HYDRA, Unattended Networked Sensing System for Finnish Defence

SELEX Sensors & Airborne Systems, BASILDON, UK: The Finnish Defence Force has procured HYDRA, the unattended, networked sensing system recently developed by SELEX Sensors and Airborne Systems (S&AS) UK, a Finmeccanica company. The FDF will employ HYDRA as a system for perimeter and border control at tactical level. 
 
HYDRA, which has now entered production phase, is a situational awareness asset which, through the use of distributed multimodal sensors, allows the user to detect, recognise, identify and track targets of interest from a safe, remote location. HYDRA utilizes visible band cameras, thermal cameras and acoustic tracking in conjunction with seismic, Passive Infrared and magnetic sensors. 
 
HYDRA comes in a collection of small, ruggedised sensor nodes which, once deployed, form a wireless, sensing network. The use of combinations of modular sensors and communications make HYDRA ideal to provide more effective detection of potential threats, while at the same time significantly reducing false alarms rates compared to the current generation of unattended ground sensors. Furthermore, the imaging sensors allow confirmation of the target through a remote “eyes on” visual identification. These capabilities make HYDRA ideal for use for military and civilian forces, including the Police and border control bodies. 
 
Stephen Young, SELEX S&AS Vice-President Homeland Security, said “HYDRA offers an outstanding level of capability to military and civilian users. Today, situational awareness has never been so important and HYDRA provides unmatched awareness, allowing more efficient and effective deployment of human resources.” 
 
SELEX S&AS UK beat off nine other companies in the bidding process due to the system's enhanced capability, particularly the visual identification system. As a result of this capability, the HYDRA team at SELEX S&AS UK has received various Requests for Information from around he globe and will shortly be demonstrating the system across North America and the Middle East. 
 
SELEX S&AS has been able to offer the Finnish Defence Force a tailored solution for its requirement, enabled through the company's high level of technology and its group of world-class suppliers, including QinetiQ, the supplier of the acoustic tracking sensor.