Wide Area Tracking System: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 13:42, 13 September 2010

Revision as of 22:40, 27 June 2014

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{{Orphan|date=February 2009}}

The '''Wide Area Tracking System''' (WATS) is a prototype [[wireless sensor network]] for detecting a ground-based nuclear device [http://www.llnl.gov/str/Imbro.html] such as a nuclear "briefcase bomb." WATS is presently being developed at the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] ([[LLNL]]).

==Theory==

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An important factor in WATS development is ''ease of deployment'', since more sensors both improves the detection rate and reduces false alarms [http://www.llnl.gov/str/JulAug01/Hills.html]. WATS sensors could be deployed in permanent positions or mounted in vehicles for mobile protection of specific locations.

One barrier to the implementation of WATS is the size, weight, energy requirements and cost of currently available wireless sensors [http://www.llnl.gov/str/JulAug01/Hills.html]. The development of improved sensors is a major component of current research at the Nonproliferation, Arms Control, and International Security (NAI) Directorate at [[LLNL]].

==History==

WATS was profiled to the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of RepresentativeRepresentatives's]] Military Research and Development Subcommittee on October 1, 1997 during a hearing on nuclear terrorism and countermeasures [http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/congress/1997_h/has274010_1.htm#79]. On August 4, 1998 in a subsequent meeting of that subcommittee, Chairman [[Curt Weldon]] stated that research funding for WATS had been cut by the Clinton administration to a subsistence level and that the program had been poorly re-organized [http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/security/has216010.000/has216010_1.HTM#12].

[[Category:Nuclear warfare]]