U.S. buys additional shot-spotters
The U.S. Army already deploys more than 6,000 Boomerang shot-spotter systems; the manufacturer, BBN, has just received a $22.5 million contract to supply 3,300 additional units
Cambridge, Massachusetts-based BBN Technologies has been awarded a $22,460,000 contract by the U.S. Army Product Manager Robotics
and Unmanned Sensors (PM RUS) to deliver 1,095 Boomerang Shooter Detection Systems and 2,195 vehicle installation kits.
The Boomerang system immediately alerts U.S. Forces to incoming hostile fire and pinpoints the location of the enemy shooter. The Boston Globe reports that last year, BBN delivered more than 5,000 Boomerang systems to the U.S. Army, also through a contract with PM RUS. Today, there are more than 6,000 Boomerang systems deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, many mounted on Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles.
Mark Sherman, vice president and general manager, Boomerang, BBN Technologies, said, “Boomerang has consistently proven its value in the field and we will continue to deliver systems in an accelerated manner to support the Army’s ongoing operational needs. Our goal is to provide this lifesaving technology to protect our troops regardless of whether they are in moving vehicles, in fixed positions, on foot, or in the air.”
BBN has adapted the Boomerang shooter detection technology for soldier-wearable and helicopter applications. The wearable system, Boomerang Warrior, has already been delivered to the U.S. Army though the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center, and field testing for the helicopter system is successfully underway.
