Posted on 07/03/2007 7:56:16 AM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
(NORFOLK, Va. – June 21, 2007) –- A technology tested by U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) designed to locate enemy combatants by the sound of their weapons is ready for testing in a combat environment, according to USJFCOM officials.
ShotSpotter, a technology that could help locate insurgents by zeroing in on the sound of their gunfire is making great strides, according to the USJFCOM Joint Intelligence Directorate’s Ted Ferrazano.
The ShotSpotter system is an acoustic gun and mortar detection system that uses sound triangulation to detect and locate the origin of weapons’ fire from a variety of small arms and crew-served weapons, added Ferrazano.
On the battlefield, ShotSpotter works by combining input from individual sensors worn by troops, sensors on mobile units, and sensors in fixed locations to triangulate the origin of small arms fire. The information is conveyed to a laptop or PDA, which will show the location of the shot on a digital map in near-real time.
In today’s battlefield, ShotSpotter can prove invaluable, Ferrazano added.
"Especially in an urban environment where you have all types of noise and it may not be clear in the heat of battle where the shots are coming from, ShotSpotter will tell you so you can react accordingly to the direction of the gun fire," said Ferrazano.
Originally designed for use in law enforcement, military use of the product has come about only recently and with the help of USJFCOM, who has been evaluating ShotSpotter since 2004, said Ferrazano.
After initial evaluation, USJFCOM suggested some improvements to ShotSpotter. One improvement, integration of the ‘Cursor on Target’ data interoperability schema, allows ShotSpotter data to be shared better and faster with other dissimilar sensors over a network, said Ferrazano.
USJFCOM also prompted development of a number of filters that allows ShotSpotter to distinguish between small arms fire and the copious amount of background noise that exists in an urban environment.
"ShotSpotter is currently being evaluated by the Army Research, Engineering and Development Center" and vetted by the Army Counter-sniper Integrated Concept Development Team, said Ferrazano who also said the system will be further tested during Empire Challenge, an exercise designed to demonstrate and evaluate intelligence gathering techniques and technology for joint and coalition warfighting operations, at China Lake, Calif. in July.
Earlier tests by law enforcement agencies showed a 90 percent accuracy rate for ShotSpotter, said Ferrazano.
The ShotSpotter system is currently in use with the police forces of over a dozen U.S. cities and with federal agencies such as the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s office. On the military side, U.S. Air Force security forces are employing ShotSpotter in a forward operating base defense role.
"We want to leverage the flexibility of the ShotSpotter system, to broaden its target detection aperture," said Ferrazano. "Integrating the ability to detect not just the sound of a gun shot, but also the muzzle flash as well, as the next near term improvement to the system."
Hmmm, modern version of Sound Ranging , 17C MOS was my first in the Army.
This system would be terribly confused, I should think, in an urban environment. Multiple echoes would produce triangulation solutions all over the area. Filters could help some. Cripes, are we not still arguing over the JFK gunshots as recorded over the police radio?
This is basic acoustics. For years geologists, the navy and others have used these principles. Just now being investigated by the land warfare military? The speed of sound is a function of a few variables, the biggest being temperature—so the system best account for that. Should work on a low intensity battlefield. A hundred ak’s being fired is going to yield nothing but confusion.
What is really needed now is a darn ied detector—besides a US humvee. What is the problem? Ground mapping sonar could set a baseline, and then sweep the road daily to detect changes in the digital print. Why is this not solvable?
This is who/what I supported...In the news...
Ground penetrating sonar (or radar for that matter) systems usually have be dragged across the ground in question. They don't work from a chopper or aircraft. The IEDs would just blow up the sensors faster than they could be deployed or fixed.
That said, high resolution radar or possibly some sort of passive imaging sensor should be able to detect the disturbed earth or other materials. Probably are doing so as we type.
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