WASP improves high-resolution situational awareness
Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has developed what it described on 8 February as a ‘ground-breaking aerial surveillance system for persistent wide-area monitoring’.
Developed by Tamam (the EO/IR division of IAI), the Wide Area Surveillance Payload (WASP) can be is installed on a broad range of aerial platforms such as tactical UAVs, crewed aircraft or balloons, to deliver persistent surveillance capabilities.
WASP offers wide FoV coverage (52x48 degrees) with narrow FoV resolution in a compact SWaP solution. It features simultaneous colour visible and mid-wave IR imagery, allowing continuous operation by day or night.
Mounted on a tactical UAV such as the BirdEye 650D, WASP covers 2km2 in optimal resolution at 6,000ft altitude to detect all types of moving targets. When mounted on a MALE UAV such as the Heron 1 (pictured), the area of coverage area expands to more than 15km2 at 20,000ft.
WASP weighs 6.5kg in its baseline configuration, but an airborne digital processing unit (DPU) can be added with AI algorithms and adaptive rule engines that help WASP to capture large areas with a high revisit rate.
With the DPU, WASP can track, identify and alert the system operator of moving targets that correlate with mission requirements and objectives.
As part of our promise to deliver comprehensive coverage to our Defence Insight and Premium News subscribers, our curated defence news content provides the latest industry updates, contract awards and programme milestones.
More from Digital Battlespace
-
Push for greater use of open source data, says senior British officer
The huge amount of open source data available may not carry the weight of secret sources but it does carry substantial value, according to speakers at Defence IQ C4ISR Global conference in London.
-
Jacobs wins MoD cyber-security support contract
The deal with Jacobs will run until November 2027 and will see the company deliver a range of digital and IT specialist professional services to Defence Digital.
-
Orbit upgrades two multi-purpose terminals and carries out land testing
The communications company has upgraded two of its Beyond Line-of-Sight Multi-Purpose Terminals (MBTs) by introducing advancements in satellite communication technology and AI-driven maintenance capabilities.
-
Norway to receive maritime surveillance satellite data from Kongsberg
Norway's Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace has announced that its subsidiary Kongsberg NanoAvionics will produce three satellites and launch them in 2025.
-
First South Korean 425 Project observation satellite launched
In 2015, South Korea named a consortium of Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and Hanwha Systems, along with Thales Alenia Space providing the SAR payload derived from its HE-R1000 product, as preferred bidder to develop new Korea 425 Project reconnaissance satellites.