Homeland Security and National Defense

As part of our mission, SRI is helping the U.S. government meet imperative homeland security and national defense needs. In the past decade alone, SRI has more than performed $2B in contract R&D, primarily for the U.S. government.

Technologies and programs developed at SRI play important roles in U.S. military and civilian efforts to combat terrorism, at home and abroad -- from mapping systems for air combat training used during the Cold War to speech-enabled translation software deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Our clients include the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense including all branches of the Armed Forces, the National Guard, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Security Agency.

Read an overview of SRI's capabilities in this area.

Border and transportation security

• Aircraft protection
• Electronic "no-fly" zones
• Explosion-containing luggage containers
• Explosives detection
• Fuselage ballistic armor
• SRI's Center for Maritime and Port Security
• Remote test site for use on U.S. government, commercial, and foreign government contracts
• Video text recognition/video OCR to passively monitor watercraft, hazardous materials tankers, and aircraft
• Security-related product development
• Mobile mesh security solutions

Information analysis and infrastructure protection

• Cybersecurity
• Network intrusion detection
• "Smart grid" technologies (PDF)
• Multilevel software security systems
• Intelligence
• Collaborative analysis
• Aerial intelligence
• Processing and reporting
• Simulation suites for intelligence collection systems
• Signal processing
• Geolocation algorithms
• Computer tools, simulations, and networks
• Offensive and defensive operations programs
• Communications system design and development
• Antenna systems and propagation effects
• Terrestrial and space antenna systems

Emergency preparedness and response

• Autonomous command and control systems for first responders
• Chemical/biological agent detection
• Decontamination coatings and sprays
• Diagnostic tests
• Differential GPS laser ranging sextant for real-time target coordinates on unregistered battlefields
• Explosives detection
• GPS-based precision strike weaponry
• Ground- and foliage-penetrating radar from airborne platforms or field vehicles
• Instrumented combat training system
• Instant mobile mesh networks for video surveillance, incident command, event management, public safety, and peer-to-peer communications
• Joint Training Experimentation Program (JTEP)
• Mobile mesh security solutions
• Nuclear materials detection
• Permeable blast barriers to mitigate effects from explosions
• Infrastructure collapse assessment tool for impact and blast loading
• Precision navigation
• Preclinical development services for anti-infective therapeutics and vaccines
• Reliable wireless systems
• Speech-enabled handheld language translation devices
• Support systems for covert operations and hostage rescues
• Threat assessment tools and strategies
• Unexploded ordnance and mine detection and neutralization
• Wireless networking to assist small unit operations and Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) teams
• Wireless video surveillance solutions

For information on our work in related areas, visit our Engineering and Systems Division, Physical Sciences Division, Biosciences Division, and Information and Computing Sciences Division.