BAE SYSTEMS AWARDED $18 MILLION DARPA CONTRACT TO LEAD IMAGING SYSTEM PROGRAM
11-05-2007
WASHINGTON - BAE Systems has received an $18.5 million, 30-month contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop a new class of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) systems and capabilities.
BAE Systems will lead DARPA's Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS-IS) program. The company will develop, integrate, and demonstrate advanced ISR systems and capabilities for wide-area persistent monitoring. The systems are targeted for use in Department of Defense unmanned and manned surveillance platforms.
"Shortfalls in persistent surveillance continue to challenge U.S. forces across many theaters of operation," said Dr. John Antoniades, director of remote sensing technologies for BAE Systems' Advanced Technologies group. "The ARGUS program will provide a sorely needed, persistent, and robust surveillance capability for many existing ISR airborne platforms."
The program's goal is to develop a compact system combining a multi-gigapixel, high-resolution sensor; wide-field optics; an ultra-high-bandwidth, real-time airborne processing system; and a ground station for interactive multi-target designation, tracking, and exploitation. The airborne processing system can simultaneously and continuously detect and track the presence and motion of thousands of small or large targets over an area covering tens of square miles.
"This next generation of real-time surveillance systems will increase wide-area, high-resolution collection capabilities by one to two orders of magnitude over current airborne assets," said Dr. Steven Wein, director of optical sensor systems for BAE Systems.
About BAE Systems
BAE Systems is the premier global defense and aerospace company, delivering a full range of products and services for air, land, and naval forces, as well as advanced electronics, information technology solutions and customer support services. BAE Systems, with 96,000 employees worldwide, had 2006 sales that exceeded $27 billion on a pro forma basis, assuming BAE Systems had owned Armor Holdings, Inc. for the whole of 2006.
For further information, please contact:
Karen Spiller, BAE Systems
Tel: +1 603 885 2818 Mobile: +1 603 566 2090
karen.spiller@baesystems.com
Shannon Smith, BAE Systems
Tel: +1 703 907 8257 Mobile: +1 703 967 3854
shannon.n.smith@baesystems.com
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