State of the Art Laboratories On Site About Us
The mission of the Night Vision and Electronic Sensors Directorate (NVESD) as "The Army's Sensor Developer" is to conduct research and development to provide US land forces with advanced sensor technology to dominate the 21st Century digital battlefield; land forces include ground and aviation troops. NVESD exploits sensor and sensor suite technologies to – see, acquire, and target opposing forces, day or night, under adverse battlefield environments; deny the enemy the same capabilities through electro-optic means and/or camouflage, concealment, and deception; provide for night driving and pilotage; detect, neutralize, clear and mark mines, minefields and unexploded ordnance; and, protect forward troops, fixed installations, and rear echelons from enemy intrusion.
Business Areas
NVESD has the primary responsibility for DoD Electro-Optics. Business areas include:
Air Systems
Develop rotocraft and Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV) sensor systems to acquire and target enemy forces and for pilotage.
Countermine
Develop systems to detect and neutralize mines, minefields, and unexploded ordnance for military and humanitarian demining operations.
Ground Combat Systems
Develop combat vehicle, soldier and Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) sensor systems to target enemy forces and for night fighting and driving.
Modeling and Simulation
Develop models and simulations and perform sensor component and systems performance analyses.
Operations
Provide program planning and financial services, facilities, maintenance and upgrades, security, personnel and property administrations for the Directorate.
Science & Technology
Conduct research and foster maturation of Electro-Optics/Infrared (EO/IR) and countermine sensor components and of Aided Target Recognition (ATR) signal processing schemes.
Special Products & Prototyping
Develop unique systems to protect forward troops, fixed installations, and rear echelons from enemy intrusion.
State of the Art Laboratories On Site
Airfield
NVESD retains two hangars on the Ft. Belvoir airstrip for testing NVESD sensors and lasers.
In-house S&T Component Development Labs
A semiconductor processing line which consists of high vacuum chambers arranged in a cluster. This vacuum processing line has enabled liquid-phase etching to be replaced by vapor phase etching.
Mine Lanes
One of the few indoor mine lane facilities of its size in the world, the facility consists of an indoor, dry lane portion and a greenhouse portion with moisture controlled lanes. The lanes contain six different soil types for countermine testing.
System Prototyping, Fabrication and Integration Facilities
NVESD maintains a facility for the fabrication and integration of prototypes, surrogates and components. This facility has a comprehensive in-house manufacturing capability for fabricating small high-precision components up to heavy steel and vehicle-based systems.
Virtual Prototyping and Simulation Facility
A facility designated to support advanced sensor simulation, multiple-site experimentation and product demonstrations by utilizing high-resolution video projectors to display images on a 130 feet wide and 24 feet tall curved screen.
Fort Belvoir, Virginia is located just 20 miles outside of Washington, D.C.; offering visitors and residents alike unmatched access to monuments, state parks, and entertainment. Fort Belvoir is “The Army’s Flagship installation.”
