Defense Technology International - June 2008 - (Page 22)

DISPATCHES GLOBAL DIGITAL SENTRIES Thales seeks markets for force protection technology JORIS JANSSEN LOK•BOURGES, FRANCE hales is positioning itself to compete for force protection programs worldwide now that two key technology demonstrations are complete: one that took place in France and one that was held in the Netherlands. Thales expects a request for proposals in July for a French army program to acquire technologies that protect dismounted infantry patrols in the ﬁeld. There will be other contenders, but the company believes it has an advantage after completing a single-source demonstrator program known as Spectre in February, says Marc Dehondt, advanced studies manager for cooperative land systems at Thales Land and Joint Systems. The twoyear Spectre study was performed under a dedicated contract from the French defense procurement agency DGA. “The program involved a lot of concept development and experimentation in which DGA, operational users and Thales formed an integrated team to deﬁne the best mix of sensors and other technologies to achieve the objective,” he explains. Equipment incorporated in Spectre included a range of unattended ground sensors, ﬂashing-light units and other e ectors to warn of intrusions, a local area network (LAN) and a commandand-control terminal application. Also part of the test mix was the Thales Ground Alerter 1 non-line-of-sight UHF radar. This has a range of 150-1,200 meters (500-4,000 ft.) and power transmission of less than 0.5 watts. It is designed for perimeter surveillance and to detect targets concealed in dense foliage. The French army requirement calls for several hundred systems that infantry patrols take with them and deploy around their positions. In the Netherlands, Thales is concluding a national technology demonstration project aimed at proving the feasibility of an enhanced multisensor security and force protection surveillance system. This is designed for semi-permanent deployment on compounds or ﬁeld sites during 22 T expeditionary crisis-response operations, or to provide extra protection of vital domestic areas in times of unrest. The Dutch ministries of defense and economic affairs sponsored the technology demonstration program, which is known as the Pagode project. It adds Thales’s new Gatekeeper electro-optical/infrared (IR) 360-deg. panoramic surveillance system to the company’s Discus target-identiﬁcation system. Discus, which has been deployed by Dutch forces in southern Afghanistan since 2006, incorporates an integrated cluster of Squire frequency-modulated, continuous-wave battleﬁeld-surveillance radars and one or more Teoss high-power, highresolution, 3-5-micrometer thermal-imaging cameras. Gatekeeper was developed for the naval market—the ﬁrst order was from the Royal Netherlands Navy to equip four new 3,750-metric-ton patrol ships ordered in December. Gatekeeper typically includes 3-4 sensor heads, each ﬁtted with three 8-12-micrometer IR cameras and three daylight video cameras. These feed imagery via an Ethernet LAN with gigabit power into a central processing unit, which produces an integrated image (panoramic and in as many section views as required) for the operator. A demonstration of a Pagode version for civil security was performed with HITT, a vendor of tra c-management and coastal-surveillance systems, in the port of Rotterdam late last year. A military force-protection demonstration was held in April at the Dutch army’s artillery ﬁring range in ’t Harde. The advantage of adding a Gatekeepertype panoramic sensor array to Discus is that the operator gets an overall visual image of the environment, according to Thales Product Manager Nico de Bruijn. Moreover, automatic target detection is possible with the IR camera subsystem. Adding a Gatekeeper-type system also means that the chance of engaging the wrong target is much reduced, de Bruijn claims. Rules of engagement in Afghanistan typically require conﬁrmation of a threat by more than one sensor. In the Pagode concept, frequency-modulated, continuous-wave radar, 3-5- and 8-12-micrometer IR and daylight TV are available to investigate approaching targets. A system based on Pagode could be available for operational deployment within 12-18 months, Thales says, though the company admits it has no development contract for such a product at this time. I Pagode hardware has Thales Squire radar (bottom), Gatekeeper sensor head and Teoss thermal-imaging camera (top). JORIS JANSSEN LOK/DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE TECHNOLOGY INTERNATIONAL JUNE 2008 AviationWeek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com/dti

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Defense Technology International - June 2008 Contents Around the World Science Watch Tech Watch Basic Black Self-Defense Fire-Resistant Perfezione Hyperspeed Trial Big Sky Cashing In Digital Links Hang Ten Sea Change Programs Update Two Steps Back Direct Hit Staying Power Potent Stinger Do No Harm Guard Duty The Net Cutting Edge First Person In Review Insight

Defense Technology International - June 2008

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