Net passes 'bomb' test
Defense system idea stops truck going 52 mph
By J.D. Walker
Staff Writer, The Courier-Tribune
ERECT - The fourth time was the charm for the inventor and backers of
a novel military defense system.
Carolina Professionals Inc., a Greensboro-based company, in conjunction
with Vesture Corp. of Asheboro, tested a high-tech barrier on a farm in
Erect Thursday that is designed to stop a vehicle weighing up to 15,000
pounds being driven at 50 mph.
After testing problems on three previous occasions, this time everything
worked as planned, and so did the system. It stopped the high-speed vehicle,
the specially developed net ensnaring the truck, dragging it to a dead stop.
"If this had been a bomb, he's not going anywhere," said Michael
Lamore, inventor of the system.
Lamore said he had hoped the netting would not break but that as long
as the truck was stopped, the test could be called a success.
The system is called Barrier One1. It is a 200-foot-wide, 6-foot-tall
net held tightly between two heavy weight steel supports. The net, which
weighs 294 pounds, is suspended roughly 12 inches above the ground on a
system of energy absorption steel springs.
The product, if successful, has potential for any property - i.e., power
plants, nuclear facilities, schools, government offices, etc. - where terrorists
might try to drive a bomb-laden vehicle into a structure.
Lamore said he will tweak the system, adjusting the weight of the roping
used and possibly the weave. There will likely be another test at a later
date.
The military had David Stephens, a defense contractor with San Antonio,
Texas-based Applied Research Associates, on hand to witness the test. Stephens
was mum on his opinion of the results, saying only that he plans to compile
his observations and present them to the U.S. Department of Defense at a
later date.
Tim Walker of w2 Entertainment in Coleridge filmed the proceedings for
military use.
The goal of all the testing, said Lamore, is to develop a lower-cost,
highly-portable defense system that could prevent terrorists from driving
bomb-laden vehicles into high security sites such as the hangar that houses
Air Force One or military tent cities.
Barrier One1 would cost roughly one-third the expense spent on traditional
steel and concrete barrier blockades, said Lamore. It can be installed in
days and raised in minutes.
Lamore said the entire system can be compiled on pallets and readied
for shipment anywhere in the world.
Unlike the previous three trials using a remote-control vehicle, this
time developers used the services of Ashley Rogers, a professional stuntman
from Concord, to drive a heavily-laden panel truck into the defense system.
In the first trial, the test vehicle struck the net once at approximately
26 mph, too low to impress military representatives.
In tests two and three, the vehicle went haywire, ambling off into the
sidelines.
This time Rogers rammed the panel truck into the net at 52 mph, according
to his truck speedometer.
The net snapped but so entangled the truck that the front carriage was
destroyed.
The test took place in the Erect community on property owned by the family
of Vesture's president, Byron Owens. Owens' company is assisting with the
patent pro-cess and product testing.
Owens said he met Michael Lamore, head of Carolina Professionals, through
a mutual friend.
Lamore is a civil engineer employed at the Washington-based Andrews Air
Force Base to develop a $15 million basewide security system.
During that process, he said he was approached by the military about
the need for a more expansive barrier system to protect their jet hangars.
Lamore said he took the project on at his own expense with costs so far
running "in the mid-six figures."
Now he is screening calls from commercial clients interested in what
Barrier One1 can do for them. Lamore said people are asking him about applications
for the product that never even occurred to him.
So, it is back to the lab, this time with a little more upbeat attitude.
"It's great. It works," said Lamore. "It's no longer just
something on paper."
Copyright 2002, Stephens Media Group
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