The Centre for Defence Enterprise (CDE) is the Ministry of Defence’s gateway for UK science and technology for industry, academia and other innovators. This is to ensure that UK Armed Forces have access to the best equipment, science and technology, now and in the future.

The purpose of the call is to achieve one or more of the following goals:

• Decrease in size, weight, cost and power whilst improving endurance, persistence or coverage 
  - Advanced materials that enable sensors to operate with very high efficiency 
  - Smart sensors that collect only useful data, reducing processing time and power needs 
  - Techniques to combine modes of operation (sensing, protection, communication)
  - Flexible sensors that conform to platform structure
• Increase in effective range for target detection and identification in difficult environments 
  - Control and exploitation of phase information in all wavebands 
  - Single photon detection techniques
•  Increase in field of view whilst retaining high resolution 
   - Techniques to produce, deploy and exploit disposable or ubiquitous sensors
•  Provide stand-off detection and recognition of targets through obscurants and materials
   - Very high dynamic range imaging with low frequencies radiation 
   - Quantum imaging

Although this call includes specific research objectives, all innovative proposals that address the areas above will be considered.

This call is aimed to develop step change improvements through new approaches to the fundamental technology inside the sensing hardware, signal processing or a combination of both.

The competition will launch at a seminar event on 4th October. Potential applicants are strongly recommended to attend the seminar, registration is necessary via http://www.science.mod.uk/events/event_detail.aspx?eventid=144  . 

The brief will be available after the seminar on 4th October.