Logos Technologies LLC announced today that it successfully flew its wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor aboard an RQ-21A Blackjack unmanned aircraft at a test range in Boardman, Oregon. The two-week-long test—which included preparatory groundwork in Bingen, Washington—comes on the heels of a $5.3 million contract the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command had recently awarded to Logos, to develop more WAMI sensors for Navy and Marine users. Logos has created a U.S. military version of BlackKite, currently called Cardcounter, an ultra-light (26 pounds) infrared WAMI system developed by Logos. Despite its low SWaP, BlackKite can detect and track in real time every significant target moving within a city-sized area, giving tactical operators a powerful, hereto unheard of, capability.
“We are very excited by our recent test aboard the RQ-21A Blackjack,” said Doug Rombough, VP for Business Development at Logos Technologies. “Our ongoing effort to develop an ultra-light WAMI capability for the Blackjack and other small, tactical unmanned aircraft is clearly paying off.
“In total, we will be producing four modular WAMI systems for the Navy,” said Doug Rombough, VP for Business Development at Logos Technologies, “with the hope that this will open the door for a wider U.S. military adoption of WAMI, both for the Blackjack and other Group 3 unmanned aircraft.
“No military in the world has anything like the Logos WAMI sensor on their tactical unmanned aircraft,” said Rombough. “This WAMI system views and records the entire area and can stream multiple real-time and recorded video ‘chip-outs’ down to handheld devices.
In addition, thanks to the WAMI system’s multi-modal edge processor—which can store six or more hours of mission data—users on the ground can also access recorded imagery for on-the-fly forensic analysis. Logos was first tasked with converting their BlackKite system to meet government requirements in September 2019, with two units being produced for the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command. The follow-on $5.3 million development contract and March test flight are part of the same effort.
Founded in 1996, Logos Technologies LLC is a diversified science, engineering and technology company specializing in the fields of advanced sensors, wide-area motion imagery, advanced analytics and processing of large, multisource datasets. Logos serves government customers, including the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community and Department of Homeland Security, as well as a range of customers in commercial and international markets
