Jane's International Defense Review
March 2010
Michael J Gething
Controp Precision Technologies of Israel is planning to launch three new products and demonstrate its proprietary Local Automatic Gain Control (AGC) software at Defexpo 2010 in India (15-18 February).
The L-VIEW is a new compact thermal observation system designed to provide surveillance and local situational awareness to the crews of armoured fighting vehicles. The unit weighs 3.2 kg and uses a three-gimbal gyro-stabilised mounting in a 'top-hat' configuration to accommodate an uncooled Vanadium Oxide (VOx) microbolometer with a 384x288 pixel long-wave infrared (LWIR) focal plane array (FPA). The system has a continuous zoom lens (9.5-37 degrees in basic configuration) behind a specially coated Germanium window. According to Controp, it has completed a strict evaluation and field test by an unspecified customer and another is ready to evaluate it.
The LDP is a new airborne sensor turret using a four-gimbal mounting to accommodate a three-sensor payload. This comprises a mid-wave infrared (MWIR) 320x256 pixel Indium Antimonide (InSb) FPA (with the option of using a 640x512 array format); a daylight, high-resolution 768x494 pixel charge-coupled device (CCD) TV camera with a 20x optical zoom and 3x electronic zoom; and an 80 mJ laser rangefinder/designator with a 15 km range.
The third new product is the Spider LR (long-range) variant of the existing Spider electro-optic intruder detection system, already in use for mobile area surveillance and 24/7 border protection in Afghanistan and other unspecified countries in Asia. It features a thermal camera with MWIR 320x256 pixel InSb FPA (with the option of using a 640x512 array format) and a 1,400 mm continuous optical zoom lens offering a 35x magnification. This is supplemented by a high-resolution colour 8.5 mm CCD TV camera with a 15x zoom lens; a monochrome 8.5 mm CCD TV spotter camera with a fixed 1,000 mm lens; an eye-safe laser rangefinder and laser pointer.
The use of software to enhance raw imagery (thermal and CCD TV) is fast becoming standard operating procedure and Controp will be displaying its proprietary Local AGC function. Comparisons of images using 'regular' AGC and the Local AGC feature will be available.
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