Augusta to tackle Navy sensor work

Augusta Systems Inc. has won a Navy contract valued at up to $10 million for the technological infrastructure for a network of sensors and unmanned vehicles.

The three-year contract, for the Navy's Naval Air Systems Command, calls on the company to provide the architecture for decentralized, intelligent networks. The sensors and vehicles will provide battlefield intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

"The capabilities of military personnel can be greatly enhanced by a network-centric approach to data collection, processing, and communication," said Patrick Esposito, president and chief operating officer of Augusta Systems. "Under a network-centric approach, every sensor, device or vehicle becomes a node in a distributed, intelligent network. Instead of relying upon centralized processing and communication, or laborious data integration, this next-generation network cuts out the middleman, so to speak, and gets critical information wherever it needs to go as quickly and efficiently as possible."

The Navy has already built a demonstration network using a combination of Augusta technologies and products from other companies, including Motorola Corp. and ITT Corp.

Augusta is based in Morgantown, W.Va.