Quick response airborne deployment of VIPER muzzle flash detection and location system during DC sniper attacks

Abstract

The VIPER infrared muzzle flash detection system was deployed from a helicopter and an airship in response to the Washington, DC area sniper attacks in October 2002. The system consist of a midwave IR camera, which was used to detect muzzle flash and cue a visible light camera on a gimbal to the detected event. The helicopter installation was done to prove that a manned airborne installation of the VIPER detection system would work. Within 36 hours of the request to deploy the system, it had been modified, approved by the FAA inspector and flown. Testing at the Ft. Meade rifle range showed that in the helicopter installation the system worked at least as well as the ground based system. Because of the limited endurance that a helicopter allows, the system was then installed aboard a Navy leased airship. It was flown at Elizabeth City, NC and was tested against live fire. These were the first flights of the airborne VIPER payload. It has since been flown numerous times on helicopters and tested against various guns, mortars, and artillery. The Naval Research Laboratory has demonstrated multiple payloads, each of which flew in manned helicopters and all controlled from a single ground station.