It's a box! It's a shelter! It's a jail!
And it's air-conditioned and waterproof just for a single inmate's comfort and security – an individual cell in one unit that can be brought into just about any location, snapped together and used to lock up those who misbehave.
It could mean no more transporting suspects or convicts in vehicles over miles of roads to an established jail, they could just be locked up next to where they are arrested.
The U.S. Army is weighing a plan to manufacture and deploy battlefield-ready solitary "confinement" shelters for military detainees, and both American and Israeli companies already are jockeying for position to establish themselves as potential contractors for the endeavor.
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The concept behind the Modular Detainee Shelter Systems project is to provide field units with the ability to secure – and possibly transport – prisoners apprehended "during combat operations," according to planning documents marked "For Official Use Only" that WND located during routine database research.
The Request for Information, or RFI, document says the single-detainee holding cells must meet minimum Department of Defense specifications for "external air transport."
The RFI mentions that the units must meet MIL-STD-209 guidelines – Slinging and Tie-Down Provisions for Lifting and Tying Down Military Equipment – but it remains unclear whether external air transport vehicles such as helicopters would move the shelters while detainees are still inside.
Additional specifications for the detention boxes include a requirement that each system "must be capable to withstand weather, sand and sea corrosion for extended periods of time." Similarly, they must be able endure steady winds of up to 100 mph with gusts of 120 mph.
The shelters would be 96 inches tall and 86 inches wide with at least 40 square feet of floor space, and must have the ability to connect to external HVAC systems.
A single door would contain a 5x5-inch window, a food-tray slot, and 8" high by 16" wide handcuffing hatch, secured from the exterior, and be able to withstand forcible opening from the inside. The waterproof units will contain electrical lighting, but the switch would be accessible only from the outside.
Though the Technology Applications Office – a unit within the Army Contracting Command – is not yet seeking bids on the project, it wants to know who is potentially capable of cranking out the closed box-like structures.
Among companies responding to the sources-sought notice thus far are Agam Metal Works of Israel, Delta Bravo Construction of North Carolina, Satellite Shelters of Minnesota, Modular Genius of Maryland, Palomar Modular Buildings of Texas, and Hugg Mobile Storage Systems of Arkansas.
The Army has requested, along with company capability statements, incremental pricing schedules for the construction and delivery of between five and 20 units. However, that is a minimum requirement, and therefore it remains unknown how many of the shelters ultimately might be ordered.
The original solicitation released in November – No. W904TE-15-S-PODS – emphasized that a Request for Proposals does not exist and that the government is under no obligation to further pursue this project.
On the other hand, in December while answering vendor questions it acknowledged that it could choose contractors to "loan" the government a sample unit for review "in the March/April timeframe."
The units eventually could be found in other governmental agencies too; many of the technological developments made by the military eventually are duplicated in civilian government deparatments.