THOMSON-CSF is hoping to clinch contracts, from the French air force and export customers, for its medium-range electro-optical reconnaissance imagery system, following the successful completion of flight-testing.
The imaging pod, developed under the DESIRE programme, is initially designed for the Dassault Mirage 2000, Rafale and Lockheed Martin F-16.
The latest tests were carried out using a French air force Mirage F1 CR at the Bretigny flight-test centre near Paris. They were designed to verify the operational performance of the system through a range of flight conditions.
The system, developed by Thomson-CSF Optronique, is based around the company's Sensor 610 gyro-stabilised optical sensor and a Schlumberger DV6410 magnetic digital data recorder. The digital equipment replaces conventional analogue film and video cameras.
Thompson-CSF says that production systems will be available from 2001.
Source: Flight International