Raytheon has announced that it will deliver 34 Boomerang gunshot detection systems to the Lithuanian armed forces to protect soldiers and its fleet of next-generation combat vehicles.
According to Force Protection’s Dominic Scola, Boomerang instantly pinpoints and reveals the precise location of enemy shooters when friendly forces are engaged in a firefight.
When the shooter’s location is detected, the system transmits the data to all friendly forces on the same network, not just to soldiers receiving incoming fire.
“The system provides a bubble of protection around each vehicle,” Scola said in a press release. “When integrated with a remote weapons system, Boomerang will automatically slew the weapon and orient it on the threat whenever a shot is detected.”
Raytheon will deliver the platforms in the summer of 2022 as part of an Army Contracting Command award.
Boomerang System
Using passive acoustic detection and computer-based signal processing, the Boomerang gunshot detection system can locate shooters in less than a second and be mounted on a vehicle or in a fixed position.
When a shot is detected, the unit immediately warns friendly soldiers, informing them of the shooter’s coordinates and distance from the target. The range and elevation appear on an LED display.
The technology operates whether the vehicle is moving or stationary, and developers ensured that the system would not provide false alarms due to extraneous noise or jarring from road bumps, slamming doors, firecrackers, or other non-threatening disturbances.
The system also does not issue an alert when shots are fired from friendly vehicles or from a protected site.
“Without Boomerang, it is difficult to pinpoint where you’re getting shot at from in an urban environment because of the echoes from the buildings and within the post,” a US Marine Corps officer told Raytheon.