Raytheon Co. has launched what it calls the industry's first wide-area, long-range camera sensor, giving surveyors on the border a 360-degree view of targets.
The Eagle 300 sensor, which Waltham, Mass.-based Raytheon is making for Virginia-based SkyWatch LLC, is being marketed for both global security and infrastructure protection applications.
The government has looked to defense contractors to provide high technology for monitoring the U.S.-Mexico border. The largest such project, which began in September 2006, is Boeing Co.'s Secure Border Initiative, a network of towers with cameras and radar equipment.
Raytheon is in discussions with customers about Eagle 300, although no contracts have been awarded, spokeswoman Ginny McAdams said. The device was designed for border security and "critical infrastructure protection applications," such as dams and airports, she said.
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Gene Blackwell, Raytheon's vice president of the company's Rapid Initiatives Group, said in a statement that the product will "enable forces to stop an attack before it starts." And as part of an operations center, Raytheon said, Eagle 300 can enable forces to review events and assist in investigations.
The sensor can be used in 90-degree, 180-degree, 270-degree or 360-degree increments. That's different from other sensors on the market, which provide a limited viewpoint and have to rotate in a complete circle.
Raytheon said Eagle 300 is made of commercial, off-the-shelf products and can be integrated to supplement existing security systems, and it can also be used overseas.
Boeing's border project, dubbed SBInet, will include other firms' equipment. A Boeing spokeswoman would not confirm the future use of Eagle 300, citing company policy that prohibits its talking about current or potential subcontractor relationships.