Saab has contracted UTC Aerospace Systems company Cloud Cap Technology to provide lightweight surveillance cameras for the Skeldar vertical take-off and landing UAVs recently sold to an undisclosed launch customer, understood to be the Spanish navy.
The new deal covers the supply of TASE400 cameras to Cloud Cap's local partner, Magline Composites y Sistemas, of Zaragoza, Spain. The equipment will be integrated with Skeldar air vehicles from "later this summer," and the maritime surveillance system will be available for operational use "by the end of this year," says UTC.
Combining high-definition electro-optical and infrared cameras, the TASE400 is contained within a 7in (18cm)-diameter turret and has a total weight of just 3.4kg (7.5lb). According to Cloud Cap, the design is capable of providing daylight imagery comparable in quality to that provided using 10in or 15in sensor turrets.
Source: Flight Daily News
