IED are far and away the greatest terror to our armed force out in Afghanistan , having killed nearly 700 soldiers since 2001 and accounting for approximately half of all US troop deaths in the part since 2008 . The newly produce ASTAMIDS arrangement shoot for to find these dope sand trap before our ground force play do .
ASTAMIDS , scant for “ Airborne Surveillance , Target Acquisition and Minefield Detection System , ” is a state - of - the - fine art ground - penetrating laser organisation built by Northrop - Grumman for consumption aboard theMQ-8 Fire Scout UAV , the UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter , and fix - wing aircraft . It find mine ahead of ground force — day or night — by identifying and classifying thermal and visual anomalies as likely danger area . The system is capable of quickly identifying the presence of a field and specialize between surface , inhume , and break up mine .
https://gizmodo.com/drone-helicopter-gets-deadlier-with-precision-kill-we-5901632
To execute this effort , the 75 - pound multi - sensor system relies on multi - spectral imaging using quadriceps femoris - prism aperture - splitting technology assist by an integrate illuminator , fair game rangefinder , flying package ( GPS , altimeter ) , and laser designator . It ’s go up on an aircraft that flies ahead of advancing personnel at a height of 300 feet and at a speed of about 70 nautical mile . The sensing element can honour an area 125 feet wide on every pass , and has a two - minute operational capableness .
“ ASTAMIDS itself is authoritative because of what it will do to alert our ground scrap soldiers of approaching terror , ” sound out Bob Klein , vice United States President of Northrop Grumman Maritime and Tactical Systems incorporate product team . “ What makes this detector - fomite combining so pregnant is that Fire Scout can carry ASTAMIDS far beyond the dot of U.S. ground forces to notice the mien of minefield and sight enemy placement without invest a single soldier at hazard . ”
The system ’s rapid espial capableness makes it useful in a variety of situations . Beyond protecting advancing force , it can also be used during forward-moving recon commission . The organisation ’s optical maser can also designate targets for guided munitions . While ASTAMIDS is n’t currently as accurate as ground - based detectors , with upcoming technological improvements the organization is expected to be able to run at higher elevation in less than idealistic conditions and detect a across-the-board array of item — from obstacle to camouflaged vehicles .
The $ 123 million ASTAMIDS computer programme is still in development , but was successfully tested aboard the Fire Scout back in 2008 . Once fighting ready , “ ASTAMIDS will give Army Brigade Combat Teams unprecedented situational awareness and target naming capabilities , ” according to the U.S. Army PM Close Combat Systems . Something our force could painfully use more of . [ Murdoc Online – Deagel – IRConnect – Defense Tech – Army Technology ]
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