The new capability opens the door to a wide range of defense and national security applications.
A Massachusetts-based company has developed a new type of event-based mid-wave infrared (MWIR) camera. The innovation tracks high-speed objects in real time while dramatically reducing processing and power demands.
Developed by RTX’s Raytheon, the event-based camera tracks only pixel-level motion, producing a continuous stream of events.
Event-based camera tracked multiple targets
During a demonstration in Northern California, the event-based camera tracked multiple targets, including ground vehicles, aircraft, and live fires, by capturing rapid motion not achievable with conventional frame-based infrared cameras. By reporting only changes in motion rather than full image frames, the camera was able to deliver a near-instantaneous view of activity happening during the exercise, according to Raytheon.
“This technology represents a new way of sensing the world in mid-wave infrared,” said Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon.
“By focusing only on motion instead of recording every frame and analyzing after the fact, we gain the ability to track very fast objects with far less data and processing, enabling much quicker threat detection and response time.”
New capability opens the door to a wide range of defense
The company also revealed that the new capability opens the door to a wide range of defense and national security applications, particularly in environments where speed, clutter, and high volumes of data challenge existing sensors and processors. This includes enhanced battlefield awareness and base protection, smarter missile guidance, and more effective surveillance from aircraft and unmanned systems.
Developed under the DARPA-funded Fast Event-based Neuromorphic Camera and Electronics (FENCE) program, the camera was built from the ground up as a new sensing architecture. With the initial contract complete, Raytheon’s Advanced Technology team is now exploring follow on demonstrations and data collection that would showcase the sensor across a broader set of mission scenarios and target types.
The camera focuses solely on motion instead of processing entire frames, it can capture rapid movements that conventional infrared systems might miss, providing near-instantaneous situational awareness. This makes it particularly valuable in environments where speed, clutter, and massive data volumes overwhelm traditional sensing systems.
This innovation was developed under the DARPA FENCE (Fast Event-based Neuromorphic Camera and Electronics) program, highlighting its foundation in advanced, next-generation sensing architectures inspired by neuromorphic (brain-like) processing. The potential applications are mainly in defense and security, including missile guidance, battlefield awareness, base protection, and surveillance via aircraft or unmanned systems. Overall, the technology represents a shift toward more efficient, faster, and smarter sensing systems that can handle modern warfare challenges where rapid detection and response are critical.
Additionally, the camera’s ability to detect extremely fast and subtle movements could improve tracking accuracy for emerging threats such as hypersonic weapons or small, agile drones. Because it processes motion continuously rather than in discrete frames, it avoids the “motion blur” and latency issues seen in conventional imaging systems.
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Prabhat, an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, is a tech and defense journalist. While he enjoys writing on modern weapons and emerging tech, he has also reported on global politics and business. He has been previously associated with well-known media houses, including the International Business Times (Singapore Edition) and ANI.