If you have ever tried to get a closer look at Area 51 and haven’t figured out how security finds you, it’s because of hidden device called a UGS. Unattended Ground Sensors detect seismic vibration from a tank down to a human and have been used on the battlefield for years. Textron Defense Systems are in the testing stages of an upgrade to UGS which will give soldiers an upper hand with a better tactical approach. The latest editions of UGS’s will have pyroelectric transducers, daylight imagers and passive infrared imagers and along with the usual seismic and acoustic detectors, will be able to be networked in the field to pinpoint movement. TDS have two types that will be rolling out to the battlefield by 2012. The first is the Tactical UGS which will be primarily used in the field by a platoon sized element to identify, track and classify infantry or vehicles within its coverage area and report it’s data in real-time to a Future Combat Systems network. The second device is called the Urban UGS which will primarily be used as an initial surveillance tool for clearing out buildings, sewers or caves. Both UGS units are small and portable along the lines of your average cell phone size without the addition of specialized equipment. Now our troops can identify what is actually coming around that corner and prepare or escape with a few minutes to spare, and a few minutes is the difference between life and death on a battlefield.
Eavesdropper