The task of conducting precision strikes using missile-equipped light aircraft, helicopters and tactical unmanned air vehicles just got a little easier, thanks to a new offering from sensor specialist L-3 Wescam.
Being unveiled at the show, the MX-10D is an electro-optical/infrared payload with a laser target designator housed within a ball turret less than 15in (38cm) in diameter and weighing 19.5kg (43lb).
It is a digital evolution of the baseline MX-10 package already flown by several armed forces customers.
The lightweight design’s capabilities were put to the test early last month, when the turret was integrated with an MD Helicopters MD500E and a Cessna 208 for trials conducted at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona.
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"Both aircraft and mission profiles yielded exceptional performance in all modes of flight throughout the Hellfire operational envelope," says L-3 Wescam, which is revealing the MX-10D at its pavilion at the show.
"The accuracy of the MX-10D’s designator and its overall range performance create a highly reliable solution for forces working with smaller tactical airborne platforms in need of targeting," says Paul Jennison, L-3 Wescam’s vice-president of government sales and business development.
Source: Flight Daily News
