Military units add punch with new sensor

Engineers from Hughes Aircraft Co. in El Segundo, Calif., are designing a portable long-range infrared sensor and laser rangefinder for small-unit military operations. The job, which Hughes experts are doing for the U.S. Air Force and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has an option to add a global positioning system receiver, a digital compass, and a real-time video transmitter. The 8-pound system, which has a third-generation visible-through-midwave infrared sensor and eyesafe laser rangefinder, is to improve the combat capability of small units by enabling them to engage and defeat enemy forces that are much larger than themselves. - J.K.