DARPA taps RTX to Advance Kilometer-range X-ray Vision

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RTX's BBN Technologies has been awarded a contract by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) under its X-ray Extreme-range Non-imaging Analysis (XENA) program, aiming to enhance service members' situational awareness in the field. The effort will produce a new class of X‑ray tools that reconstruct the hidden geometry of man-made objects from distances approaching a kilometer, giving commanders decisive insights when closer access is unsafe, impractical or denied.

Under the XENA program, BBN will create a system that uses advanced mathematical modeling and image analysis to enhance the visibility of objects, even with incomplete or messy data, without needing large amounts of training examples. The team will run simulations, build the software, and test it to show how well the system can uncover important details about objects.

"Long-range X-ray imaging requires a fundamentally different approach," said Joshua Fasching, BBN principal investigator on the effort. "We are developing algorithms that turn a small number of grainy snapshots into enough detail for decision-makers to act, whether the mission is assessing potential threats or supporting emergency response operations."

Portable X-ray scanners require close range for clear images, as long-range use is hindered by weak signals, motion blur, and limited viewpoints, rendering traditional methods ineffective. BBN's approach will combine a handful of low-quality views, using shared patterns to reveal interior detail with far fewer photons. As a result, service members will have access to actionable information about concealed threats, potential weapons or structural vulnerabilities from ranges previously beyond reach.

The BBN-led team includes the Georgia Institute of Technology. Work on the program will be completed in Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Atlanta, Georgia.

This research was, in part, funded by the U.S. Government. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Government.