By Calvin Biesecker
Raytheon [RTN] has developed and demonstrated a rapid concrete breaking technology that can be used by urban search and rescue teams to work more quickly in disaster situations than current technologies allow.
The Controlled Impact Rescue Tool (CIRT), which was developed under the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) rapid technology application program, uses shockwaves to break apart concrete, allowing rescue workers to quickly remove the material. The CIRT was developed by Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems segment and demonstrates another niche of the public safety and homeland security market that the company would like to enter.
Raytheon’s JPS Communications business unit makes devices that allow different types of communications systems to interoperate. The company is also developing next-generation radiation detection systems for DHS, port and airport surveillance systems, passenger vetting solutions for travelers entering and exiting the United Kingdom, and long-range sensors for border security applications.
In a recent prototype demonstration for DHS, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and urban search and rescue officials, the CIRT took 13 minutes to break up the concrete versus 29 minutes for existing technologies, Raytheon said.
The CIRT weighs 100 pounds and requires two persons to hold it against a wall. The device uses a powder cartridge to ram the impact head into a section of concrete. A new cartridge is required after each impact.
CIRT is still in the prototype stage and the company hasn’t determined a price for the product. Raytheon said it could produce limited quantities of the device but would use a product manufacturer depending on demand.