FAIRFAX, Va. – October 7, 2015 – Logos Technologies announced today that Simera, a new exportable wide-area sensor, has been accepted by the Brazilian Ministry of Justice for use as an airborne security asset for the 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro.
The Brazilian Ministry of Justice’s choice to deploy Simera as part of its security solution for the 2016 Olympics is the first time a non-U.S. government entity has operated a wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor at an international sporting event.
“Until now, WAMI sensors have been used either to protect U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan or have been tested for domestic law enforcement and border security,” says John Marion, president of Logos Technologies. “This will be the first time that this sophisticated technology has been exported abroad.”
In late 2014, the Brazilian Ministry of Justice put out a request for proposals from local industry for methods to help secure the upcoming Olympics. A few months later, the government selected and finalized negotiations on a package of solutions offered by ALTAVE, a Brazilian lighter-than-air aerospace company.
The key sensor technology in the ALTAVE proposal was Simera. “Simera weighs fewer than 40 pounds [18 kilograms], so it is light enough to go on a wide variety of aerostats, or tethered blimps,” says Deborah Althoff, Simera program manager. “In this case, the platform is the Altave Omni system.”
Logos has worked with Altave to integrate Simera on the system over the past few months. The culminating event occurred last week in Rio de Janeiro where the Brazilian MOJ performed rigorous testing and accepted the assets.
Simera is based on the battle-proven Kestrel system, developed by Logos Technologies and deployed on large aerostats at U.S. forward operating bases in Afghanistan beginning in 2011. Kestrel operates both day and night, and gives the operator a 360-degree field of view of a city-sized area.
Like Kestrel, the new exportable, electro-optical WAMI sensor can also monitor city-sized areas in near real-time as well as provide operators a complete video recording of events on the ground for later analysis.
In addition to major sporting and other large events, Simera can be used to safeguard borders, ports, railways, and logistics hubs. This new WAMI sensor also can be rapidly deployed on small, tactical aerostats to support humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. “The entire system, aerostat and sensor, can be carried in two small trailers, and can go from packaged to fully operational system in just two hours,” Althoff says.
###
About Logos Technologies
Founded in 1996, Logos Technologies LLC is a diversified science, engineering and technology company specializing in the fields of advanced sensors, wide area motion imagery, cyber operations, advanced analytics and processing of large, multisource datasets. Logos serves government customers including the Department of Defense, Department of Energy and Department of Homeland Security, as well as a range of customers in commercial and international markets.
Learn more at www.logos-technologies.com.
Media Contact:
Susan Kerin
Director of Communications
skerin@logos-technologies.com
703-237-6550
