National security is, if anything, somewhat unpredictable. What might have been a safe border location a few hours ago may now be a main entry route for enemy forces. Similarly, what might have been an area recently cleared by border security guards may now contain multiple illegal migrants or drug traffickers. That’s why the local area commanders, be they military or civilian, need their own deployable wide-area airborne sensors for ISR.
Developed by Logos Technologies, RedKite and BlackKite are powerful wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) systems light enough to be flown on tactical drones. They allow the local commander to image a city-sized area in real time — detecting every significant mover within their vast coverage areas. They also collect and store up to 11 hours of imagery for real-time and forensic analysis.
RedKite is an electro-optical (EO) WAMI sensor for daytime use, and BlackKite is the infrared (IR) version, for day and nighttime ISR. RedKite and BlackKite both image in medium resolution, which is enough for most situations. Should a user require higher resolution, the WAMI systems can easily cue the collocated narrow-field full-motion video camera to zoom in on a target of interest.
Logos Technologies has designed and built the RedKite and BlackKite sensors to integrate directly into an aircraft, or in a small external pod, making them platform-flexible for Group III or larger UAS and most manned aircraft.
As they are flown on tactical, local airborne platforms, RedKite and BlackKite border security operations can be rapidly moved from place to place, providing relocatable continuous surveillance to keep up with the dynamism of modern-day warfare or the inventiveness of criminals. They also stay operational for as long as their platform is aloft. This makes them unparalleled ISR assets for commanders in the field.
