Camden a player in defense industry

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - January 19, 2008 The city long known for poverty and crime, is becoming known as a good place for federal Defense Department agencies to find new technology.

It's because of the presence of established defense contractor L-3 Communications as well as dozens of upstart operations in a business incubator.

In the past six years, some 700 jobs, most technical in nature, have been added.

During that time, the upstart firms in one business incubator have landed more than $100 million in military contracts.

Projects include preparing a system to analyze information about ships spotted by cameras off the coast of the United States, and teaching robots to work together.