After nearly a year of ISIS fighters using oil fires to hide their movements in Mosul as coalition forces closed in, a Department of Defense agency has found a way for fighter pilots to peer through the haze.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced its video synthetic aperture radar program has found an extremely high frequency sensor can operate through clouds as effectively as current electro-optical and infrared sensors operate in clear weather.
DARPA's announcement represents the most public disclosure of how far ahead the military is in seeing through atmospherics, Defense One reported.
In recent tests, researchers were able to take "uninterrupted live video of targets on the ground even when flying through or above clouds," DARPA program manager Bruce Wallace said in a statement.
"The [electro-optical/infrared] sensors on board the test aircraft went blank whenever clouds obscured the view, but the synthetic aperture radar tracked ground objects continuously throughout the flight."
The sensor is meant for multiple types of aircraft, DARPA said.
Northrop Grumman, working with L3 Technologies, is listed as the winner of the $6.9 million contract.
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