This Air Force security team can breach an 'impenetrable' SCIF in one minute

this air force security team can breach an 'impenetrable' scif in one minute

Tyler Sinni, a Largo police officer, left, and U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Sean Phelan, a 6th Security Forces flight chief, attempt to open a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility door at a breaching symposium at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, May 16, 2024. The 6th SFS partnered with AFWERX and a breaching equipment company to develop a hydraulic breaching backpack designed to open SCIF doors which were previously considered impenetrable. The five-year-long project was unveiled to several law enforcement agencies ranging from the Federal Bureau of Investigation to local police departments. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Michael Killian)

An Air Force security team has developed a kit of portable hydraulic breaching tools that they say can break into some of the most secure rooms on most military bases: a Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities, or ‘SCIF,’ the steel-and-concrete reinforced bunkers that store the military’s deepest secrets.

After five years of tinkering and practice, including building their own SCIF doors to practice on, a team with the 6th Security Forces Squadron at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida says they can now break into, or ‘breach,’ a SCIF in less than a minute, should a crisis arise inside one.

“Up to this point they had no fast, reliable way of getting into a SCIF if there is an emergency on the inside,” said Gordon Steltzer, owner and CEO of Rapid Assault Tools, who worked with 6th SFS officials to develop SCIF-worthy tools. “Without these tools, they were requiring about 45 minutes to get into a SCIF. We're in within a minute.”

Airmen with the 6th SFS dedicate their own time to the project, and enlisted Air Force research and development officials to work with Steltzer’s company to create a backpack-portable hydraulic breaching system to take on SCIF doors “which were previously considered impenetrable,” according to Air Force officials.

SCIFs are used by officials with security clearances to process, store, and discuss classified information, including sensitive compartmented information. Because of the nature of the work done inside SCIFs, cell phones, computers and other technology are off limits when entering the room. They are also sound proof to keep discussion of classified information inside.

SCIF doors, walls and the locks that secure them resemble bank vaults or armories, and fall under a thick set of rules and specifications. Requirements for deadbolt and combination locks approved for SCIF use include passing a strength test of 600 lbs of force directly on the bolt followed by a second 200 lbs test without any damage, plus a direct-strike test of 600 lbs against the door it secures. A lock must also operate in temperatures as low as minus-10 degrees and as high as 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Finally, it must absorb five electric shocks of 250kV and still operate correctly.

But those requirements may have met its match in the MacDill team.

Lt. Jason Atkinson from the 6th Security Forces Squadron led the initiative to develop the SCIF breaching tool. The project came to fruition with Rapid Assault Tools which received a small business grant from AFWERX, an Air Force office that contracts with the private sector to encourage innovative research, development and acquisition. The five-year-long project was unveiled at a breaching symposium at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, last week with law enforcement agencies like the FBI and local police departments.

Subscribe to Task & Purpose today. Get the latest military news and culture in your inbox daily.

The tool is powered by a backpack with a battery, motor and pump bar. The hydraulic oil provides power to the tools while the battery provides power to an electric motor for energy, Steltzer said. The system, he said, can attack a SCIF door two ways.

Plan A is called “door pusher,” in which a tool pulls the door open using high force hydraulics to break the lock. According to the federal government’s technical security requirements for SCIFs, primary SCIF doors are equipped with General Services Administration-approved combination deadbolt locks and combination locks that have to meet federal standards. The doors may also have a “by-pass keyway for use in the event of an access control system failure.”

Plan B for the tool, which Stelzter said was the easier way to attack a door, is a “hinge puller” that pulls the hinges out so the opposite side of the door can be opened. According to federal specifications, the hinges of a SCIF door must have “hinge pins that are accessible from outside.”

“The easiest way to think about it, it's like pulling teeth,” Steltzer said. “There’s a frame that is stationary and then there's a claw that goes around the hinge and that pulls that out – sort of like pulling a tooth.”

The team went through several prototype tools before landing on their current design after numerous lab tests. They also built their own doors using DOD standards with metal gauges and layers of sheetrock to test the prototypes since SCIF doors can cost nearly $25,000 each.

“We found that there is one manufacturer that has the majority of market share and that's what we ended up buying several SCIF doors in our lab and using those SCIF doors, we made quite a few prototypes and then we decided on the best avenue,” he said. “We did lab testing on SCIF doors and then decided which strategy was the best and then we perfected those two tools.”

While the breaching industry is pretty niche with typical customers being military or law enforcement, Stelzeer said he’s seen a rise in more civilian buyers in the last two to three years.

“We have seen a lot more focus on breaching in schools and commercial buildings and in government facilities,” Stelzer said. “Mostly because of active shooters.”

The latest on Task & Purpose F-15E pilot, in a jet called ‘Mullet,’ packs Zyn and kills drones 10th Mountain Division rolls more than 500 miles across Finland, Sweden and Norway Army eliminates online courses to stop ‘overwhelming’ soldiers It’s Military Working Dog official picture day Colorado soldier dies in training accident at Fort Johnson, Louisiana

OTHER NEWS

12 minutes ago

LIV Golf's Lee Westwood is at U.S. Senior Open for over-50 tour debut

12 minutes ago

Russia and Ukraine Conduct Prisoner Exchange

17 minutes ago

Inside Rebecca Judd's new plans for her fabulous $1.2million holiday pad on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula

17 minutes ago

Video: Julian Assange breaks down in tears as judge on US-controlled island declares him 'a free man' and sentences him to time served for espionage: WikiLeaks founder released without supervision for the first time in 14 years

17 minutes ago

Jeremy Allen White Teases ‘The Bear’ Season 3: Carmy “Never Seems To Be Able To Apologize Very Well”

20 minutes ago

Kansas City Chiefs announce new Christmas movie to be released on Hallmark

20 minutes ago

16 Nobel prize-winning economists warn Trump would 'reignite' inflation if he wins a second term

20 minutes ago

Secondhand EVs now cost less than used gas cars - as the electric vehicle backlash accelerates

21 minutes ago

Hopefully Jamaal Bowman’s defeat is the first against the radical left ‘Squad’

21 minutes ago

Healthy habits help Canucks’ Quinn Hughes reach new heights

22 minutes ago

We must change the prejudices of mainstream medicine against lifestyle intervention

22 minutes ago

Free-agent focus for the Columbus Blue Jackets

22 minutes ago

Linebacker Beverette, Montreal Alouettes off to solid start to CFL season

22 minutes ago

3 Reasons to Buy Cineplex Stock Like There’s No Tomorrow

22 minutes ago

Alex Meruelo walking away from ownership of NHL’s Arizona Coyotes

22 minutes ago

Influencer creates AI version of herself – and the results are disturbing

22 minutes ago

England coach Southgate targeted after a 0-0 draw with Slovenia at Euro 2024

22 minutes ago

Orioles prospect Jackson Holliday returns to the lineup in Triple-A after arm problems

22 minutes ago

Euro 2024: Austria top Group D ahead of France and Netherlands after rollercoaster finale

22 minutes ago

Harry Kane and John Stones insist England 'played a lot better' against Slovenia than they did in their first two Euro 2024 games, as the Three Lions snuck into top spot after another uninspiring stalemate

22 minutes ago

60 Stocks Under $50 New Investors Can Buy Confidently

22 minutes ago

Julian Assange walks free after making deal with US to plead guilty in remote Pacific island court

22 minutes ago

TFSA: 3 Canadian Stocks to Hold for a Lifetime

22 minutes ago

Soccer-Croatia's Modric wants to carry on despite Euro 2024 disappointment

22 minutes ago

James Hoye to be home plate umpire for All-Star Game on July 16 in Arlington, Texas

22 minutes ago

Gusty winds help spread fast growing central Oregon wildfire and prompt evacuations

22 minutes ago

2 TSX Dividend Stocks to Buy in June

22 minutes ago

George Latimer, a pro-Israel centrist, defeats Rep. Jamaal Bowman in New York Democratic primary

22 minutes ago

Uttarakhand CM wants PM to clear 24 power projects

23 minutes ago

An aircraft carrying WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has left Saipan heading to Australia

23 minutes ago

Mosquito warning to travellers and community members in northern WA

23 minutes ago

National housing agreement gains $9.3bn in funding for new home builds

23 minutes ago

Shire of Cue writes off $40,000 of unpaid rates for vacant properties

23 minutes ago

Broome’s famous Cable Beach closed after saltwater crocodile spotted

23 minutes ago

Camera IconJDRF Blue Tie Ball: Socials gallery from glamorous soiree

23 minutes ago

Best VPNs for Australia for privacy, streaming and gaming in 2024

26 minutes ago

'They're like nature's seawall' | We tag along with team assessing dune erosion after Tropical Storm Alberto

27 minutes ago

Iconic Metis musician Ray St. Germain passes away, his family says

29 minutes ago

Sophie Turner stars in first Joan teaser as master of disguise and infamous British diamond thief Joan Hannington for upcoming series

29 minutes ago

Yaraville West Primary School under fire over woke change to the national anthem that's leaving students confused