BAE Systems has received an $18.5 million, 30-month contract from DARPA to develop an imaging system that can continuously detect and track the presence and motion of thousands of targets over an area covering tens of square miles.

Under DARPA's Autonomous Real-Time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance Imaging System (ARGUS-IS) program, BAE Systems will lead the development of a new class of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaisance (ISR) systems that include high-resolution sensors and wide-field optics for use by Department of Defense unmanned and manned surveillance aircraft.

“Shortfalls in persistent surveillance continue to challenge US forces across many theaters of operation,” said John Antoniades, director of remote sensing technologies for BAE Systems’ Advanced Technologies group, which is based in Washington. “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 multigigapixel, high-resolution sensor; wide-field optics; an ultrahigh-bandwidth, real-time airborne processing system; and a ground station for monitoring and tracking multiple targets.

“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 Steven Wein, director of optical sensor systems for BAE Systems.

For more information, visit: www.baesystems.com