KAIROS awarded sensor project

The KAIROS Consortium has been awarded a share of a £1m, 10-month MoD contract for the assessment phase of Project LISTENER

The KAIROS Consortium has been awarded a share of a £1m, 10-month MoD contract for the assessment phase of LISTENER, a project designed to integrate military sensors.

The KAIROS Consortium is led by L-3 Communications and includes Qinetiq and LogicaCMG.

Project LISTENER is designed to integrate sensors to provide intelligence on selected targets. It will achieve interoperability between UK ISTAR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, and Reconnaissance) equipment and US and coalition systems and networks. It aims to dramatically improve target location accuracy, timeliness and combat identification for the war fighter for risk reduction and solution definition.

Initial development approval is expected in 2009 for follow-on demonstration and manufacturing through 2015. The LISTENER capability is expected to remain in service until approximately 2035.

L-3 will be prime contractor, providing programme management, airborne platform integration, and systems engineering for requirements development plus test and evaluation. Qinetiq is leading in the areas of land and sea platform integration, human factors, training and operational analysis and is involved in architecture and technology development. LogicaCMG will look at integrated logistics support, security, and communications.

L-3 is committed to perform at least 60 per cent of the LISTENER effort in the UK, and has set up a LISTENER project office in Tewkesbury near the MoD.