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Harris Corporation, along with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Lincoln Labs (MIT/LL) and Sarnoff Corporation, recently demonstrated the technology and operational concept of identifying potential military targets obscured by natural and camouflage cover. The project, called JIGSAW, is sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which is the central research and development organization of the U.S. Department of Defense.
JIGSAW utilizes an airborne laser radar (LADAR) transmitter/sensor and sophisticated image processing and visualization software to penetrate dense trees and camouflage in order to detect, identify, and characterize targets on the battlefield such as tanks and armored personnel carriers, and could be instrumental in next generation architectures such as the U.S. Army’s Future Combat System (FCS). The JIGSAW team has designed a system that models payloads to be flown on very small vehicles—such as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) and Organic Aerial Vehicles (OAVs)—or larger, higher-altitude Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (TUAVs). To demonstrate that the technology works and to ascertain performance parameters, the team successfully fielded a larger-scale prototype which was carried onboard a UH-1N Huey helicopter and flight-tested against real, hidden targets at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. During the initial flight tests, just eight months after critical design review, obscured targets were clearly identified. Harris is the system integrator for this project. Key elements of the JIGSAW system include a small, rugged laser with a highly sensitive detector, provided by MIT/LL; complex, 3D image registration, provided by Sarnoff; a sophisticated 3D image processor from MIT/LL and Harris; and a powerful, 3D visualization and user interface from Harris.
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