BBN Technologies, an advanced technology solutions firm, announced today it has been awarded $3.6 million in funding by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an acoustic, small arms detection system for helicopters.

Helicopter operations in Iraq and Afghanistan often require low altitude flight, making them susceptible to unguided small arms attacks and leading to significant losses. Because of the noise level inside the helicopters, crews cannot hear shots fired at them and therefore often do not immediately realize when they are under attack. Based on BBN's Boomerang shooter detection system technology, the proposed system will provide helicopter crews an immediate, real-time display and audio alert of small arms attacks.

Under DARPA sponsorship, BBN first developed the Boomerang Shooter detection system technology in late 2004, and there are now over 800 systems in use in Iraq and Afghanistan in both mobile and static locations. In early 2007, under DARPA funding, BBN demonstrated the feasibility of applying the Boomerang technology to detect small-arms fire from a hovering helicopter. The current work will build on the success of that demonstration to produce a functional prototype system for operational assessment.

"Applying our technical expertise to build systems that work in the real world is BBN's sweet spot," said Tad Elmer, president and CEO, BBN Technologies, "and this work is especially satisfying because the system we build will save lives."

About BBN Technologies
BBN Technologies solves real problems through the creation and disciplined application of advanced technology. With expertise spanning information security, speech and language processing, networking, distributed systems, and sensing and control systems, BBN scientists and engineers have amassed a substantial collection of innovations and patented solutions. Today, BBN is managing the planning and design of GENI, an advanced network facility spanning the United States; is saving lives in Iraq and Afghanistan with its Boomerang Shooter Detection System; operates the first metro quantum cryptography network; has deployed the first real-time foreign broadcast monitoring system; and is proving the benefits of the world's first stereoscopic digital mammography system in clinical trials. For more information, visit www.bbn.com.