The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., is looking to industry for ways to detect and defeat person-borne improvised explosive devices, more commonly known as suicide bombers. According to a solicitation issued Monday, center officials seek a sensor-based system with a high accuracy rate that can detect IEDs located anywhere on a person’s body. Specifically, the Air Force is looking for a rugged and reliable system with automatic detection capabilities that can visually and/or audibly announce positive detection of a PBIED “without an operator in the loop,” states a request for information on the Federal Business Opportunities website. The system must be easily portable, require minimal operator training, and complete a full scan in less than one minute. Industry is asked to submit their ideas by Oct. 1.
Pentagon officials overseeing homeland counter-drone strategy told lawmakers that even with preliminary moves to bolster U.S. base defenses, the military still lacks the capability to comprehensively identify, track, and engage hostile drones like those that breached the airspace of Langley Air Force Base in Virginia for 17 days in December…