You're only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

Barrie Pegrum has been applying his ingenuity to the training of armed police and special services personnel for nearly three decades, and is the brains behind Sector Associates, a consultancy specialising in installations for training military special forces and police, especially for counter terrorism operations. His engineering career started when he was 17 years old as an Assistant Experimental Officer at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough where he conducted wind tunnel tests on the Hawker Siddeley Harrier 'Jump Jet'. This led to his first invention, devising water gauges to work with pitot tubes to allow visualisation of pressure distributions around the aircraft. He then proceeded to become involved in various jobs in the built environment sector, until setting up Sector Associates in 1982. "Our big break came in 1985," he says when his team won a £10 million contract to build a counter terrorism training facility in Qatar. "This was the first Close Quarter Battle where ArmaLite rifle bullets (5.56mm calibre) were required to be stopped in indoor facilities. "They had been stopped before in conventional ranges in big, heavy bullet traps or outdoors in sand traps, but not in rooms and corridors simulating real buildings. We therefore had to do our own research to solve the problem and came up with two solutions; a special lightweight concrete, and layers of different thickness steel and plywood. This allowed us to stop the bullet in very thin and lightweight panels, which was important for long span ceilings and modules where weight was an issue." In 1986, he came up with various developments including targets that could pop up, turn, and respond to doors being kicked open. But it was not until 1998 that he developed a system that involved 'real-time duelling' which allows groups of individuals to shoot at video images of each other in separate rooms. It was produced using cameras and at first the team tracked bullets by sound. But, they switched to infrared sensing which was able to detect the holes where the bullets struck. "It was not my invention," he says, "but I put it together and made it work." Pegrum then described various installations in different Middle Eastern and Far Eastern countries, and the Metropolitan Police Training Centre in Gravesend. Specialist scenarios in different installations include mocked up trains, aircraft, oil rigs, hotels, cafes and houses - anywhere where terrorists can hide among ordinary people or take hostages. But, despite being a training facility the risks are still very real. "Usually it's live", he says, "real guns, live ammunition and real explosives. The challenge then is to ensure that none of the trainees are either killed or injured, and the facility can be used again for the next group even if the rescue involves blowing walls down." One of the important abilities of any facility is that it has to be quickly reconfigurable to allow the practicing of different scenarios. In the first installation in Qatar, this was accomplished by using container sized modules with lockable doors and windows that could be lifted up and put down in different arrangements. In an installation in the Far East, different scenarios include a bus that can be quickly converted into a Café. Many of the techniques used are similar to those employed in film sets with partitions and building walls that can be picked up and moved about, except that these walls have to be durable enough to survive years of abuse from the effects of bullets and various blasts. His solutions have to be cost effective and he is proud of his Gravity Operated Sector Targets or GOSTs, which he describes as, 'advanced low technology'. Instead of being operated by electric motors they are actuated by bungee. They can pop up, turn or even kick in a door. We asked about why he has followed a policy of generally not patenting his ideas, but he responded that in most cases, he has been confident of coming up with new and better ideas for successive clients. His latest scheme is called FRAPP, Fully Reconfigurable Anti Penetration Panels. These, he explains, are bullet proof panels that can be stacked against each other when not in use and when required can be picked up and moved into position by pallet truck and quickly locked together. The panels include doors and windows which can be blown off with explosive. Pegrum also revealed he is able to offer eye tracking to ascertain whether trainees are looking where they should be or in the wrong places. In a real situation there is usually only a moment to identify what is happening. Mistakes can be fatal. Pointers • Anti terrorist training facilities have to be as realistic as possible • It has been found necessary for them to allow the use of real weapons, live ammunition and real explosives with minimal risk to trainees • The facilities have to be robust enough to be used again and again. Advanced materials technologies are crucial • They also have to be easily and quickly reconfigurable to offer a wide range of different scenarios, which requires mechanical engineering that is reliable and cost effective