Article Posted on : - Apr 07, 2015

A Raytheon photo

MCKINNEY, TEXAS (BNS): Raytheon Company has pushed battlefield situational awareness to a new, safer level by integrating existing sensor-to-missile technologies during a recent exercise at Camp Blanding, Florida.

Raytheon Missile Systems engineers successfully connected two dismounted, remotely operated sensors to a soldier's laptop and hand controller, sending commands directly to a nearby Griffin missile launcher.

According to the Company, a Long Range Acquisition Scout Surveillance System (LRAS3) identified the target and sent slew commands through its network to an Enhanced LRAS3 sensor, which confirmed the coordinates needed to engage the target.

With this connectivity, the target's precise position was transmitted with greatly improved speed and accuracy through a secure laptop network, eliminating the need for voice commands, it said.

"On the battlefield, this network capability will keep a soldier safe in a bunker or other protected position while conducting surveillance, identifying enemy targets and handing-off coordinates to a nearby portable weapons system," said Michelle Lohmeier, Raytheon's vice president of Land Warfare Systems.

The Long-Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System is a multi-sensor system designed to provide forward deployed scouts and observers real-time ability to detect, recognize, identify and geo-locate distant targets.

LRAS3 allows for 24/7 reconnaissance and surveillance missions, remaining outside threat acquisition and engagement ranges by replacing obsolete systems requiring observers to be within direct fire range of the threat they seek to detect.

Enhanced LRAS3, or eLRAS3, is the next generation Long Range Advanced Scout Surveillance System providing a 55 percent reduction in sensor weight and volume and is fully compatible with all existing LRAS3 platforms.

The Remote Operation Kit enables full LRAS3/eLRAS3 capability to the user while providing an intuitive graphical user interface and handheld control. The kit allows the LRAS3/eLRAS3 system to be used in the dismounted configuration on a tripod, mast or tower, or mounted on a vehicle, it added.