Cubic Defense Applications, the defense systems unit of Cubic Corporation, successfully demonstrated its new Sea-PAN laser-based maritime training system to federal law enforcement agencies three times this spring.
Sea-PAN employs Cubic’s Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System (MILES) technology, previously used only for land-based training, in a marine environment, replicating law enforcement weapons engagements on watercraft.
As with the land-based MILES system, participants in an exercise using the Sea-PAN kits wear harnesses equipped with laser sensors that detect “hits” from coded laser pulses from small-arms transmitter (SAT) units attached to actual weapons.
Boat engines are fitted with MILES laser detectors and a module that determines the amount of damage that would have occurred if an engine had been hit by an actual round in a gun battle. A display screen at the helm tells the boat operator if an engine has been rendered inoperable or partially disabled, so they can then shut off or power down the boat’s engines to maintain the accuracy of the simulation. (The system does not shut down an engine automatically for safety reasons.) The engine units are wirelessly connected to the screen at the helm via a small Personal Area Network, hence the name Sea-PAN.
The most recent demonstration of Sea-PAN was at the Maritime Simulation Conference May 5-6 in Brunswick, Georgia, sponsored by the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC), headquartered in Brunswick. Federal law enforcement personnel from 88 agencies are trained at the center.
The Sea-PAN demonstration involved two 32-foot high-speed boats, one representing a hostile craft known to have explosives aboard, the second a law enforcement boat with orders that the first boat “had to be stopped.” About 20 participants in the law enforcement boat were armed with an M-4 rifle, a Remington 870 pump-action shotgun and Glock pistol, all equipped with laser transmitters. The hostile boat had an M-4 rifle and a Glock pistol, also equipped with SAT units.
The two boats engaged in high-speed maneuvers, at up to 35 knots (about 40 mph). Aggressive pursuit and evasion tactics were employed as the law enforcement boat attempted to intercept the hostile craft.
Similar demonstrations were conducted at the FLETC in Charleston, South Carolina, and for U.S. Coast Guard personnel in Destin in northwest Florida this April. Florida Wildlife Commission officers have also tried the Sea-PAN system.
