Spectral imaging instruments maker Headwall Photonics of Fitchburg will receive $2.5 million to make sensors for unmanned aerial vehicles if the proposed fiscal 2010 Department of Defense (DoD) Appropriations Act is approved by Congress and becomes law. While the funding bill was approved by the US House of Representatives July 30, the Senate still must approve its own appropriations bill, then the two pieces of legislation need to be reconciled before the joint bill goes to the president's desk for signing into law. Massachusetts Congressman John W. Olver is on the House Appropriations Committee and worked to secure the funding. Headwall was formed in 2003, the result of a management buyout from Agilent Technologies. The company's spectral imaging instruments are used by the DoD and by civilian research agencies for remote sensing, and commercial applications in process control. Headwall's Hyperspec imaging sensors capture all of the chemical (spectral) information within the field of view of the sensor. Under the funding bill, Headwall will manufacture a new class of miniature, high-performance chemical imaging sensors for use on small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and small unmanned ground vehicles. The military will use the technology to help monitor regions of interest, support border patrol initiatives, assess chemical and biological threats, as well as assist search-and-rescue operations. For more information, visit: www.headwallphotonics.com