Contract Number:  DASG60-02-C-0069

Government Organization Supported: U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command

Primary Work Location:  Huntsville, Alabama – Zone 4

Work Performed:
The scope of the series of tasks that encompassed the Overwatch ACTD Program was to: develop and demonstrate a prototype weapon detection system; expand, mature and test the technology as part of the Overwatch ACTD; and design, manufacture and leave-behind a pre-production system for user in-theater evaluation.  Radiance developed the hardware and software to detect, classify, and locate weapon fires in real-time and provide this information for targeting in support of ground forces. As part of the technology maturation, Radiance designed and fabricated a replacement for its initial processor (a Mercury based system with 14 G4 processors weighing 150lbs) with an FPGA-based special purpose processor weighing less that 20 lbs containing embedded software. We delivered this pre-production hardware to the U.S. Pacific Command and subsequently deployed 5 systems in IRAQ as part of Operation IRAQ Freedom. (OIF).

Functional Area Lead: 
Mr. Brian Choate is Chief Engineer of the Radiance Systems Engineering Operation where he is responsible for all electrical design and manufacturing. Mr. Choate has a BS in Electrical Engineering and 17 years experience in electronic systems design, fabrication and assembly. Mr. Choate designed the initial Mercury based processing system for Overwatch, the FPGA-based special purpose processor, and the processor recently inserted into the FLIR POP 200 gimbal.