Northrop Grumman announced yesterday that it has been awarded a $6.7 million contract to develop a day/night panoramic optical system that can detect, analyse and alert soldiers to possible threats by utilising human brain activity.

The contract was awarded by the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for their Cognitive Technology Threat Warning System program (CT2WS).

The aim of the program is to develop an intelligent neuro-optical system that will enable a soldier to detect threats over a wide field of view and at and extremely long range.

Northrop Grumman’s Human-aided Optical Recognition/Notification of Elusive Threats (HORNET) system will utilise a custom-made helmet which taps brain activity via electro-encephalogram electrodes placed on the operator’s scalp.

The system’s algorithms will be trained and refined over time by input from the operator’s neural responses.

“Northrop Grumman’s HORNET system leverages the latest advances in real-time coupling of human brain activity with automated cognitive neural processing to provide superior target detection,” says Michael House, CT2WS program manager at Northrop Grumman. “The system will maintain persistent surveillance in order to defeat an enemy’s attempts to surprise through evasive move-stop-move tactics, giving the U.S. warfighter as much as a 20-minute advantage over his adversaries.”

Northrop Grumman provides global defense and technology products to government and commercial organisations worldwide.

Source:
PrimeNewsWire