\u201cThe primary challenge is to find the least number of cameras that you can position around the vehicle that have the resolution you need,\u201d Klager said. \u201cYou want enough resolution to be able to see clearly, but more resolution means a narrower field of view, and that requires more cameras. That\u2019s the trade-off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Rough estimate: Four to six cameras would give full coverage with enough resolution to detect a man at 200 meters, but planners are still fine-tuning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s just part of the situational awareness picture. Recognizing opposing forces is a key function, \u201cbut that\u2019s just horizontal,\u201d said Chris Ostroski, who directs the combat vehicle prototyping program at the Army\u2019s Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center. \u201cWe also want to be able to go up, to identify things in the aerial battle space, everything from helicopters to small drones.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new vehicle likely will have advanced hostile fire-detection systems as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The current approach to this uses an infrared camera to detect thermal radiation, but the camera must be cooled to reduce noise. Uncooled cameras now in development use a different detection mechanism and are calibrated to account for small changes, thus producing a high-quality image.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At present, \u201cit may not have the same level performance of a cooled camera, but we are closing the gap, and this makes it much more affordable,\u201d Klager said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ideal end product will be a multifunction, uncooled sensor, a device capable of augmenting a range of situational awareness functions. \u201cAt some point, you can\u2019t just keep adding sensors on the outside of a vehicle: You\u2019re going to run out of real estate or you are going to [run] right out of money,\u201d Klager said. \u201cSo we like this concept of multifunction, one sensor, uncooled, with a variety of capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Such a sensor could, for example, watch for hostile fires and also detect the presence of small unmanned aircraft using a different set of algorithms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Those algorithms will be a key driver in the success of these sensor enhancements. Program managers need to ensure systems can accurately process the large volume of data delivered by these sophisticated sensors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s about looking at different things within the imagery. The challenge is in having a high probability of detection with low false alarms,\u201d Klager said. \u201cYou could have an algorithm to detect everything, but it would tend to detect things that you don\u2019t want to detect.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n When is a flash a gunshot, and when is it just a sun glint off of a window? Is that a bird or a UAV? \u201cYou need algorithms to be able discriminate certain types of signals,\u201d Klager said. \u201cThe false alarms have to be low. That is a key criterion for success.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next-gen vehicle also will have some degree of autonomy, or intelligence. It won\u2019t be self-driving, but it will be smart enough to help the driver execute the mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe envision some kind of aided driving capability: for example, if you had some a priori data that would allow you to plot a better route,\u201d Ostroski said. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to line up our combat vehicles in a convoy, but we do want them to be able to aid in the driving.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The U.S. Army’s next-gen vehicle will bring to the table improved 360-degree situational awareness and hostile fire-detection tools, along with other enhancements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":31944,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":49,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[160,12,14,49,36],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2220],"class_list":["post-16518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-industry","category-land","category-techwatch","category-newsletters"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"3UUBJNQQ2FGCFMIEJCHGWTG2GY","arc_canonical_url":"\/intel-geoint\/sensors\/2017\/10\/23\/armys-next-gen-tank-will-be-see-through-with-advanced-sensors\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/170316-VEHICLE-OVERALL-012.jpg.jpg\")