News

1 December 2006

USAF contract for SUI to develop SWIR sensor for unmanned aerial vehicles

Goodrich Corp has been awarded a contract from the US Air Force Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Battlelab (UAVB) at Nellis Air Force Base (Nevada) for its SUI team of Princeton, NJ, USA (formerly Sensors Unlimited Inc) to develop and fabricate a shortwave infrared (SWIR) sensor for the Spectre-Finder
initiative. The aim of the initiative is to demonstrate the potential of a small, air-launched and recoverable unmanned aircraft system (UAS) to provide off-board sensing in support of future Air Force Special Operations
Command concepts of operation.

SUI will develop a SWIR camera payload assembly. The technology involved includes a 640 x 512 indium gallium arsenide camera, custom dual field-of-view lens and laser pointer for use in day or night operation, allowing reliable imaging and performance in any weather or environmental
conditions.

"Our team will be leveraging other InGaAs programs from the US Army, Navy and DARPA to give the Air Force the most sophisticated SWIR camera, maximizing the performance while maintaining a very low weight and compact assembly," says Dr Marshall J. Cohen, vice president and general manager of Goodrich's SUI team.

Goodrich's SUI team claims to have pioneered the production of SWIR detectors, arrays, cameras and systems using InGaAs imaging technology for industrial, commercial, military, agricultural and scientific markets.

Visit: http://www.oss.goodrich.com/sui