The Camp Sentinel radar penetrated foliage to detect infiltrators near U.S. deployments and was a fast turnaround,Vietnam-era development of advanced technology. Camp Sentinel responded to a military need for intruder detection with enough accuracy to direct fire. DARPA recommended a foliage penetration radar, which was completed within two years at a direct cost of $2 million. Camp Sentinel radar prototypes were field-tested in Vietnam in 1968 and retained by the troops for use for the rest of the war.
The Camp Sentinel technology pioneered the development of radar in hostile jungle conditions, which feature absorption and refraction by foliage in high-clutter environments, among other challenges. The Camp Sentinel radar project developed clutter rejection processing techniques, which were also later used by commercial acoustic-based intruder detectors.
