8 December 2010

AFRL contracts to develop survivability for SWIR cameras

Goodrich Corp of Charlotte, NC, USA has been chosen by the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Materials and Manufacturing Directorate to develop solutions for its short-wave infrared (SWIR) imaging sensors. A contract under AFRL’s Advanced Development of Protection Technologies (ADePT) program covers the investigation of approaches for SWIR detectors. Work will be performed by Goodrich’s ISR Systems team (formerly Sensors Unlimited Inc) in Princeton, NJ.

“Our work on the ADePT program will develop materials and techniques to improve the survivability of Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) and targeting sensors, giving our warfighters a great advantage on the battlefield,” says Dr David Dawes, manager of business development for the ISR Systems Princeton team. “We look forward to developing and deploying this enhanced capability to many diverse platforms.”

SWIR technology detects reflected light at wavelengths that the human eye cannot see, in wavelength bands between visible and thermal cameras. The Goodrich system is extremely small, low power and lightweight; this is achieved using indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) material and circuitry that allows it to run without cooling, whereas other imaging devices in the SWIR band need cumbersome power-hungry cooling systems.

Tags: Goodrich SWIR cameras

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