Raytheon has received a $5.4 million U.S. Army contract to develop and validate methods to reduce the cost of its Battlefield Combat Identification Device (BTID), a millimeter wave system that can prevent "friendly fire" incidents in combat.
Successful results of the new Army program — called Combat Identification Device (CID) Cost Reduction — could ensure BTID's affordability by minimizing production, installation and life-cycle costs. The twenty-month effort will focus on reducing all three.
BTID is a fratricide avoidance system that identifies friendly force fighting vehicles with more than 99 percent accuracy. Recently evaluated for use by U.S. and coalition forces during Operation Urgent Quest, BTID has demonstrated its ability to track blue forces in real-time.
"There is no question that millimeter wave is proven technology for combat identification," said Lt. Col. Lloyd Crosman, product manager for the Army's Target Identification and Meteorological Sensors Program Office.
"However, we understand that current cost is one of the critical issues that we must address, prior to any CID system production and deployment decision. To that end, the objective of the new CID cost reduction program is to significantly reduce projected installation, life-cycle and force level affordability costs associated with millimeter wave technology."
