The latest in defense technologies, including infrared sensors and imagers, robotic and unmanned systems, and space technologies and operations, will be featured during SPIE Defense+Security, the must-attend event for the security and defense industries. The five-day conference and exhibition takes place March 16-20 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center in Orlando.

Nearly 5300 are expected to attend SPIE Defense+Security 2008, considered the number-one event for infrared (IR) imaging, optics and sensors and the largest international unclassified defense-related symposium. It draws top engineers and researchers from industry, academia, government and military labs from around the world.

SPIE Defense+Security 2008 will feature nearly 1700 technical papers presented in 45 conferences, with topics ranging from core defense-related technologies to dual-use applications in IR sensing. Specialized half- and full-day courses, technical training sessions, noted speakers, industry forums and an exhibition of top global defense contractors displaying their latest technology and products round out the five-day event.

Highlights of special events taking place during the conference include a plenary talk by Jay Cohen, undersecretary for science and technology, Department of Homeland Security; an industry forum talk by Sir John Chisholm, executive chairman of QinetiQ and chair of the UK Medical Research Council, on "Innovation and the Wealth of Nations;" and an industry expert panel discussion of future directions in the area of sensors for detecting chemical, biological, radiation, nuclear and explosive (CBRNE) threats.

Space exploration is one focus of plenary sessions, with talks on the deep-space flight of the Hayabusa Asteroid Explorer by Hitoshi Kuninaka and Junichiro Kawaguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and protecting the moon’s environment by Jeffrey Maclure of the International Academy of Astronautics and International Institute of Space Law. Other plenary topics are display content of night-vision goggles and helmet-mounted displays, and radar sensors and imagers.

Hot Topics sessions will include discussions of the use of sensing technologies in food safety and of innovations in and directions for 3-D imaging and display, as well as optics and imaging technologies applied in defense and security, forensic science, and communications networks.

More than 435 exhibitors will present the latest hardware, systems, and services across a wide range of IR, imaging, optics, and sensors and sensor systems technology. Exhibiting companies include Flir Systems, L-3 Communications, Santa Barbara Infrared, Axsys Technologies, Cedip Infrared Systems, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin, DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems, among others.

This year's exhibition also features a Robotics+Unmanned Systems Pavillion where the Air Force Research Lab Defender, the Arcturus T-15 UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle) will be showcased, along with robotic systems used by the Army and Navy and UAVs currently deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, and vehicles from the DARPA Challenge autonomous vehicle competition. Exhibitors in the pavillion will showcase new technologies in IR imagers, sensors and optics used by military robots and unmanned systems.

For more information, visit: http://spie.org/defense-security.xml