Innovations & technologies

The Army Wants Technology that Can See Through Walls—and Identify People on the Other Side

People can’t see through walls but the Army wants to pioneer next-level technology that will help soldiers do exactly that—with the added bonus of instantaneously offering advanced, penetrating insights that go far beyond what meets the eye.

According to a recent request for information, the Army is accepting white papers to identify commercially available technologies that could help spur its development of a “sense through the wall system.” In the Army’s ideal world, that system would distinguish for soldiers exactly what—and precisely who—is on the other side of the solid structures before them.

“The intent of this market survey is to identify potential man-portable systems that give the Soldier the ability to detect, identify, and monitor persons, animals, and materials behind multi-leveled obstruction(s) from a long standoff range,” officials wrote in the special notice. “The sensor system will also be able to map the structure and detect hidden rooms, passages, alcoves, caches, etc. including those underground.”

This is neither the government’s or military branch’s first attempt to produce advanced technologies with see-through capabilities, but the contents of the solicitation indicate that what insiders aim to create now was once only imaginable in science fiction.