THE OPPORTUNITY: The U.S. Army anticipated that 30 years down the road, as cities keep growing, the Army will be unable to avoid conflicts in urban areas and will not stay in one place for a long period of time. Thus, the Army needed something to provide protection that could be deployed instantly, recovered quickly and moved easily. The Geotechnical and Structures Laboratory (GSL), within the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), developed the Perimeter Security Solutions technologies to address this need: Aggressor Vehicle Entry Readiness Technology (AVERT) is a barrier to mitigate hostile vehicle threats, Ready Armor Protection Instant Deployment (RAPID) is an accordion-like security wall for ballistic protection in urban environments and Deployable Expedient Traffic Entry Regulator (DETER) provides an active vehicle barrier to protect critical assets and soft targets from vehicular attacks. 

THE SOLUTION: ERDC originally developed its Perimeter Security Solutions to meet the needs of the future warfighter, but the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) saw the potential to tailor this technology solution for civilian law enforcement and homeland security needs. The Office for Bombing Prevention (OBP), within DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), collaborated with the ERDC to adapt the perimeter technologies for civilian protection. As a result of the partnership, in 2023, DETER and RAPID were both deployed at the 88th annual National Football League (NFL) Draft in Kansas City, Missouri.  

THE TECH TRANSFER MECHANISM: The ERDC demonstrated RAPID and AVERT at two events in 2019, where the technology caught the attention of members of CISA’s OBP, who saw the potential to develop the technologies with a new focus on the civilian sector. The ERDC entered into a five-year interagency agreement with DHS’s Science & Technology Directorate (S&T). With help from CISA OPB and funding from DHS S&T, the ERDC tested the technologies at public events to assess them in an operational environment with the new user focus in mind.  

THE OUTCOMES: This interagency collaboration resulted in the rapid development of these perimeter technologies, including taking technologies originally developed for the warfighter and tailoring them for homeland security. The high-visibility demonstration of DETER and RAPID at the 2023 NFL Draft was a huge success and a testament to the commitment to collaboration and respect on all sides. ERDC researchers received valuable feedback from law enforcement, NFL security contacts and local security officials. This success is also leading to further partnerships, including through cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) and commercial licenses. Thanks to the visibility of the NFL Draft demonstration, at the time of publication, the Secret Service is interested in purchasing RAPID and the team is scheduled to demonstrate DETER at the next Indianapolis 500. The agencies involved, the commercial companies licensing the technologies and the American public all stand to benefit from this expanding collaboration.