Raytheon UK has illustrated a clear intention to further pursue the development of C4ISR technology in light of continuing counter-terrorism (CT) threats worldwide, it has emerged. Speaking at the company’s annual Technology Conference in London on 27 November, senior executives outlined moves being made in the counter-improvised explosive device (C-IED) and situation awareness (SA) domains in order to assist in CT operations.
According to David Richardson, business development executive responsible for the land environment, Raytheon UK is working up future options for London’s Metropolitan Police and Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding its Soteria C-IED technology. Currently designed to be carried on board manned and unmanned ground vehicles, Richardson explained how potential customers were looking at the future of this radar-scanning technology in the dismounted or tactical area.
‘There is a “confirm” and “diagnose” capability gap in current C-IED concepts of operations, following the detection of an IED using all conventional IED detection methods,’ Richardson explained. Currently, there is no existing technology that allows the dismounted user to see under the surface and determine the positions, orientation, size and shape of all emplaced IEDs and IED components.
Traditionally, dismounted EOD operators have been forced to probe an area of interest manually before digging and brushing around the general area of a positive detection to determine the location of a device- a task that is both extremely high risk and also very slow and laborious.
Raytheon UK announced it is currently in the midst of conducting a variety of technical assessments in order to identify needs, issues and concepts of operations, with Richardson adding: ‘Soteria didn’t go to Afghanistan as a [vehicle-mounted] UOR as time was against us, but the MoD is looking at what they want for contingency operations and are discussing options in different forms with different sensors.’
Meanwhile, Raytheon UK also highlighted its People Tracker technology, designed in part on the back of the Boston Marathon bombing incident on 15 April, 2013. Tapping into LIDAR technology, the solution has been developed in collaboration with Velodyne to provide SA and force protection for forward operating bases, critical national infrastructure (CNI) as well as built-up areas including sports stadia and stations.
According to Richardson, the proliferation of existing 2D CCTV solutions can be affected by various limitations while LIDAR technology tracking is immune to varying lighting conditions; can provide more exact ranges and positioning data; as well as the possibility to create 3D models for post-mission analysis and pre-deployment intelligence requests for information.
The technology comprises a 360° field-of-view with a range of up to 120m and can be operated by a slue-to-cue mechanism, which can also provide facial recognition of suspected individuals.
LIDAR technology has previously been used by SOF units for covert operations to map out urban areas when mounted on board a moving vehicle. However, the technology came in for criticism when it was revealed a host vehicle had to move at speeds less than 30mph to generate accurate information. A static LIDAR system, observing CNI and other locations, would not have such a problem. Richardson announced that a dismounted version of this LIDAR solution would be used at the MoD’s URBEX trial on Salisbury Plain training area, Wiltshire, in December. Additionally, Raytheon sources said there was interest in Germany where CT units remain concerned about tracking high-value targets. ‘Traditional camera surveillance systems are subject to several shortcomings including lighting, shadows, colour patterns and darkness. Tracking with dense LIDAR provides real-time SA with significantly fewer false alarms, tracking people and objects in crowds or within boundaries, while also detecting changes in the environment,’ Richardson said.
Raytheon UK also took the opportunity to launch its RAVEN ISR search, visualisation and analysis platform, designed for the disadvantaged user in the intelligence domain. Comprising just a single laptop, the Raven software has been designed as an expeditionary alternative to the enormous ‘container cities’ seen at coalition bases in Afghanistan, driven by requirements for high levels of bandwidth, computer power, server centres and storage space.
According to Mark Lavis-Jones, head of information exploitation at Raytheon UK, ‘end users have been telling us for a while that they need that capability on a laptop which they can take into theatre as a deployable capability’.
‘Raven is a new field of technology that we’re using to address that intelligence market,’ he continued while describing how information in modern conflicts generally started with ‘near real-time media feeds.’
‘Immediately, assets will be deployed and individuals will be put on the ground to collect intelligence. They cannot be reliant on huge infrastructure,’ Lavis-Jones added.
Relying upon COTS systems architecture, a RAVEN-enabled laptop can be deployed as part of a two-man team deploying into a theatre. It can then tap into coalition ISR collection platforms almost immediately, it was claimed, compared to legacy systems which Raytheon UK claimed would take longer. ‘RAVEN has been designed to do that quickly and cheaply,’ Lavis-Jones continued.
RAVEN uses geo-location software such as TACITVIEW and allows an operator to introduce additional layers of geo-locating tools for capabilities such as electronic warfare, for example. 3D imagery is also compatible, it was added.
Raytheon UK also revealed that it had successfully completed an exercise to disseminate information around the world at a ‘Classified’ level for exploitation by various coalition partners. Furthermore, Raven has also proven interoperable with the UK MoD’s DataMan software which provides geospatial tools for troops at home and abroad.
According to David Richardson, business development executive responsible for the land environment, Raytheon UK is working up future options for London’s Metropolitan Police and Ministry of Defence (MoD) regarding its Soteria C-IED technology. Currently designed to be carried on board manned and unmanned ground vehicles, Richardson explained how potential customers were looking at the future of this radar-scanning technology in the dismounted or tactical area.
‘There is a “confirm” and “diagnose” capability gap in current C-IED concepts of operations, following the detection of an IED using all conventional IED detection methods,’ Richardson explained. Currently, there is no existing technology that allows the dismounted user to see under the surface and determine the positions, orientation, size and shape of all emplaced IEDs and IED components.
Traditionally, dismounted EOD operators have been forced to probe an area of interest manually before digging and brushing around the general area of a positive detection to determine the location of a device- a task that is both extremely high risk and also very slow and laborious.
Raytheon UK announced it is currently in the midst of conducting a variety of technical assessments in order to identify needs, issues and concepts of operations, with Richardson adding: ‘Soteria didn’t go to Afghanistan as a [vehicle-mounted] UOR as time was against us, but the MoD is looking at what they want for contingency operations and are discussing options in different forms with different sensors.’
Meanwhile, Raytheon UK also highlighted its People Tracker technology, designed in part on the back of the Boston Marathon bombing incident on 15 April, 2013. Tapping into LIDAR technology, the solution has been developed in collaboration with Velodyne to provide SA and force protection for forward operating bases, critical national infrastructure (CNI) as well as built-up areas including sports stadia and stations.
According to Richardson, the proliferation of existing 2D CCTV solutions can be affected by various limitations while LIDAR technology tracking is immune to varying lighting conditions; can provide more exact ranges and positioning data; as well as the possibility to create 3D models for post-mission analysis and pre-deployment intelligence requests for information.
The technology comprises a 360° field-of-view with a range of up to 120m and can be operated by a slue-to-cue mechanism, which can also provide facial recognition of suspected individuals.
LIDAR technology has previously been used by SOF units for covert operations to map out urban areas when mounted on board a moving vehicle. However, the technology came in for criticism when it was revealed a host vehicle had to move at speeds less than 30mph to generate accurate information. A static LIDAR system, observing CNI and other locations, would not have such a problem. Richardson announced that a dismounted version of this LIDAR solution would be used at the MoD’s URBEX trial on Salisbury Plain training area, Wiltshire, in December. Additionally, Raytheon sources said there was interest in Germany where CT units remain concerned about tracking high-value targets. ‘Traditional camera surveillance systems are subject to several shortcomings including lighting, shadows, colour patterns and darkness. Tracking with dense LIDAR provides real-time SA with significantly fewer false alarms, tracking people and objects in crowds or within boundaries, while also detecting changes in the environment,’ Richardson said.
Raytheon UK also took the opportunity to launch its RAVEN ISR search, visualisation and analysis platform, designed for the disadvantaged user in the intelligence domain. Comprising just a single laptop, the Raven software has been designed as an expeditionary alternative to the enormous ‘container cities’ seen at coalition bases in Afghanistan, driven by requirements for high levels of bandwidth, computer power, server centres and storage space.
According to Mark Lavis-Jones, head of information exploitation at Raytheon UK, ‘end users have been telling us for a while that they need that capability on a laptop which they can take into theatre as a deployable capability’.
‘Raven is a new field of technology that we’re using to address that intelligence market,’ he continued while describing how information in modern conflicts generally started with ‘near real-time media feeds.’
‘Immediately, assets will be deployed and individuals will be put on the ground to collect intelligence. They cannot be reliant on huge infrastructure,’ Lavis-Jones added.
Relying upon COTS systems architecture, a RAVEN-enabled laptop can be deployed as part of a two-man team deploying into a theatre. It can then tap into coalition ISR collection platforms almost immediately, it was claimed, compared to legacy systems which Raytheon UK claimed would take longer. ‘RAVEN has been designed to do that quickly and cheaply,’ Lavis-Jones continued.
RAVEN uses geo-location software such as TACITVIEW and allows an operator to introduce additional layers of geo-locating tools for capabilities such as electronic warfare, for example. 3D imagery is also compatible, it was added.
Raytheon UK also revealed that it had successfully completed an exercise to disseminate information around the world at a ‘Classified’ level for exploitation by various coalition partners. Furthermore, Raven has also proven interoperable with the UK MoD’s DataMan software which provides geospatial tools for troops at home and abroad.
Andrew White