The Pentagon's Wish List

By Melissa August, Elizabeth L. Bland, Sora Song, Heather Won Tesoriero

The Pentagon has put out a call for defense contractors, technology corporations and would-be 007-esque "Q"s to help the Department of Defense combat terrorism. Applicants were asked to submit proposals by Dec. 23 for gadgets--to be fully developed within 12 to 18 months--resembling everything from X-ray glasses to crystal balls to Star Trek Tricorder-style body scanners. Here's a guide to what the Pentagon is looking for in its quest to stamp out terrorism.

TRACKING THE FOES

LANGUAGE ID A system that can identify and translate Pashtu, Urdu, Farsi and Arabic dialects, even when recordings are short, fuzzy or include multiple languages

PC WIZARD Programs that extract, analyze and decode information stored on computers and personal digital assistants, like Palm Pilots

LOJACK Tags that can secretly pinpoint, follow and map out an enemy's movements, in real time

VOICE ID Voice-print identification systems that recognize, locate and track suspected terrorists through voice recordings, then compile the "speaker IDs" in a database

MIND MELD Comprehensive terrorist-profiling databases that store information from several agencies, plus programs that analyze the data to figure out relationships between people or events, recognize behavior patterns, predict potential terrorist attacks and project hypothetical events

REEL READERS Programs that scan video for human faces, even those that are turned away or poorly lit, then track a single face through multiple video images

POLYGRAPH Lie detectors that quickly and accurately read the electrical resistance of the skin--in such awkward environments as boats and planes--to identify suspected terrorists trying to get into the U.S.

LOCATION AND DEFEAT OF DIFFICULT TARGETS

MOLES Technologies, such as ground-penetrating radar and acoustics, that detect, locate and map underground or concealed cavities in which terrorists could hide

PROTRACTED OPERATIONS IN REMOTE LOCATIONS

TRIP WIRE Early-warning sensors that alert troops to unfriendly interlopers by detecting electromagnetic emissions or acoustic systems in rugged terrain

HI-TECH SIGHTS Handheld or weapon-mounted scopes and heat sensors that pinpoint targets through smoke, haze, fog and darkness

WRECKING BALL Portable tools that ram through brick or metal walls, with minimal other damage

BIG GUNS Really long-range weapons for special-operations missions

X-RAY VISION A device that could "see" through walls and map out areas behind them

COUNTERMEASURES TO WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION

BODY SCANS Accurate scientific tests that could analyze clothing, hair, skin, blood, bodily waste, teeth and bone to determine whether a suspected terrorist has worked with chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, days or even weeks earlier

TRAINED EYE Fixed and mobile screening systems to detect homemade explosives or chemical and radiological weapons at points of entry into the U.S.

DEFUSERS Procedures that use laser or surgical techniques to safely disarm homemade bombs and weapons of mass destruction (WMD)

VAPORIZERS Explosives that quickly destroy factories and stores of biological-or chemical-warfare agents

QUALITY CONTROLS Miniature, stand-alone air samplers that monitor for strange particles, down to .01 micron in size; also, portable, battery-powered water testers to detect biological threats

BOMB BUSTERS Explosives detectors that are handheld or able to sense explosives up to 200 ft. away; also, walk-through portals that can flag people carrying bombs

BIG-BOMB BUSTERS Systems that locate and identify the cargo of vehicles that could be carrying WMD, such as vans, trucks and fuel and water tankers, and can neutralize the threat without exploding the vehicle

FINANCIAL MANAGER A database that monitors credit-card receipts, purchase orders, cash transactions and checks to track equipment, machinery and materials that could be used in making WMD

SIXTH SENSE Systems that detect the byproducts or residue of chemical-and biological-weapons manufacture, and then alert police to their presence