Battelle’s Resource Effective Bio-Identification System (REBS) was one of several technologies that recently underwent a U.S. government performance trial with “live agents” and then made the downselect cut for use by the U.S. military, the company said Thursday.
REBS is set to be used in the Joint United States Forces Korea Portal and Integrated Threat Recognition (JUPITR) program, resulting in several REBS units planned for deployment to South Korea for an extended biological surveillance mission.
REBS is a bioaerosol identification system that provides quick and flexible aerosol collection and identification capability, Battelle said. It uses a Raman spectroscopy-based system to continuously monitor the air looking for hazardous aerosols that could jeopardize military personnel and civilians. REBS also preserves samples for later secondary confirmation, is network-ready, and can operate independently without human interaction for weeks.
The company highlighted REBS is very cost effective and ends up working for under $1 per day.
The JUPITR program is led by the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical and Biological Defense (JPEO-CBD) and is set to provide unique biological protection capabilities to address a demand for stronger biosurveillance capabilities on the Korean peninsula, Battelle said.
“We’re proud that our system performed so well and has been selected to be part of the JUPITR program that will help protect the war-fighter and civilians on the Korean Peninsula,” said Matt Shaw, general manager for Battelle’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) defense business.
“We’ve made significant improvements to reduce the time it takes to identify hazardous bioaerosols and to dramatically bring down the full life cycle costs,” Shaw added.