Enhancing technology development through integrated environmental analysis: toward sustainable nonlethal military systems.
New technologies are not only critical in supporting traditional industrial and military success but also play a pivotal role in advancing sustainability and sustainable development. With the current global economic challenges, resulting in tighter budgets and increased uncertainty, synergistic paradigms and tools that streamline the design and dissemination of key technologies are more important than ever. Accordingly, a proactive and holistic approach can facilitate efficient research, design, testing, evaluation, and fielding for novel and off-the-shelf products, thereby assisting developers, end users, and other diverse stakeholders in better understanding tradeoffs in the defense industry and beyond. By prioritizing mechanisms such as strategic life-cycle environmental assessments (LCEA); programmatic environment, safety, and occupational health evaluations (PESHE); health hazard assessments (HHA); and other innovative platforms and studies early within systems engineering, various nonlethal military technologies have been successfully developed and deployed. These efforts provide a framework for addressing complex environment, safety, and occupational health risks that affect personnel, infrastructure, property, socioeconomic, and natural/cultural resources. Moreover, integrated, comprehensive, multidisciplinary, and iterative analyses involving flexible groups of specialists/subject matter experts can be applied at various spatiotemporal scales in support of collaborations. This paper highlights the Urban Operations Laboratory process utilized for inclusive and transformative environmental analysis, which can translate into advantages and progress toward sustainable systems.
Saulters
Oral S
OS
Urban Operations Laboratory, Center for Hazardous Substance Research, Kansas State University, 104 Ward Hall, Manhattan, Kansas 66506, USA. osaulter@ksu.edu
Erickson
Larry E
LE
Leven
Blase A
BA
Pickrel
John A
JA
Green
Ryan M
RM
Jamka
Leslie
L
Prill
Amanda
A
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004777:Environment; D006801:Humans; D008891:Military Science / Q000379:methods*; D016273:Occupational Exposure; D009812:Odorants; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012449:Safety; D054041:Weapons