Airborne Sensor Turrets:
From niche market to ubiquity
Tuesday 16 February 2010
In mid-2007, military sources in ISAF HQ Kabul commented to a Jane’s editor that “the guys are screaming for FMV [full motion video]”. This came in the wake of the rise of aerial platforms (aircraft, helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) available to provide FMV and other forms of imagery in this theatre of operations. The principle item of “wonder kit” offering this capability was what is generally termed a ‘sensor turret’ (or gimbal), equipped with sensor packages which almost without exception include a thermal imager (or infrared detector) for night work, a TV camera for daylight work and a laser rangefinder.
For troops fighting an asymmetric war in Afghanistan, the facility to have not only an “eye in the sky” but the means to downlink that picture directly to troops on the ground (a facility that became more widely available in 2008) has played an important part in counter-IED (improvised Explosive Devices) measures, to say nothing of the wider surveillance scene. While some of this information comes from advanced targeting pods such as ATFLIR, Litening or Sniper equipped with datalinks and used in the Non-Traditional ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) role, UAVs have provided much of the information, supplemented by a growing number of manned aircraft and helicopters – all equipped with airborne sensor turrets.
In this Jane's online seminar, Michael J. Gething, Editor of Jane’s Electro-Optic Systems, will take a look at the origin of the Airborne Sensor Turret, its evolution from pure observation to full targeting system, the sensors which have made this growth possible and an opinion of the way ahead.
Participate in this online seminar$299 or £199 (+ VAT for UK customers) - this fee includes live participation in the seminar and archive access/replay after the event. |