Seeing the enemy: urban wars fuel demand for more accurate sensors.

• Author: Wagner, Breanne
• Position: Urban Warfare

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TEL AVIV, Israel -- Suppliers of high-tech military hardware are developing new sensors that could help troops identify the enemy in close urban quarters.

Israel's military forces, as well as U.S. troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, continue to have difficulties finding enemy combatants inside buildings. Commanders employ a variety of surveillance drones but these do not "see" through walls. As a result, aerial strikes that are aimed at insurgents can end up killing innocent civilians.

Companies here are focusing on mobile surveillance and reconnaissance technologies that can provide soldiers with "quick, actionable information," says Danny Nadri, a retired Israeli Air Force captain, who is now vice president of ODF Optronics, a technology firm in Tel Aviv. The goal, he says, is to "give units the ability to collect their own intelligence."

Israel's military has been fighting in built-up areas for decades, and considers urban surveillance one of its major challenges. "The concept that says most of the fighting is going to take place in cities is well understood in Israel," says Nadri.

ODF Optronics creates technologies that utilize optics to enhance surveillance in urban settings. The goal is to enable the user to have a 360-degree field of view, Nadri says, because in an asymmetric war, soldiers can be exposed to attack from all sides.

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ODF is best known for its eyeball R1 surveillance system, which consists of a hardened sphere that houses a sophisticated camera system and comes with a wireless display unit. The durable eye ball can be thrown over walls, into streets, tunnels, houses or any other place of interest. Once the sphere hits the ground, it establishes a 360-degree video image of the surrounding area and feeds it to operators holding the small display unit. It also features audio and day/night sensors.

ODF received its first major contract for the eyeball in 2006 for $10 million from U.S.-based Remington Technologies, which signed an agreement to represent ODF in the United States. Remington Technologies is a division of the Remington Arms Company Inc., headquartered in Madison, N.C. After purchasing the technology, Remington sold the eye ball system to U.S. law enforcement agencies, Nadri says. The company also sold 300 units to the U.S. Army under the original contract. They were recently shipped to the Middle East.

Although he declined to speak about specific uses by the U.S...