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53 Airborne surveillance | Insight ‘appliances’ for specific tasks. I also believe we will see a trend where the technology providers are expected to imbue their systems with the rigours of professional aviation to reduce the burden of compliance on the customer and end-user,” Damush says, while suggesting a convergence in the future between the Internet of Things and what he terms the “Internet of Drones”. Payload availability Without relevant specialist payloads, the airframes themselves remain irrelevant to surveillance missions that need immediate connectivity between UASs, ground teams and tactical operations centres in the government and, to lesser extent, commercial sectors. Director of domestic airborne programmes at UTC Aerospace Systems (UTAS), Scott Walton, highlights the shorter-term market in airborne payloads as “mature and stable”, although he says the market is undergoing a revolution in regards to size, weight and power as well as capabilities. “We see minimal growth in the next several years with respect to EO/IR sensing solutions. The real evolution is beyond five years from now, where customers are considering non- permissive environments such as Ukraine, where Russia operates mature air defence systems and where many UASs may not be able to penetrate. Primarily focused on defence and security customers, UTAS says it provides operators with longer range EO/IR solutions in line with requirements that have evolved from the ground wars of the past 15 years, which call for actual imagery, he adds. As an example, UTAS’ DB-110 comprises a dual-band, day/night reconnaissance system, providing operators with high-definition images in the visible and IR bands at long ranges. Similarly, Aerovironment regards payloads as a critical element to successful UAS surveillance operations. The company recently unveiled its Mantis i45 gimbal, which has a suite of EO and long-wave IR imagers as well as a new low-light camera in a single payload. Capable of providing users with onboard storage of HD video and high-resolution stills imagery, it also has an integrated image processor. “The Mantis i45 reduces the likelihood of detection by increasing the distance between our Puma AE small UAS and areas of interest, while still providing the clarity and image quality of a close- range asset,” Gitlin says. “The resolution of the imagery also aids in target analysis, positive identification and better enables operators to identify threats to friendly forces.” The Mantis i45 features a dual 15 MP colour EO camera with 50x optical zoom, a 640 x 512 pixel IR camera with a 32 º field of view, and a 1.2 MP low-light camera. An integrated laser illuminator operates in the 860 nm band at 650 mW beam power. With an all-in weight of 850 g, the i45 also includes a 360 º pan rotation and tilt capacity of between +30 and -90 º . Data processing The data generated during ISR missions would be useless without the correct support in the processing, exploitation and dissemination (PED) of data, whether on- or off-board. Companies such as SenSat therefore provide customers with the means to process and exploit raw data generated from payload-agnostic fixed-wing and rotary UASs, according to its chief information officer, Harry Atkinson. He describes SenSat as a digital surveying company with a background in construction that is now being extended into critical national infrastructure projects as well as looking to exploit the commodities, defence and security sectors. Currently, digital surveying is carried out using expensive satellite payloads, high numbers of personnel on the ground or manned aircraft with their associated expensive fuel costs. However, digital surveying uses relatively inexpensive drones – the Sensefly UAV that SenSat is using costs around £30,000 – and provides a relatively cost- effective and faster solution for multiple areas. SenSat software is said to map Unmanned Systems Technology | December/January 2018 The DB-110 dual-band, day/night reconnaissance system, fitted here under an F-16, provides HD imagery in the visible and IR bands at long ranges (Courtesy of UTAS)