manufacturing labs (DEA)
Interception of
traffickers communications over Digital Subscriber Line, Internet,
and CATV (DEA)
A digital narrowband
audio transmitter secreted in an operational wristwatch (DEA)
Combination digital
narrowband audio transmitter/recorder (DEA)
A remote audio
transmitter that operates off the existing cellular phone service
networks and has user programmable formats (DEA)
A 500 MW digital
narrowband transmitter that can be secreted in multiple concealments
(DEA)
Interception and
direction finding of trafficker's communications over satellite telephone
(DEA)
The capability
to transmit full or near full motion video imagery over conventional
telephone lines using enhanced video compression techniques (DEA)
The capability
to combine future wide bandwidth Internet devices with full or near
full motion video imaging (DEA)
A stand-alone
tracking display system supporting existing and future tracking and
communications devices and systems designed to provide position data
in the forms of latitudinal and longitudinal data and text messaging
to a central monitoring site (DEA)
A satellite based
sensor relay unit with increased bandwidth efficiency and lower power
requirements. Device to accept input from sensors, switches, etc.
and transmit via global network (DEA)
An acoustic airfield
monitor with long life, satellite data link and simplified deployment.
Integration of a GPS chipset in a miniature, high power search and
rescue satellite (SARSAT) beacon (DEA)
Upgrade the current
ONDCP funded Map N Track display software to operate with the additional
GPS tracking devices. Expand coverage to include low-resolution world
maps and high-resolution maps of U.S. territories. Add a data backup
feature and incorporate a database (DEA)
Miniature, low
power GPS tracking devices which utilize national terrestrial packet
switch communications networks (DEA)
Miniature, low
power GPS data loggers embedded in common equipment and packages (DEA)
Automated enforcement
case tracking that supports the INS in its law enforcement mission,
including identification, apprehension and removal of aliens illegally
in the United States; the filing of administrative and criminal charges
against aliens who commit illegal acts; and the seizure of contraband
associated with illegal alien activity (INS)
Secure, digital,
wireless and interoperable agency wide communications (INS)
The establishment
of a law enforcement Antenna Systems Development Facility (ASDF).
The ASDF would provide expert capabilities in radio frequency propagation
technology (FBI)
Geographic information
in a system which assembles, stores, manipulates and displays data
over a map background (INS)
State-of-the-art
fingerprinting matching technology to ensure accurate identification
of all apprehended aliens (INS)
Medium Term
(3-5 years)
Unmanned aerial
vehicles which can be operated from large cutters at sea (USCG)
Information and
decision support systems (USCG)
Track recording
capability sufficient to reveal land/sea/air drug trafficking routes
(USCG)
Ability to retrieve
and fuse information from heterogeneous databases including text (USCG)
Web-based intelligence/information
architecture. Identification of potentially suspicious activity and
of aggregate patterns and trends from large databases by linking together
relevant information and by search for similar (versus identical)
information (USCG)
Decision support
systems to improve effectiveness of searches. (e.g., patterns recognition
and profile development systems for targeting suspect vessels and
traffickers) (USCG)
Mobile push to
talk, low probability of intercept communications (USCG)
Improved "hands-free"
surveillance (video/audio) recorders for maritime small high-speed
surface vessels use: video, high resolution night vision, low light
TV, infrared, other electro-optical systems (USCG)
Long Term (over
5 years)
Improved sensors
(better, cheaper, lighter, smaller, more power efficient) (USCG)
Unmanned aerial
vehicles which can be operated from small cutters at sea (USCG)
High performance
database systems which allow for aggregate queries on arbitrary criteria
(USCG)
Software to automatically
extract information from text and populate databases (USCG)
DEMAND REDUCTION
Improving treatment
through neuroscientific advances
Expansion of advanced
neuroimaging research facilities and training of research teams who
are devoted to studies of drug abuse and therapeutic medications.
The technology should provide neuro-imaging research equipment suites
and facilities with the best positron emission tomography (PET), functional
nuclear magnetic resonance (fNMR) imaging, brain scan image processing
and interpretation, and other noninvasive brain imaging techniques.
Contribute to
the development of magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), functional
magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography
(PET) systems development or improvements to image the drug's metabolic
and chemical processes, map brain reward circuitry, blood volume and
flow associated with drug metabolism, analyze interactions with potential
therapeutic medicines, ligand development, and study of localized
active areas of the brain.
Micro-PET with
stereotactic probes/injectors to enhance ligand development and studies
on small localized areas of the brain and on non-human primates.
Improving the
transfer of biomedical research to the clinical setting
Scientific studies
and technologies that could provide the platform for key research
areas such as: catalytic antibodies as peripheral blockers or circulating
drug interceptors; substitute medications and partial agonists for
addiction; blocking drug effects by regulating uptake of neurotransmitters;
curtailment of drug-induced adaptive behavior such as compulsive self-administration;
assessment of functional neuroanatomy and effects of cognitive impairment;
pharmacological phenomena and neurochemical effects relating to sensitization
and tolerance; cue induced craving; significance of various rewards;
the study of the effects and degree of genetic contributions to drug
use; and sound clinical techniques, rehabilitation, and treatment
protocols to deal with overdoses, withdrawal, and long term maintenance.
Psychology, pharmacology,
and chemical assay techniques to improve our understanding of the
effects of drugs on the body, techniques for assessing and monitoring
drug addiction and abuse severity, and techniques for treatment/client
matching.
Drug testing in
sports, investigate innovative approaches for screening for doping
and other performance enhancing substances and drugs currently not
detectable by urine tests, and to develop cheaper test procedures
for handling urine specimens collected from competing athletes. Systems,
methods, and protocols that will assist understanding and detecting
the use of performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic and androgenic
steroids by athletes competing locally, nationally, and internationally
Youth/first time
offender diversion, expansion of the analytical capabilities of the
National Evaluation of Substance Abuse Treatment computer network,
and therapeutic treatments for cocaine addiction.
