The latest in defense technologies -- including infrared sensors and imagers, robotic and unmanned systems, and space technologies and operations -- will be featured at the SPIE Defense+Security conference and exhibition, to be held March 16-20 at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. Nearly 5300 are expected at the event, considered the most popular among infrared (IR) imaging, optics and sensor industries and largest international unclassified defense-related symposium. It draws engineers and researchers from industry, academia, government and military labs around the world. SPIE Defense+Security 2008 will feature nearly 1700 technical papers in 45 conferences, with topics such as core defense-related technologies and dual-use applications in IR sensing. Specialized half- and full-day courses, technical training sessions, speakers, industry forums and an exhibition of global defense contractors displaying their latest technology and products will round out the five-day event. Special events at the conference will 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 a focus of plenary sessions, with planned talks on the deep-space flight of the Hayabusa Asteroid Explorer by Hitoshi Kuninaka and Junichiro Kawaguchi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and on protecting the moon’s environment by Jeffrey Maclure of the International Academy of Astronautics and International Institute of Space Law. Topics will also include night-vision goggles and helmet-mounted displays, and radar sensors and imagers. Other hot topics will be sensing technologies in food safety; innovations in and directions for 3-D imaging and display; and optics and imaging technologies in defense and security, forensic science, and communications networks. More than 435 exhibitors will present hardware, systems and services across for IR, imaging, optics, and sensors and sensor systems technology. Exhibitors will include Flir Systems, L-3 Communications, Santa Barbara Infrared, Axsys Technologies, Cedip Infrared Systems, BAE Systems, Lockheed Martin and DRS Sensors & Targeting Systems, among mamy others. The exhibition will also feature a Robotics+Unmanned Systems Pavillion showcasing the the Air Force Research Laboratory's Arcturus T-15 unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), Army and Navy robotic systems used and UAVs being used in Afghanistan and Iraq, and vehicles from the DARPA Grand Challenge autonomous vehicle competition. Pavillion exhibitors will also display technologies in IR imagers, sensors and optics used by military robots and unmanned systems. For more information, visit: spie.org/defense-security.xml