On guard

A biosensor detection system that learns from its environment is being developed to provide UK soldiers with accurate data about a chemical or biological attack and limit false alarms.

The MoD has awarded engineering group Serco a £13m, two-year contract to supply nine Integrated Sensor Management Systems (ISMS). A standard ISMS system comes with 16 sensor interface units, each of which can be connected to eight detectors and can monitor an area of 5km2.

Serco’s system will work in tandem with newly developed biosensors to limit the number of false-positive warnings that can cause havoc on the battlefield, as was seen at the start of military operations in Iraq.

According to Serco project director Tony Rowe, the new system will plug a ‘capability gap’ in existing chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) detection systems. ‘Current CBRN networks are fairly crude communication- based systems that cannot process data,’ he said.