BAE picked for DARPA imaging job

BAE Systems Inc. will attempt to develop a surveillance and reconnaissance system that can simultaneously and continuously detect the presence and motion of thousands of targets over an area covering tens of square miles.

The $18.5 million, 30-month contract was awarded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Under the contract, BAE Systems of Rockville, Md., will lead DARPA's Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System program. The company will develop, integrate and demonstrate advanced intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems. The systems will be part of the Defense Department unmanned and manned surveillance platforms.

"The Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System program will provide a sorely needed, persistent and robust surveillance capability for many existing ISR airborne platforms," said Dr. John Antoniades, director of remote sensing technologies for BAE Systems' Advanced Technologies group.

The program's goal is to develop a compact system that combines:

• A multi-gigapixel, high-resolution sensor;
  
• Wide-field optics;
  
• An ultra-high-bandwidth, real-time airborne processing system; and
  
• And a ground station for interactive multi-target designation and tracking.