Launches New Compact MWIR Thermal Camera

Excelitas Technologies Corporation is highlighting its latest innovations in photonics for defence and aerospace applications at AUSA 2021 in Washington, DC, this week.

Featured exhibits will include Liteye Systems’ SEA EAGLE fire control EO system and multi-domain explorer (MDX), which figure Excelitas’ camera technology, the latter using the newly-launched CheetIR-Cub compact standard definition MWIR camera to facilitate air and ground surveillance.

Additional product highlights include:

• EXACTD-362 Angle-of-Arrival Photodiode Module: designed for use in Laser Warning Receiver Systems to detect and provide precise angle-of-arrival (AoA) information from direct and indirect scattered light from laser range-finders, target designators, and active laser EO systems;
• YAG-Enhanced Photodiodes: off-the-shelf and customer-specific YAG-enhanced terminal guidance detectors;
• Pulsed Laser Diodes and Arrays: single-channel and array variants of pulsed laser diodes, ideal for range-finding and LiDAR applications;
• Blue Chip Detonators: Low-energy chip slapper detonators to MIL-DTL-23659;
• Rocket Motor Initiators: patented initiators designed to work with single- and multiple-pulse rockets, among others;
• Spark Gaps: uniquely capable high-energy, voltage-controlled switching devices;
• Fused, Thermal and Image Intensified Sights: available for weapon-mounted and hand-held target location and engagement;
• Thermal Cameras: medium and long range thermal cameras covering the MWIR and LWIR wavebands and using the latest sensor technologies for demanding surveillance, targeting, naval and C-UAS applications.

The company is also announcing a a new medium-range, MWIR thermal imaging camera at the show – the CheetIR-Cub, designed to meet the challenges of balancing size, weight, power and cost (SWaP-C), combining a 10um VGA format (640×512) HOT detector with a long-life linear cooler, the proven CheetIR common continuous zoom optical module, and a 200mm focal length objective.

The device’s compact size and weight make it suitable for applications where constraints exist, such as retro-fitting existing sighting systems, or for mobile surveillance applications where low size and mass are key. CheetIR-Cub weighs less than 4kg, features low-power electronics and a linear cooling engine, with steady state power less than 5W, making it ideal for applications with limited available power draw, such as portable surveillance platforms, where the silent operation characteristic of the linear cooler is also advantageous.

Graham Evans, Excelitas’ Product Director, commented “We […] have begun delivering the new CheetIR-Cub camera, and its versatility is evidenced by early orders. One new customer will use the CheetIR-Cub on a naval platform as part of an electro-optic sensor suite. Another will use it for portable surveillance systems. Excelitas will continue to deliver units from these initial orders well into 2022.”