Landtec CEO and SmartSight creator Matthew Hagerty models the headpiece.

This is a little dated but very cool - should hit the streets this year. NSW was very involved in the initial design.
MD

A screen a little bigger than a thumbnail will soon allow soldiers to see and shoot what's around a corner without getting in the line of enemy fire, thanks to the work of a Sonora-based company.

LandTec Inc. is developing the SmartSight system with the help of millions in federal defense funding.

The company recently received initial approval from Congress for $3 million in funding, the latest amount the government is providing to help create the system.

SmartSight consists of a tube-shaped video camera that fits onto the barrel of a gun. The camera sends the image wirelessly to a computer on the user's body. From there, a wire brings it to a headpiece with a flat-panel, color screen just below the left eye.

The user can stand behind a wall, point the gun around or over it, and zero in on the target accurately.

"Anyone can take a weapon and point it around a corner, but can you really hit what you need to hit?" asked Matthew Hagerty, the creator of SmartSight and CEO of LandTec Inc. "That's a really critical piece to come by."

LandTec will begin initial production of about 10 systems early this fall for Navy and Army special operation units. Hagerty and his engineers will also work on finishing touches — like perfecting the waterproofing, making it durable and performing extensive test shooting.

Developing the SmartSight has been a tedious process, Hagerty said.

The technology he needed to make the system functional, light and wireless was difficult to devise. The government was also hesitant at points to fund its development, he said.

Hagerty is a former investment banker who turned to test shooting guns for Hughes Aircraft. He moved to Sonora after watching a drive-by shooting play out in front of him in Los Angeles while on a walk with his two young children and his dog.

While he was test shooting for Hughes, the company was working on a gun-camera system called the Land Warrior. But it added substantial weight to the 100 pounds a soldier already carries. The camera also didn't serve as a sight; it was just for observing.

"They never understood the customer, the operator," he said. "It took time to understand the operator."

When Land Warrior failed, Hagerty began work on his own version.

He interviewed soldiers and found they wouldn't trade any of their gear for something new unless it was functional, light, wireless, durable, practical and could zero in on a target.

Soldiers already carry 500 rounds of ammunition, knives, radios, interrogation devices, helmets, water and food.

"Guys over there in Iraq in 200 degrees are strapping on that gear every day, so we are beholden to them and getting their needs right," he said.

Hagerty first pitched his idea to the federal government in 1998 through a program called Small Business Innovation Research. It funds research and development of new ideas for special operations command units — the elite of the military.

The original prototype he made to display his idea had wires connecting the camera to the computer, which weighed about 12 pounds.

Hagerty won a contract for $100,000 over 18 other competitors also working on similar gun cameras, called remote video weapon sights.

The first phase began in July 1999, and he hired independent engineers to help.

In 2000, he hit a roadblock. The government denied him any more money until he proved soldiers were interested.

He visited Navy and Army bases so that special operations soldiers could try it.

"Then we just stood back and watched their eyes bug open and their jaws drop," Hagerty said.

Even after getting a letter of endorsement from both branches, the government still balked.

Hagerty went to a local congressman, Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa, seeking an inquiry into the reasons for holding the project up.

The officials in Radanovich's office were impressed, said Heather Davis, the representative's spokeswoman.

"It's a great idea because, obviously, anything that can help our troops in the battlefield and save lives is paramount," Davis said. "This technology will give them the added advantage that they need."

Two days later, Hagerty got the government go-ahead. Phase two began in May of 2003, and this time he received $750,000.

"No, I didn't make any friends doing it, but I didn't care because I was on a mission," he said. "In the end, the operators will love it, and I was doing it for the operator."

Congress later awarded $1.7 million more for fiscal year 2005.

Since the second leg of the project began, he's shaved the weight of the computer, now about a half a pound, made the eyepiece screen larger and eliminated the wire between the camera and the computer.

Hagerty hopes to make 20 more devices beginning Oct. 1, but future funding is still uncertain. LandTec won't be hiring anyone to make the devices until Christmas.

Hagerty will oversee every step of production at LandTec's high-security Sonora factory.

That's when his seven-year endeavor will come to fruition.

"It will help change warfare, I think, in a slight way," he said.

Contact Alisha Wyman at awyman@uniondemocrat.com or 588-4529.