Border Protector Michael J. Fisher - KMI Media Group

WAASS must fit within the size, weight and power capabilities
of an Orion P-3 or Predator B unmanned aerial system (UAS). “We
named these two platforms to suggest we can’t use huge Global
Hawks because they are too expensive and big,” Appleby said. “We
would like to use WAASS on many small to medium aircraft but not
on huge UASs. It could also be used on fixed and aerostat platforms.
We would like flexibility so we can use it on many platforms.” DHS
wants WAASS to be already integrated, or easily integrated, on
necessary platforms.
WAASS will need electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) sensors
for day and night surveillance. “We need to look at radar too,”
Appleby noted. “It needs to be all-weather.”
Integration of WAASS with CPB and USCG systems could be
expensive. “They might take it as a service for a while, and then
integrate it later on their own,” Appleby said.
Wide area surveillance systems now used by the military tend to
be heavy, 500 to 1,000 pounds, and mostly used for forensic surveillance,
explained Chuck Willoughby, senior program manager at L-3
Integrated Optical Systems.
L-3 IOS has concentrated on tactical wide-area surveillance,
for which coverage is generally limited to the area of battalion
operations. “We wanted a system that was affordable, provided
coverage in real time and could ‘chip’ out a video stream for
ROVER [Remotely Operated Video Enhanced Receiver], One System
Remote Video Terminal and VideoScout handheld devices,”
Willoughby explained.
The Office of Naval Research sought a surveillance system
for the RQ-7 Shadow 200 UAS with Tactical Common Data Link
(TCDL). L-3 IOS and another company were selected for the project
two years ago and L-3 was down-selected to continue with the
program, UltraWide, in December 2011.
The key technology is mid-wave infrared (MWIR) focal plane
array with a very large format, 4,096 by 4,096 pixels, or 16 megapixels.
A single camera weighs just 50 to 60 pounds and is stabilized
with a trunnion so it can keep focus as the UAS continues flight.
L-3’s Instant Situational Awareness Wide Field of View (ISAW)
device did test flights in July 2011 on a Cessna 208 Caravan. It can
send video streams to ROVERs or VideoScouts.
“We are looking to apply it to other aircraft,” Willoughby said.
“We hope we can put it on Wescam turrets, MX-15 size and above.”
ISAW could be combined with other cameras in turrets and put
on the RQ-1 Predator, the MQ-1C Grey Eagle, manned aircraft or
aerostats.
ISAW can do border security on land and broad area maritime
surveillance on P-8 Poseidons or UASs like MQ-8 Fire Scout. Willoughby
argued that border security requires a mix of devices and
platforms including aerial and aerostat.
MWIR cameras see in day and night but are not all-weather sensors
like radar. “ISAW can see through haze, but for all weather you
would want to augment with radar,” Willoughby explained.
ISAW typically covers a square kilometer on 16 megapixels,
yielding resolution of a quarter meter, “good for detection and
tracking personnel,” Willoughby said. ISAW usually flies at 7,500
feet. Coverage can be expanded with altitude, but resolution
declines. Other systems use multiple cameras for wider fields,
but this increases weight and requires stitching images together,
unlike UltraWide’s single camera.
L-3 IOS is developing UltraWide for the Shadow by 2015 or
2016. It plans to increase the array to 64 megapixels.
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“It’s the most economic technology, the most compact and has
the least data burdens,” Willoughby summarized. Since data transmission
is a challenge, ISAW can chip out a section of the image,
640 by 640 pixels selected by the user, for streaming to the ground.
Automating selection may be practical for maritime surveillance
with little clutter, but would be tough for land images with many
moving objects. L-3 wants to develop zoom capabilities.
L-3 IOS is developing ISAW variants for pods and insertion in
MX-15 turrets. Variants would typically operate between 15,000
and 20,000 feet and could be cued by other sensors—for example,
signals intelligence that can locate but not view surveillance targets.
ISAW itself could cue ‘soda straw’ sensors for a closer look
at targets to determine intent. Other L-3 divisions have developed
ISR platforms for lease by customers as ‘surveillance by the hour.’
Persistent Surveillance Systems (PSS) has a teaming agreement
with Goodrich and has produced a new generation of both airborne
and ground-based wide-area surveillance sensors, designed to be
affordable, turn-key solutions.
PSS provides both EO and IR systems to track vehicles and
people over areas up to 25 square miles. Its surveillance technologies
can monitor entire cities and borders at resolutions allowing
tracking of vehicles and people, according to Lisa Beam, director
of external relations.
PSS’s systems can integrate with existing cameras to enhance
image analysis of forensic data for many uses, including border
security.
Beam said nearly all full motion video-based surveillance has
so far been limited by low resolution and narrow field-of-view.
“Traditional surveillance sensors, such as camera balls and video
cameras, are not very effective because they depend on looking in
the right spot to capture an event,” Beam said. But PSS uses wide
area survey mode or persistent stare mode to allow wider fields of
view. “All data is archived so events can be analyzed in real time or
forensically to recreate the sequence of events.”
According to Beam, PSS has developed systems that provide
a field of view equivalent to nearly 300 full motion video cameras
normally found on surveillance aircraft. PSS’s Hawkeye, Hawkeye
II and Nighthawk deliver real-time, high-resolution imagery for
tracking individuals and vehicles in very large areas. An intuitive
tracking system, I-View, allows multiple users to monitor several
events simultaneously.
The first-generation Hawkeye offers 88 megapixels resolution
in black and white, typically covering four miles by four miles.
Hawkeye II offers 192 megapixels of three-color images over an
area up to five by five miles. The Nighthawk is an EO and MWIR
sensor for day and night. Inherent EO resolution is 22 megapixels,
with four megapixels for MWIR. Step-stare quadruples MWIR resolution
to 88 and 16 megapixels.
All PSS systems have easy-to-use interfaces, can store hours
of imagery and support up to 10 remote user stations. PSS also
offers full-service solutions, including PSS aircraft, pilots, on-air
image processors, real-time downlinks, command centers and user
stations, secure data server and storage, on-site technical support,
training and analysis. O
For more information, contact BCD Editor
Brian O’Shea at briano@kmimediagroup.com
or search our online archives for related stories at www.BCD-kmi.com.
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