Posted by John Keller

LAKEHURST, N.J., 12 March 2010. Engineers at STARA Technologies Inc. in Gilbert, Ariz., are investigating aerostat- and airship-mounted persistent-surveillance sensors to help protect U.S. military personnel deployed at forward operating bases in Southwest Asia and other global trouble spots.

STARA Technologies won a $23.3 million U.S. Navy contract, announced Thursday, to build and test prototype persistent ground surveillance system technologies to detect humans, cars and trucks, and pinpoint the firing positions of incoming artillery and mortar rounds.

STARA engineers will investigate sensors; sensor data processing; communications between sensors and interfaces; multisensor fusion; sensor payload platforms; and ways to cut costs of moving sensors into combat areas. They also will look into powering sensors with renewable, green, self sufficient power sources.

This research program is called Persistent Ground Surveillance System Technologies and Payloads. Awarding the contract are officials of the Naval Air Warfare Center's Aircraft Division at Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station in Lakehurst, N.J.

For this project, company experts primarily are investigating electro-optical sensors; communications relays; wide area persistent surveillance with automatic false alarm rejection, moving target indicator, and cuing outputs from radar; tethered aerostats and airships; as well as wide-area threat detection and location sensor technology.

For more information contact the Naval Air Warfare Center's Aircraft Division at Lakehurst Naval Air Engineering Station online at www.navair.navy.mil/lakehurst, or STARA Technologies at www.stara.biz.

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