The Army is conducting market research to find out the state- of- the-art on ground penetrating radar (GPR) that could potentially be used in the service’s next generation handheld landmine/explosive hazard detector.
The sensor the Army is considering would be expected to detect targets buried from 0-30 cm from distances as far as 7.5 cm above the ground, the survey, released Dec. 5 on FBODaily.com said.
The service envisions the technology would be attached to an easily portable handheld wand that could be comfortably manipulated with one arm to maneuver and probe underground in search of explosive threats.
All components of the GPR system except a battery power source, which may be shared with other sensors, would be attached to the wand and therefore technologies that are light and easy to carry are desired.
The GPR’s antenna footprint (and ultimately survey area) should be no less than 0.06 m2 while being able to resolve small anti-personnel targets (~5 cm diameter). Sensor head position, including height above ground and attitude, as well as tracking information may be available for integration into signal processing algorithms.
The Army wants the technology to provide user feedback in real time. A display is expected to be available for visual user feedback if appropriate. Any technology would ultimately have to operate on a non-interfering basis with an identical system operating nearby–minor software adjustments would be allowed to ensure interoperability.
The Army will primarily be considering tradeoffs between radar technology capability, antenna footprint/survey area, user information provided and size/weight.
There is no solicitation. White papers should be submitted electronically to Paul Easton, contract specialist at [email protected]. All requests for further information must be made in writing or via e-mail.
Army Contracting Command-APG (Belvoir Division) (ACC-APG (Belvoir)) is conducting the survey on behalf of Army RDECOM CERDEC Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD), Science and Technology Division, Countermine Technology Branch.