Hostile fire detection system could reduce false alarms.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie
• Position: BASE SECURITY

* Troops at forward operating bases in Afghanistan must sometimes contend with adversaries who quickly move in, fire rockets or mortars and then retreat before they can be engaged. A new hostile fire detection system may more accurately locate explosions, from longer ranges.

The system, called Serenity, was scheduled for its first deployment at a forward operating base in Afghanistan in September, said John Marion, president of Logos Technologies.

"By the time the current systems figure out that there's been a launch and they're able to zero in on where it came from, the folks have driven away," he said. "Cutting down the amount of time from where the launch occurred and when we've got eyes on that location from perhaps several minutes to perhaps a few seconds is going to be real critical in shutting down that threat."

Current fire detection systems are not always useful for identifying gunfire and explosions because of high false alarm rates, he said. "What occurs is that the crews eventually just turn them off because they're ... going off all the time."

In order to decrease false alarms, Serenity is equipped with two kinds of sensors. The first-the optical gunfire, rockets and...