SAIC SENTINEL acoustic counter-sniper system

An acoustic surveillance system tailored to the detection and location of sniper fire was designed and a prototype built and tested. The SENTINEL system by Science Applications International Corporation exploits 100 kHz 16- bit digitization of signals from 16 condenser microphones in two volumetric arrays to make robust determinations of bearing, range, bullet trajectory, weapon caliber, and muzzle velocity. Signal processing is accomplished on VME hardware with C40 DSPs. Solutions are displayed within three seconds of a detected event on a ruggedized full-daylight- readable color laptop console. Typical accuracies are 1 degree to 2 degrees in azimuth and 2% to 10% in range, depending on range and environmental conditions. The large bandwidth and dynamic range, and exploitation of shock waveform period and amplitude estimates, give the system good capability even in difficult geometries and highly reverberant environments. In-depth study of the phenomenology of the ballistic shock wave was undertaken during the design phase. Results of this study are summarized.