Raytheon BBN Technologies

Wearable System Will Provide Individual Protection and Situational Awareness for Soldiers on the Battlefield

Cambridge, Mass., September 8, 2008 — BBN Technologies, an advanced technology solutions firm, announced today that it will develop a soldier-wearable shooter detection system in partnership with the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center under a contract valued at $3.5M. The system will work in both stand-alone and networked environments, with the stand-alone systems providing individual soldiers immediate awareness of hostile fire locations and the networked systems providing unit leaders with the situational awareness needed to coordinate responses to hostile fire.

A spokesperson for Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) said, "Our troops deserve the very best technology to prevent casualties from sniper fire, and Senator Kennedy is proud that the Army has turned to the BBN Technologies' Boomerang system to protect our individual fighting men and women. He looks forward to continuing to work with BBN Technologies and the Army to see that all our troops have the best possible equipment."

Senator John Kerry (D-MA) said, "Nothing's more important than the safety of our troops, and BBN Technologies is on the cutting edge of military technology. By allowing our troops to immediately pinpoint a shooter's location, this new Boomerang system can save lives. I am proud that such innovative technologies are being produced by a Massachusetts company, and pleased that it is getting the federal support it needs."

Under a similar partnership with the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center and the US Army Armament, Research, Development & Engineering Center, BBN developed and demonstrated a prototype wearable system in 2007. These wearable systems are based on the technology underlying BBN's Boomerang III shooter detection system. There are currently nearly 1000 Boomerang III systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, and BBN recently announced a $74M contract to deliver over 8000 additional systems and spare parts to the US Army before the end of the year.

Mark Sherman, vice president and general manager, Boomerang, BBN Technologies, said, "This partnership with the US Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center will save lives by enabling us to deliver this technology to individual, dismounted soldiers, who too often face great risks from sniper fire. BBN is pleased to provide this capability to our War Fighters in the air, on the water, in vehicles and on the ground."

About BBN Technologies
BBN Technologies is a legendary R&D organization that leverages its substantial intellectual property portfolio to produce advanced, repeatable solutions such as the Boomerang shooter detection system. 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. BBN now employs approximately 700 people in seven locations in the US: Cambridge, Massachusetts (headquarters); Arlington, Virginia; Columbia, Maryland; Middletown, Rhode Island; San Diego, California; St. Louis Park, Minnesota; and O'Fallon, Illinois. For more information, visit www.bbn.com.