Officers needed to outfit the U.S. Army’s Shadow unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with target-detection equipment for identifying potential threats. They turned to BAE Systems and its AURORA Generation IV remote-sensing system.
BAE Systems engineers designed the AURORA surveillance system to be ultra-lightweight and compact, and to cover a wide area. It combines daytime hyperspectral imaging technology, including high-resolution electro-optic sensors, with an airborne processing system to automatically detect and identify targets. The system will provide U.S. forces with precise detection and identification of threats, and potentially will increase mission capability and survivability.
“AURORA is the first system that puts hyperspectral technology in operational use for U.S. forces,” says John Antoniades, director of remote sensing technologies for BAE Systems. “The combination of hyperspectral and electro-optic technology offers an objective tool to detect and identify targets, relieving the stress on operators who are constantly watching video imagery.”
The AURORA Generation IV system can be used on a wide range of low- and medium-altitude manned or unmanned vehicles that can accommodate payloads as heavy as 35 pounds. It also delivers efficient onboard processing designed to minimize bandwidth requirements, as well as real-time processing capability to search for targets and downlink location results to ground operators for rapid delivery into intelligence databases.
For additional information, visit BAE Systems online at www.baesystems.com.
