monica™
mk.6
remote case entry
and
sampling system
The increasing danger posed by CBW and TICs requires a radical reassessment of capabilities to deal rapidly and effectively with the known or suspected threat from these weapons and chemicals.
Standard chemical agent monitors depend on a significant release of agent into the environment in order to function. Non-invasive detection methods such as Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) can provide information on the elemental composition of contained materials but no direct evidence of their chemical structure.
The only totally reliable technique for analysis of contents, chemical or biological, is to take and analyse a physical sample.
This is the rationale behind mmic eod's monica™ case entry system, and for this reason the equipment has been adopted by many of the major authorities concerned with the CBW threat. This unique field-proven equipment provides remote case entry and sample/empty capabilities for a wide range of both conventional and improvised CBW.
The equipment is designed to insert a gas-tight self-sealing probe through target casings in a wide range of materials including metals and plastics with a considerable range of wall thickness. Once installed the probe gives fully sealed access for sampling, extraction or neutralisation of the target contents.
The monica™ drilling head attaches directly to the target, regardless of its diameter, and will attach safely and reliably to a range of surfaces without any surface preparation of the target.
No operator set-up is required to deal with different wall thickness or case diameter. Training is simple and operators invariably comment on the simplicity and user-friendliness of the system.
Power is supplied by compressed air from standard SCBA or other compressed air cylinders making the system man-portable and extremely reliable.
The equipment can be easily deployed from a single small vehicle by a two-man team in under five minutes.
monica™
system in use on a
Recovered Chemical Munition
Drilling and sealing 500lb Large Aircraft Bomb
The drilling head, which weighs 8kg, has no significant electromagnetic or radio frequency signature and is connected via a 5m chemically-resistant umbilical to the computer-controlled Main Control Unit (MCU), which automates the drilling and seal-installation process.
The operator
controls the drilling process with a handset from a distance of up to
500m, linkage to the control unit being made with a number of 100m cable-reels.
The handset provides the operator with full control of the drilling process
and with visual feedback indicating the drilling status.
The drill used is a custom-made high-speed steel annular (hollow) drill, which carries a Nylon-6 or PTFE seal, depending on the application.
The sampling
syringe mates to the installed probe via a zero-drip seal.
Both the probe and syringe seals automatically close and repeat samples
may be taken from a single probe.
Forensically approved stainless steel samplers are available for evidential purposes.
The sampler
can be simply replaced with the provided dipleg adapter for emptying or
neutralising the item's contents, if required, utilising the
mats (Monica Agent Transfer System).
Sealed endoscopic access and the delivery of high pressure fluids to the
target's interior are also possible.
Accessing suspected CBRN IED
Sampling of Munition Contents
Capabilities
The equipment
will drill and seal steel, iron, non-ferrous, plastic and composite targets
from small diameters through larger items and up to flat plate.It
does not require access to a target's diameter and can attach to the target
in any orientation.
The probe will insert and seal against very high internal pressures.
Drilling time is typically 10 mm thickness per minute and the supplied SCBA cylinder pair will power the equipment for a minimum of four minutes.
The equipment has been proven to perform reliably against a wide variety of targets including aircraft bombs, artillery projectiles, mortar rounds, rocket warheads and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).
The standard sampler is suitable for both volatile and non-volatile chemical agents and TICs, and a sterile sampling system is available for weaponised powders.
Special seals are also available for removing Inhibited Red Fuming Nitric Acid (IRFNA) from missiles or storage tanks.
Lease or hire of the equipment is available under certain circumstances.
Deployment on a small-diameter binary munition