It’s been 20 years in the making, but the Army is about to get its first lightweight, low-cost, man-portable defense surveillance system for detecting, collecting, and identifying biological warfare agent aerosols.
First conceived in 2003, the Joint Biological Tactical Defense System (JBTDS), a project developed under the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), has finally achieved Milestone C, passing a critical point in the acquisition process and moving the capability forward into production and deployment.
The JBTDS will provide the CBRN community with real-time awareness of potential hazards in various operational environments without the logistical burden of being mounted on a vehicle or trailer.