Logos Technologies LLC, a leading developer of wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) systems, announced that it will be showcasing—for the first time anywhere—its new, ultra-light infrared BlackKite Pod at the upcoming DSEI trade exhibition in London UK.

Weighing less than 38 pounds (17.2 kg), the BlackKite Pod is the platform-flexible version of BlackKite-I, the infrared wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor system fitted to the payload bay of the Insitu Integrator unmanned aerial vehicle and deployed with U.S. government's RQ-21A Blackjack UAVs as Cardcounter.

"Despite its compact size and exceptionally low weight, BlackKite is a very powerful persistent surveillance sensor," said Alan Murdoch, VP of International Programs for Logos Technologies. "A single airborne system flying at 12,000' AGL can continuously monitor, in real time, an area up to twelve square kilometres—day and night."

The BlackKite Pod images objects on the ground in medium resolution, which is enough to track every vehicle within its vast field of view, as well as detect moving individuals. Should a user need a closer look, they can cue the collocated hi-res full-motion video turret camera.

BlackKite also records and stores all the imagery it collects (up to 11 hours), allowing forensic analysts to "go back in time" and uncover hidden connections between people, vehicles, and places, in real-time.

This, and its low SWaP, makes the WAMI system extremely versatile.

"Just as it can be mounted to many different airborne platforms, BlackKite can support a wide range of missions," Murdoch said. "It can be used for force protection, operations overwatch, law enforcement, and even border security and illegal migration prevention."