HONOLULU, 23 Dec. 2006. BAE Systems Spectral Solutions LLC in Honolulu won a $6.8 million order to demonstrate a turret for the Electro-Optic Passive Anti-Submarine Warfare System (EPAS) -- an integrated non-acoustic sensor suite that uses combined passive spectral imaging to enable U.S. Navy patrol aircraft to locate and attack enemy submarines and other ocean-going targets.
EPAS technology is to provide real-time surveillance and detection of submarines and smaller objects in relatively shallow waters as an important part of the U.S. Navy's anti-submarine warfare program.
EPAS is a prototype passive electro-optic camera system in a 16-inch turret to capture images of objects on the ocean and beneath the surface.
Members of Congress, in the 2007 defense authorization act, expressed concerned for the proliferation and expansion of submarine forces worldwide, and said they view anti-submarine warfare capabilities as a high priority for acoustically challenging shallow-water environments along coasts and in harbors and coves.
The core of EPAS consists of four different non-acoustic detection technologies in one system: a 12-channel visible multi-spectral imager; three-channel low-light spectral detector; three-channel low-light zoomed camera; and midwave (3-5 micron) infrared detector.
EPAS today does not take advantage of polarization or handle the negative effects of sea surface foam on system imaging performance, so Navy and industry researchers must make a significant reduction in the number of false alarms to improve their probability of detection. The EPAS uses 12 individual cameras to collect visible multi-spectral data.
BAE Systems will do the work in Honolulu, and should finish by March 2008. Awarding the contract Dec. 20 was the Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.
