Logos Technologies LLC, an industry leader in wide-area motion imagery (WAMI), announced today that its BlackKite infrared WAMI pod was successfully test flown on ISR-ONE, a long-endurance, Group 3 unmanned aircraft system (UAS) developed by ISR Systems, a wholly owned subsidy of the Cubic Corporation. In surveilling so much ground with the WAMI system, Cubic’s UAS demonstrated capabilities of particular interest to U.S. Central Command, Special Operations Command, and other government users.The test flights, which took place in mid-August in Pendleton, Oregon, had a BlackKite mounted on the pylon of an ISR-ONE and imaging a vast area kilometers in diameter. At any given time, up to 10 different video “chip-outs” can be transmitted to the ground, so operators can follow unfolding events. Likewise, BlackKite records and stores imagery for use by forensic analysts.
“BlackKite is a great match for ISR-ONE. The ability to provide an unblinking eye around the clock, in a package light enough to be mounted on our aircraft alongside other electronic warfare payloads, really opens the door to true 24hr multi-INT surveillance from tactical UAS platforms,” said Robin Pengelly, Senior Director of Business Development at ISR Systems.
“We were very excited to work with Cubic on this. The BlackKite pod is designed to operate from a variety of UAS, planes, and helicopters—and ISR-ONE proved no exception. All it took was connecting a few bolts and cables to turn the Cubic UAS into a formidable WAMI platform,” said Doug Rombough, VP of Business Development for Logos Technologies.
In February 2020, Cubic announced that it had signed a cooperative research and development agreement with Special Operations Forces Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (SOF AT&L) for work on advanced airborne payloads. WAMI is one such sensor modality that has attracted the attention of the U.S. military. Weighing less than 38 pounds, BlackKite can image an area 12 square kilometers in size—tracking every vehicle and detecting moving dismounts within that coverage zone in near-real time, day and night. In the wake of a successful test flight, Logos Technologies and Cubic are now ready to demonstrate BlackKite and ISR-ONE for military customers and how the two mature technologies can support a wide range of missions, added Rombough.
BlackKite delivers infrared (IR), wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) in a compact, lightweight, platform-agnostic pod weighing less than 38 lbs. Easily mounted on fixed wing, rotary wing, and UAS aircraft, the BlackKite system monitors a city-sized area all at once, day and night, automatically detecting and tracking all significant movers. 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.