|
Celebrating 60 Years of CB Research
at Defence Research Establishment Suffield (1941-2001)
by Dr. Paul A. D'Agostino and Dr. Cam A. Boulet
Chemical and Biological Defence Section
Defence
Research Establishment Suffield (DRES) is one of five research and development
establishments within the newly created agency, Defence R&D Canada.
Located 50 kilometers northwest of Medicine Hat, Alberta, DRES is focussed
on providing the Canadian Forces with defence science and technology
leadership in chemical/biological (CB) defence, military engineering
and humanitarian de-mining. CB defence has been the heart of DRES since
its inception as a test facility to address the threat of chemical warfare
use against Canadian and allied troops during World War II.
The facility,
known as the Suffield Experimental Station (SES), conducted research
and development in chemistry, physics and meteorology, offensive munitions
and physiology, using both laboratories and the approximately 2500 square
kilometer Experimental Proving Ground. By the end of World War II, the
SES had a staff of almost 600, that had carried out extensive research
on chemical warfare agents and their use as weapons, smokes, flame warfare,
biological warfare and ballistics.
In 1947 the SES
became part of the Defence Research Board. During the early 1950's the
SES conducted numerous chemical warfare (CW) agent field trials to improve
the understanding of chemical weapons, including assessment of their
dispersive and persistence characteristics. In 1955 the present day
central laboratory was opened and a biological research program was
established to investigate a number of defensive aspects of BW, including
protective clothing, sampling, prophylaxis and treatment, and decontamination.
The CW program shifted to defensive research in 1957 and a decade later
SES was renamed Defence Research Establishment Suffield following a
full review of the role of research and its application to Canadian
Forces priorities. More historical information on DRES is contained
in a prior ASA Newsletter 91-5, written to commemorate the 50th anniversary
of DRES.
DRES celebrated
its 50th anniversary in 1991, inviting past and present employees to
a weekend that included a public open house and dinner/dance. Recent
examples of DRES research, including chemical and biological field detection/identification
systems developed for use by Canadian Forces in the Gulf War, were exhibited
along with displays highlighting research being conducted by both DRES
research divisions, the Defence Sciences Division and the Defence Technologies
Division. The Gulf War brought home the serious nature of the CB hazard
and the experiences gained during this conflict greatly influenced the
future direction of CB research at DRES. Deficiencies within the biological
component of the research program were recognized and considerable resources
were redirected from CW to BW research, with field detection/identification
of BW agents being a top priority throughout the 1990's. At the same
time the CB program from our sister establishment, Defence Research
Establishment Ottawa, was transferred to DRES, completing the consolidation
of the CB program to a single research establishment.
The CB program
at DRES presently employs approximately 60 staff in a single Chemical
and Biological Defence Section (CBDS) with a relatively small operating
budget approaching $2 million (US) annually. Five groups at DRES focus
on conducting CB research and development in priority areas identified
by the Canadian Forces and other government departments. The technical
excellence and innovative research of this program is used to leverage
collaboration through various international arrangements.
DRES CB Research Groups
- Hazard Assessment and Agent Toxicity Group
- Physical Protection Group
- Detection and Identification Group
- Medical Therapy Group
- Preventive Medicine Group
The
Hazard Assessment and Agent Toxicity Group assesses the risk to
Canadian Forces from CBW agents and toxic industrial chemicals and recommends
procedures and equipment to mitigate this risk. These efforts largely
define the current and future CB hazard and play a key role in the establishment
of research priorities for the remaining four groups involved in Physical
Protection, Detection and Identification, Preventive Medicine and Medical
Therapy. A priority project within this group involves the development
of the CB Hazard Assessment Modeling System. Thus system is designed
to integrate warning, reporting and modeling information, thus providing
a knowledge-based system that can be used by the field commander for
CB events. Development of physically-sound and validated flow and dispersion
models for the prediction of turbulent transport and diffusion of CB
agents is being actively investigated. DRES is collaborating with its
allies in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia to develop
a state-of-the-art modeling system for predicting the consequences of
CBW releases within the complex urban environment and to provide high-quality,
comprehensive laboratory and field trial data for model validation.
Work in
Hazard Assessment has a direct application to domestic and international
CB counter-terrorism preparedness and DRES has assumed an increasingly
important role in Canada, providing access to specialized training and
test facilities, including live agent training for first responders.
A comprehensive nine module course, entitled "Chemical and Biological
Warfare Agents: An Introduction for First Responders", was developed.
The modules cover the history, hazards, and defence against CB agents
and includes two case studies, the 1995 Tokyo subway sarin incident
and a simulated major biological terrorist attack on a large metropolitan
area.
Containment
laboratory facilities are available at DRES for handling of CB warfare
agents and testing of defence equipment by DRES personnel and industrial
partners. DRES is the only site that conducts the synthesis of CW agents
in Canada and this section of the chemical containment suite has been
designated under the Chemical Weapons Convention as the Canadian National
Single Small-Scale Facility. The CB Defence Program also has specialized
separate facilities for defensive BW agent research. These facilities
include a suite of Biological Level 3 laboratories for bacteriological
and viral research approved for use by Health Canada and the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency.
The
Physical Protection Group is involved in development of advanced
CB protective materials and equipment that impose a lower physiological
burden on soldiers. The C4 Canadian mask, with its improved canister
was introduced to the Canadian Forces in 1993. An innovative CB molded
glove was developed using a Computer Aided-Design model that incorporates
over 40 hand dimensions from a database of CF soldiers. The new CB glove
is designed to facilitate hand dexterity and offers enhanced chemical
protection properties. Recent efforts have led to the development of
a lightweight CB Operational Suit that reduces the heat load associated
with wearing the older CB over garment and combat uniform, while maintaining
comparable chemical performance levels. The new one-piece suit, developed
using high-performance lightweight carbon barriers and a liquid repellent
outer shell, was recently tested by Canadian Forces soldiers for operational
effectiveness and user acceptability. The suit offers soldiers functional
fit and improved operational performance.
Canadian Forces
concern over the corrosive nature of older decontaminants led to the
development of a new aqueous based decontaminant CASCAD (Canadian Aqueous
System for Chemical-Biological Decontamination). The CASCAD formulation
may be used to safely decontaminate vehicles, personal weapons and other
in-service equipment and is used regularly at the DRES field training
site by Canadian Forces, the Canadian NBC Response Team and other first
responders during live agent training exercises. Components of the CASCAD
have also been incorporated into a blast suppressant foam (Blast Guard),
which may be utilized in terrorist situations involving CB dispersal
devices. Blast Guard, developed in partnership with the Royal Canadian
Mounted Police and Irvin Aerospace (Fort Erie, Ontario), has proved
effective in mitigating the effects of terrorist explosive devices containing
CBW agents during numerous trials.
The
Detection and Identification Group is the largest of the five groups,
focusing on real-time detection and rapid identification of CBW agents.
Detection in time to protect is a priority within the Canadian Forces
and considerable effort has gone into the development of field portable
CB detection systems since the Persian Gulf War. A parallel effort in
CBW agent identification is ongoing, with an emphasis on the development
of methods for the unambiguous identification of CBW agents. Analytical
methods involving the use mass spectrometry for the unambiguous identification
of CW agents in a variety of matrices were pioneered at DRES, with research
now focussing on liquid chromatography-electrospray mass spectrometry
applications. Antibody and gene based identification methods have been
used extensively for identifying BW agent in the laboratory, with antibody
based methods being successfully transferred to the field, giving the
Canadian Forces a provisional BW agent identification capability. A
similar CW agent identification capability is anticipated in the near
future to deal with the growing list of chemicals of concern.
During the Gulf
War DRES deployed two different detection systems for the Canadian Forces
in Qatar, the Mobile Aerosol Sampling and Identification Facility (MASIF),
a prototype biological detection and identification system, and the
Chemical Agent Detection System (CADS) based on the Chemical Agent Monitor.
BW agent detection was based solely on particle size measurements and
lacked the ability to differentiate between dust and biological particles.
Following the Gulf War, DRES embarked on a major research and development
project designed to provide the Canadian Forces with an improved field
portable CB detection system. A decade worth of effort by DRES and industrial
collaborators resulted in the development of the Canadian Integrated
Bio/Chemical Detection System (CIBADS), an advanced integrated CBW agent
detection and identification system.
DRES recognized
the potential of fluorescence measurements for the differentiation of
biological particles from dust and other particles without biological
properties and holds a patent on the Fluorescence Aerodynamic Particle
Sizer (FLAPS) technology, used to simultaneously measure the size distribution
and intrinsic fluorescence intensity associated with individual particles.
FLAPS (UV APSŪ TSI Inc. Minneapolis. MN) was incorporated into CIBADS
for generic BW agent detection, while ion mobility spectrometry was
used for detection of CW agent targets. The final product of the project,
delivered in 2001 and known as the CB Sentry, is a rugged, field deployable
unit capable of autonomous detection and collection of CBW agents. An
Automated Ticket Reader has been incorporated for processing of immunochromatographic
hand-held assays for provisional BW agent identification in the field.
Prior CIBADS development models and the CB Sentry have been extensively
tested during multinational field trials with the 2000 trial series
being hosted on the DRES Experimental Proving Grounds at the recently
completed Colin Watson Aerosol Layout. CB Sentry successfully detected
the challenge aerosols and is now available commercially from the industrial
partner, Computing Devices Canada (Calgary, Alberta) for military or
counter-terrorism purposes.
The
Medical Therapy Group conducts research and development on effective
therapies for CW agent intoxication that do not require pretreatment.
This group developed HI-6, the highly effective bis-pyridinium oxime
used in the event of nerve agent poisoning, and is currently focussing
effort on elucidating the mechanism of action of sulfur mustard, with
hopes of identifying drug(s) with antidote activity against mustard.
DRES has advanced facilities for the investigation of the treatment
and medical management of CW agent casualties. This includes the use
of multiple species models and an inhalation toxicology facility. DRES
has developed a fully instrumented animal model for monitoring the medical
consequences and treatment from CW agent poisoning. This allows for
a better understanding of the underlying medical issues associated with
CW agent poisoning as well as direct observation of the medical countermeasures
required to treat a chemical or combined trauma and chemical casualty.
The
Preventive Medicine Group conducts research and development to provide
the most practical treatments to reduce or eliminate the operational
effects of BW and endemic disease hazards for the Canadian Forces. The
group supports other areas of CB research and development where Biocontainment
Level 3 capability is needed and has an active program in the development
of vaccines to protect against Brucella and Western Equine Encephalitis
virus. Research is also being carried out on a variety of anti-infective
treatments including the development of liposome encapsulated ciprofloxacin,
the use of poly-ICLC protection/treatment against Western Equine Encephalitis,
the treatment of anthrax with specific antibodies and the use of immune
modulators as prophylaxis against anthrax and other potential BW agents.
The CB program addresses primarily Canadian Forces requirements, including
real-time CB detection, rapid CB identification, CB hazard predictive
modeling, improved individual protective clothing and medical countermeasures.
To maintain its lead in science and technology, longer term, highly
innovative research will focus on the development of integrated stand-off
CB detectors, use of UAVs, nanotechnology and robotics. Much of this
higher risk research and development is being conducted jointly between
DRES, university and industry using Technology Investment Funding. These
projects also recognize the increasing spectrum of hazards that the
Canadian Forces may encounter on deployed missions and includes research
on toxic industrial materials and endemic diseases.
Microfluidic
technology research, in collaboration with the University of Alberta
(Edmonton, Alberta), is investigating the potential and principles of
microanalysis on microchips for the development of integrated microchip
systems for the CB agent identification. Prototype microchip instruments
have been constructed and tested with a toxin simulant. Applications
of this nanotechnology for genetic applications are also being investigated
under a similar collaboration. Nanostructured materials are also being
investigated to develop a new class of "smart" materials for use as
chemical and biological protective barriers. The nanoscale, metal-organic
hybrid polymer structures will form the basic building blocks of a material
that is capable of both sensing its state and modifying itself based
on the environment as a means of improving its operational functionality.
DRES has initiated
two new Technology Demonstration Projects (TDP) in CB defence to demonstrate
advanced technologies to the Canadian Forces. The first of these projects
is the CBPlus Combat Operations Uniform. This project will demonstrate
novel approaches to personal protection of the soldier against a broad
range of toxic hazards using novel materials, revolutionary design and
advanced system level testing. The second TDP is entitled Portable Aerosol
Inhalers for Immediate Therapy and Prophylaxis against Biological Warfare
Agents. The project will demonstrate the usefulness and efficacy of
aerosol inhaler technologies for the immediate delivery of novel prophylactic
drugs against BW agents. Aerosol drug delivery allows direct lung delivery
and has been shown by DRES to improve efficacy and clinical outcomes.
Over its 60-year
history of CB defence research and development, DRES has maintained
a world-wide reputation for excellence in science and responsiveness
to needs of the Canadian Forces. The Canadian Forces have some of the
best CB protection, detection, and medical countermeasures available
to any country and these have originated directly from the Defence R&D
Canada program. DRES continues to have a highly innovative and forward-looking
research program that will help ensure its excellence in CB defence
research in the 21st century.
The 60th anniversary
was celebrated during the weekend of June 22/23/24, 2001, kicking off
with a best-ball golf tournament on Friday, a dinner/dance Saturday
at the Medicine Hat Lodge and a Family Picnic on Sunday at a Echo Dale
regional park on the South Saskatchewan River. Past and present employees
participated in these events which provoked memories of the past and
anticipation of the future.
Information about DRES, R&D projects and publications
are available on the DRES website: http://www.dres.dnd.ca.
For correspondence with the authors contact Paul D'Agostino: pdag@mailhost.dres.dnd.ca
01-4, issue no. 85
|
