World’s first ‘third generation’ holographic imagers accepted by U.S. Army
See the original article in Government Security News
The U.S. Army has accepted delivery and placed into service the world’s first “third generation” holographic imagers, the M2, developed and produced by Zebra Imaging.
Culminating three years of development and testing, formal acceptance of the new warfighter capability was punctuated by two exhaustive, two-day acceptance test at Zebra Imaging’s facility in Austin, TX. The first M2 was accepted on June 24, the second on September 30. The two new imagers are now producing tactical holography in support of U.S. war fighters.
Zebra Imaging’s M2 is the next generation, deployment-capable, high speed imager, and provides greater capability in a smaller footprint than the predecessors, according to Brian Hill, Zebra’s vice president of operations. That means tactical holograms can get to the war fighter faster. “A down-range capable machine, stationed in Afghanistan or Iraq, slashes lead time for tactical holography to the Warfighter from weeks to hours, providing critical information about the battlespace for planning, mission execution and debrief,” said Hill. "M2 can have a considerable impact on keeping our young men and women safe and effective.”
The M2 imager is designed for shelter or command post deployment, in order to place the capability as close to the war fighter as possible. An extensive upgrade from its predecessor M1, the M2 features faster imaging times, more detailed holographic images, compatibility with indoor environments, and more efficient shipping and operation.
Zebra tactical holography, produced under the U.S. Army’s Tactical Battlefield Visualization (TBV) program, provides the war fighter with an in-depth understanding of the terrain and the physical environment in three dimensions, complementing traditional two-dimensional maps and computer representations. TBV tactical holography employs U.S. Army Buckeye LIDAR and imagery, as well as other Department of Defense, commercial and Coalition sources for high-resolution 3D battlespace information -- geospatial intelligence -- critical for planning and executing combat and stability missions.
TBV was established in 2006 by the U.S. Army Deputy Chief of Staff for Intelligence (G-2), who continues to manage the program.
Since 2006, Zebra has delivered more than 8,000 unique tactical holograms to U.S. Army, Marine Corps and Coalition Forces engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, all produced in Austin, TX, and shipped to the war fighter downrange, with delivery times stretching to as much as three weeks.
Zebra’s Hill concludes, “Acceptance of M2, combined with recently awarded contracts for hologram production, and the potential for deployment of the imager downrange means this critical technology will become an even more important tool for the Warfighter.”