Exelis is preparing to transfer testing of its new infrared-capable airborne wide area surveillance sensor to Europe in an effort to promote the capability of the wide-range camera to potential new markets.
The CorvusEye 1500 was integrated with an IR capability in November 2014 – adding to the electro-optical sensor that was originally available when the payload was launched in May 2014 – which Exelis now plans to pitch to target markets outside of the USA, including Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
Testing of the “platform agnostic” sensor has until now centred on using a manned Cessna aircraft in Rochester, New York, as well as some tests in Florida, demonstrating the system in cold and warm environments. An undisclosed partner in western Europe will soon have the system integrated on its manned aircraft for testing.
Some 20 export licences have been granted by the US government to date, and although there are International Traffic in Arms Regulations restrictions on the IR focal plane and onboard processing capability, CorvusEye is still exportable, the company says.
“With wide area motion imagery, the visible part of that is easy,” Bernie Brower, product manager at Exelis Integrated Systems, says. “When you go into the infrared, cameras are much more expensive and large,” so it is much harder to add the IR element, he adds.
The high resolution day and night camera can observe and track targets over a distance of some 1.24 miles (2km), generating 10 views of different areas of interest simultaneously. This, Exelis says, makes it appealing to homeland security, border patrol and law enforcement departments.
Exelis
The company has previous experience in sophisticated EO/IR sensing derived from its participation in the military-grade Gorgon Stare programme under prime contractor Sierra Nevada.
Brower says that “just the knowledge” has been taken from the engineers involved in the programme, adding: “A new design was relatively easy to do.”
This is a smaller turret than Gorgon Stare – CorvusEye is 38cm (15in) while Gorgon Stare is 61cm – so is more compact, and comes at a lower price point than the US military-spec system.
However, allies of the USA that have seen the performance of Gorgon Stare can get a flavour of that system at a more affordable price, Brower notes.
Within the USA, Exelis is targeting fire departments, and confirmed that it had responded to a tender from one department that was looking to test a system that could monitor Californian wildfires on board a manned aircraft.
The US military is also in the CorvusEye’s sights, and Exelis has been targeting the US Army regarding the potential integration of the sensor into the Northrop Grumman/Israel Aerospace Industries MQ-5B Hunter unmanned air vehicle.
The company says that it is still in discussions with the army, but potential integration is moving at a relatively slow pace.
Exelis is also in discussions with three aerostat manufacturers regarding integration of CorvusEye on lighter-than-air crafts.
They can fly at a relatively high altitude while maintaining the same position in order to provide wide-area surveillance, and have significant-sized payload capacity.
Integrating the technology into a 25cm gimbal has also been considered, Brower adds.
Source: FlightGlobal.com
