Paris in June. Some come for the shopping, the museums, the sidewalk cafes, the romantic evening strolls through the city of light. And then there's the crowd that's jonesing for the hangar-and-asphalt vibe of Eurosatory, the massive biannual military bazaar that sprawls over the exhibition grounds near Charles de Gaulle airport. The exhibition is designed to be a showcase for European land systems companies, but it is also the best hands-on venue for the latest technology and innovations in Israel's often-secretive defense industry. Jammer Grenade Winning the "and now for something completely different" award, Tel Aviv-based Netline Communications Technologies introduced one of the smallest jammers ever made for stopping improvised explosive devices. Perched on the counter of the modest company booth was the modestly named Portable Jammer Pack (PJP), a roundish object about the size and shape of a medieval fire-pot grenade and intended for use in urban spaces. For IED suppression, "urban operations are tricky because of access issues to crowded streets and tightly packed buildings and the need to get jammers to places where equipment with regular antennas cannot go," explained Loreen Haim-Cayzer, a Netline executive. Enter the PJP, which can be deployed via the Mark I overhand grenade toss through a window (e.g., before a building intrusion) or down an alley (e.g., ahead of a patrol). But if you need to hurl it across the block or over that three-story building, best to hand it off to the former high school pitcher in your squad, since it still weighs in at a solid 2.5 pounds. Netline developed the PJP after a NATO customer asked for a "handball sized" jammer that elite units like special forces could carry in an urban operation, said Haim-Cayzer. To produce something small enough to clip on a belt, engineers needed to miniaturize existing jamming modules and print the antennas on the circuit boards inside the unit. Designers cushioned the system with rubber to absorb impact. Since it can blast away for an average of 30 minutes on its rechargeable batteries, this led to some overheating issues, so the engineers added a heat-absorbing element in the internal battery compartment. In the field, the user turns on the PJP by pulling its safety catch, hand-grenade style. After landing, the jammer weeble-wobbles upright and throws ‘trons to disrupt any nearby communications device being used as a remote IED trigger, like a jury-rigged cell phone. Tech support would have programmed the unit beforehand (it plugs into a laptop) to block specific channels and define other parameters customized to the mission. If all goes well, the user can scoop it up and bring it home to be reprogrammed for the next mission. That's the theory, at least. The PJP currently is undergoing operational tests, said Haim-Cayzer. Danger Room was curious about the effective radius of the PJP and the risks of communications fratricide in a close-quarters signal environment, but Netline declined to elaborate on these issues. Photo: Netline

Running the Gamut Applying the principle of concentration of force, the Israel Ministry of Defense (MoD) grouped all of its arms-makers into a national pavilion in one of the immense, warehouse-like exhibition halls at Eurosatory. More than two dozen companies set up shop, with displays running the gamut from wires and widgets to working armored vehicles sprouting gun and missile turrets. According to the MoD, this year's pavilion was the largest ever. Many of the new product launches focused on sensors, countermeasures and spy gear needed to fight the Israelis' immediate neighbors. For anyone hoping to get a glimpse inside the bag of tricks Israel might be putting together for a strike against Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, this show did not deliver. That doesn’t mean that nothing is in the works. But Eurosatory is a land-warfare show. Next year’s Paris air show should deliver the latest in air-to-ground developments ... assuming it doesn’t unfold live on TV first. Photo: Israel MOD

Personal Counter-Punch At the Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) Elta pavilion, stuffing existing technologies into smaller packages and calling them new products was a theme. The company was foot-stomping two developmental threat warning systems. Green Rock is a radar-based mortar and rocket detection system designed to counter-punch: after it picks up incoming rounds and sends out the alert, it tracks the hostile fire back to its source for some return-to-sender payback. The system is built around downscaled components of the well-known Iron Dome anti-artillery shield, but whereas the latter is primarily a fixed-site border protector, the tactical Green Rock is integrated onto an all-terrain vehicle to maneuver with battalion-sized forces. An IAI marketing rep claimed that the radar is sensitive enough to detect threats as small as mortar rounds — a useful capability for remote outposts or troops in the field. The rep did not confirm, although Danger Room thinks it's a fair assumption, that Green Rock must sacrifice some of the Iron Dome's range for the sake of compactness. Photo: Zachary Lum

Golf Cart's Spying Eye The yin to Green Rock's sky-gazing yang is Black Granite, also installed on a golf-cart-sized vehicle. A miniaturized version of the Israel Defense Forces' surveillance and recon vehicle, it packs a mast-mounted radar designed to pick out moving ground targets, augmented with an array of optical sensors, a signals intelligence system and a gunshot-detection system. Photo: Zachary Lum

Itty-Bitty Missile With all the mini sensors and protection systems on the show floor, somebody had to bring a mini weapon system to the party. Rafael answered the call with the Mini Spike, a sawed-off/sawed-down version of its venerable anti-tank missile. Weighing in at 4 kilograms each for the launch unit and the canistered round, it's about 2 kilograms heavier than an RPG-7 but significantly more high-tech. Danger Room watched a French officer get the hang of the system in a simulated environment. To attack some bad guys behind a building, he lobbed the missile high, then used the missile-eye-view to auger straight down on the offenders, hitting a single individual in the group but leaving the rest standing. This might be unrealistic in the real world, given the missile's velocity and fragmentation warhead, so we'll chalk it up to a not-so-subtle advertising pitch: Mini Spike can be a sort of guided bullet for use in situations where collateral damage is a concern. Photo: Zachary Lum

Robot Porter The Rex (man's best friend…get it?) is an unmanned flat-bed ATV about the size of a shopping cart, outfitted with a rudimentary electronic link, or towbar, to autonomously follow its handler. The company was advertising the merits of a Rex configured for intelligence, with an R2D2-shaped observation/targeting pod. But a project manager at the booth admitted that Rex's first role will be to serve as a basic porter, humping 250 kg of infantrymen's battle rattle. And what happens to faithful Rex if his electronic leash fails way out in the bush? The project manager promptly unspooled a retractable, completely non-virtual towline from the nose of the vehicle. Rex will be trialed in a large-scale IDF exercise next month, he said; Danger Room would be curious to see the "user feedback" on this last feature of the system — especially from the user who gets the tables turned and has to tow Rex back to base. Photo: Israel Aerospace Industries

Riot Turret When even a mini missile is overkill, the Nonlethal Weapon Turret (NLWT) is Rafael's solution for light vehicles employed in riot and crowd-control situations, said Ezra Senderovits, a Rafael executive: "Something for security or law-enforcement forces to use besides sticks or lethal weapons." Still in development, the NLWT uses an existing Samson remote turret that swaps out the machine gun for a variety pack of people-dispersing technologies. From the safe confines of the vehicle, the operator can unleash deafening shrieks from a loudspeaker, blinding flashes of light from the "dazzler," or choking tear gas grenades. If these don't do the trick, he might resort to an old fashioned assault and battery using low-velocity, 40-mm rubber rounds. Is this the compassionate side of the arms-making industry? Maybe in relative terms, compared to the pavilions full of every type of lethal technology imaginable. But let's not forget that "nonlethal" is not the same as "noninjurious." Photo: Zachary Lum