Navmar’s LADAR and Probe Sensor SBIR Research

AFRL LADAR image Navmar Applied Sciences Corp. in Warminster, PA is not the only firm to win “Laser Radar” related contracts, nor are they the only firm to invest in LADAR for various uses. But they have received a series of contracts dating back from 2000, and collectively worth over $240 million, in order to develop the technology into deployed systems. Navmar’s contracts have been issued under the auspices of the US Navy’s Small Business Innovation Research program, under SBIR Solicitation Topics N92-170 (Laser Detection and Ranging Identification Demonstration) and N94-178 (Air Deployable Expendable Multi-parameter Environmental Probe). SBIR Awards, and the Lure of LADAR “Target acquired.” A SBIR-III award generally means that a new technology has gone beyond proof of concept, and is a step away from commercialization. Navmar has been operating under Phase III contracts in these areas for a number of years, and their length and amounts are both unusual. Topic N94-178’s (Air Deployable Expendable Multi-parameter Environmental Probe) technology objective appears to be sonobuoy-related, and has been described as “sensors capable of providing oceanographic/ environmental monitoring in time critical situations.” Properly adapted, some of these technologies might also be adapted for land-based use, but specifics are few at […]