You may recall that in December of ’09 we wrote an article on the Boomerang Warrior, an individual gunfire detection system. Well, the QinetiQ North America Ears® family of gunshot localization systems is the “other” technology from the Army’s program and ultimately, the one the Army fielded. Now, Blackheart International has secured the rights to offer it for sale to military and law enforcement customers.
An acoustic range and bearing system, QinetiQ’s Ears detects and pinpoints hostile gunfire in a fraction of a second and audibly reports the range and bearing of the shooter’s position (e.g., “Shot, 400 meters, 3 o’clock”). As the situation unfolds, Ears keeps track of the shooter’s position relative to the changing location of the user and provides on-demand visual and audible updates. In addition, the Ears device simultaneously records latitude and longitude of the shooter’s position to facilitate coordination with other military resources that might be needed to deal with the threat. The Ears SWATSâ„¢ (Shoulder-Worn Acoustic Targeting System) version is mounted on the user’s non-firing shoulder and provides audio cueing as well as a visual display. The technology is also available in Ears-VM (vehicle-mounted), Ears-FS (fixed site), Ears-MC (mobile checkpoint) and Ears-UG (unattended ground) configurations.