DRDO develops electro-optical infrared system for surveillance from airborne, land and naval platforms

The Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS) will equip multi-mode maritime aircraft (MMMA) with the EO/IR system, which can be used to identify ships responsible for oil spilling in seas and oceans.

The EO/IR system has a short wave infrared (SWIR) imager, laser range finder, laser pointer and cameras. (Express photo)

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The Centre for Air Borne Systems (CABS), a laboratory of the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO), has indigenously developed electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) system to carry out surveillance from airborne, land and naval platforms.

Speaking on the sidelines of Aero India 2023, an official from DRDO, on condition of anonymity, said,“It (EO/IR system) can be mounted on ships, aircraft and vehicles. We have evaluated it in Ladakh for the Indian Army and they are happy with it. However, they want certain modifications which I cannot reveal. It has the capability to detect objects even behind fire and smoke. The EO/IR system has a short wave infrared (SWIR) imager, laser range finder, laser pointer and cameras. The sensors can operate simultaneously depending on daylight weather conditions and display HD images to the operator. It is also integrated with a video tracker which can track moving targets.”

CABS will equip multi-mode maritime aircraft (MMMA) with the EO/IR system, which can be used to identify ships responsible for oil spilling in seas and oceans.

“EO/IR can be integrated with a multi-functional tactical console (MTC), which consists of monitors on which real time maritime and air situations are displayed. Through this integration, users (Army, Navy and Coast Guard) will get to know about the situation. Presently, we are equipping this with multi-mode maritime aircraft (MMMA) and is being developed for the Indian Coast Guard. One of the roles of MMMA is pollution surveillance. Oil spills are one of the major pollutants in the oceans. So, EO/IR would detect ships responsible for the oil spills as it has artificial intelligence-enabled object detection and tracking. The EO/IR is equipped with a laser illuminator that could help in reading the names of the ships and it also has a laser-range finder that could be used to find the range of the target,” the official said.

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