BAE sends Army 5,500 HEADS sensors

PHOENIX, April 9 (UPI) -- BAE Systems said Monday it had given the U.S. Army 5,500 new brain diagnostic systems.

The company said in a statement it had completed work and handed over to the Army, the initial 5,500 Headborne Energy Analysis and Diagnostic Systems -- HEADS. BAE said the system was a new technology that would allow scientists to better study the damage suffered by soldiers' heads in impacts and blasts. The Army planned to send the equipment to its 4th Infantry Division, BAE said.

BAE Systems said it produced the HEADS apparatus working with the U.S. Army's Program Executive Office for Soldier. Information gathered by the HEADS equipment could be used to design improved protection for combat troops. It could also speed up research into the diagnosis and treatment of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, the company said.

"The HEADS system allows for the detection of helmet acceleration and environmental pressure," said Sean Martin, director, business development of Individual Equipment for BAE Systems. "The ability to detect these types of forces allows for analysis which can assist the industry in developing better protective equipment."

BAE said HEADS is built with what it called "state-of-the-art accelerometer and pressure sensor technology" that can monitor and register the forces experienced by troops in their combat operations.

The HEADS equipment is installed within the helmet shell of individual soldiers. BAE said it was designed to be very compact and light, and to be able to be installed in Advanced Combat and the Combat Vehicle Crewman helmets. It said combat soldiers were not aware of the extra HEADS equipment when they wore their helmets and that it did not reduce the effectiveness of other combat gear such as helmet-mounted goggles and other sensors.

The HEADS systems are being manufactured at BAE Systems' plants in Jessup, Pa., and Phoenix, Ariz.