Ross Wilkers
A Raytheon-led team will develop unmanned aerial vehicle sensors for detecting ground objects not visible to the human eye, Military Aerospace reports.
Under a sole-source contract from the Air Force, the team will equip the General Atomics-made MQ-1 Predator with hyperspectral sensors between 2012 and 2016 under the Airborne Cueing and Exploitation System-Hyperspectral program.
Team members include ITT Exelis Space Computer and L-3 Integrated Optical Systems, according to the report.
Work will include engineering development, integration Predator, testing, sensor procurement, training and field maintenance.
According to John Keller’s story, hyperspectral imaging systems collect and process information from across the electromagnetic spectrum and divide the spectrum into many more bands than the human eye, which sees visibile light in red, green and blue bands.
Military surveillance personnel use the sensors to find targets such as roadside bombs and opium crops by detecting their spectral signatures, Keller writes.
