Areté Associates to develop CatsEye laser threat warning system to protect Army aircraft against laser-guided weapons

ARLINGTON, Va., 23 October 2006. The U.S. Army RDECOM CERDEC I2WD has awarded Areté Associates a $2.3 million contract to develop a laser threat warning system to protect Army fixed- and rotarywing aircraft against laser-guided weapons.

Developed by the Tucson, Ariz., and Arlington, Va., offices of Areté Associates, the CatsEye program will build on its TigersEye SBIR Phase II effort to develop a broadband Infrared Countermeasure and Laser Beamrider Countermeasure (IRCM/LBRCM) System to protect aircraft against heat-seeking missile and laser-guided missile threats simultaneously.

Based on the company's MEMS Beam Steering technology, these next-generation platform protection systems aim to provide substantially improved performance and lower cost over systems currently in use.