Imagine humans glowing orange within sharper-than-ever scenes inside night vision goggles; aircraft loitering for days without landing; helicopter crews spying on insurgents with UAVs; small UAVs circling ships and battle zones; and policymakers fielding ISR equipment at a pace reminiscent of World War II.

The five winners of the C4ISR Journal awards did more than imagine these feats. They accomplished them in 2009.

Journal editors revealed these Top 5 winners at our annual banquet Oct. 19 in Arlington, Va., outside Washington, D.C.

The winning selections were drawn from our “Big 25” awardees by a panel consisting of retired Air Force Brig. Gen. John Douglass, defense analyst Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute, and five senior editors of Army Times Publishing Co., C4ISR Journal’s parent company. The winners are:

SENSORS

ITT for the Enhanced Night Vision Goggles. These 2-pound, helmet-mounted monocles promise to give soldiers new powers to pierce the night. They overlay the thermal signatures of infrared sensors on top of the clearer shapes of light-intensified images. The 700 users equipped with them so far do not have to wear separate image-intensifying goggles and thermal sights to decide whether a shape in the distance is human. Accepting the award is Dave Smith, vice president of program management, ITT Night Vision.

INNOVATIONS

QinetiQ North America for Zephyr. This 66-pound, human-launched, solar-powered UAV, which is able to fly over the battlefield for days, is in testing by the U.S. Navy for possible deployment to Afghanistan. Ultimately, QinetiQ’s research on Zephyr could lead to unmanned aircraft that can stay airborne for weeks. J.D. Crouch, QinetiQ North America’s executive vice president for strategic development, accepts the award.

NETWORK SYSTEMS

Lockheed Martin for VUIT-2. This communications link, formally known as the Video from UAS for Interoperability Teaming Level 2, beams video from unmanned aircraft to Apache helicopter crews, giving them greater stand-off distances. From left, Ed Gozdur, Army PM UAS deputy product manager, common systems integration; Lt. Col. Jennifer Jensen, PM UAS product manager, CSI; Tim Owings, PM UAS deputy product manager, UAS; Jim Messina, Lockheed Martin VUIT for Apache program manager; Ryan Beard, L-3 West director of programs; Ben Iannotta; and Greg Walker, Lockheed Martin Apache programs business development manager.

PLATFORMS

Insitu for ScanEagle. This 40-pound UAV has set new standards for portability and ease of use. It can be equipped with an electro-optical camera, an infrared camera or a synthetic aperture radar. Peter Bale, left, Insitu business development executive, and Mary Margaret Evans, Insitu vice president of sustainment operations and general manager, accept the award from C4ISR Journal Editor Ben Iannotta.

ORGANIZATIONS

The U.S. Defense Department ISR Task Force. This multiservice task force based in the Pentagon is plugging dangerous intelligence and communications gaps in Afghanistan. It is the engine behind the Project Liberty sensor aircraft, the Valiant Angel video-sharing initiative, and the Gorgon Stare wide-area surveillance program. Ed Loxterkamp, the rapid acquisition lead for the task force, accepts the award.

‘Big 25’ 2010

Nomination forms and information about the 2010 awards are available at:

www.c4isrjournal.com/awards-nominate