COLUMBIA, Md., Dec. 5 -- Essex Corp. announced it has received two $70,000 six-month Phase I Small-Business Innovative Research (SBIR) awards by the US Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency (MDA). Essex will evaluate how hyperfine WDM can improve the distribution and throughput of processing radar data in a missile defense network by leveraging its capability to provide thousands of Gigabit Ethernet channels using a single strand of commercial grade fiber. Under the other contract, the company will analyze application of optical processing technology to enhance the performance of missile defense radars used for tracking and imaging ballistic missile threats. This work builds on the current Essex MDA advanced optical processor program. "The Essex processors could enable real-time imaging of missiles within a range window significantly wider than that achievable with the current generation AOP. Such imagery will enhance the ability of missile defense systems to track, identify, discriminate, and destroy current and emerging ballistic missile threat," said Leonard Moodispaw, Essex President and CEO of Essex. For more information, visit: www.essexcorp.com