New Albion thermal imager to be on market by year end

September 8th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Tom Kington

A thermal imager developed in the UK and described as equal to or better than any imager produced in the U.S. is to go on the market by year end, its manufacturer said on Tuesday.

The Albion thermal imager will be marketed by Selex Galileo after a development program co-funded by the UK ministry of defense.

Speaking at the DSEi 2009 show in London, a Selex official said the imager would detect a man at 13 kilometres and identify him as friend or foe at 3km. A tank would be detected at 25km and identified at 5km.

“We think this benchmarks with the best U.S. technology and is unmatched in Europe,” said Mark Byfield, vice president for sales and marketing at Selex’s EO and Battlespace unit.

Byfield said that thanks to work boosting the IR sensitivity of the Albion, it could detect signatures measuring as low as 17 milli-kelvins, compared to the industry standard of 30 to 40 milli-kelvins.

Byfield said the Albion system remains “UK sovereign technology”, but Selex had been encouraged to market it overseas.

“We will make the technology available to anyone bidding into UK programs like Warrior,” said Selex CEO Steve Mogford.

The product will be sold in mid-wave and long-wave versions as well as in a dual version offering both mid and long wave.

Land, air and naval field trials are now underway with the UK MOD, said Byfield.

“The system offers low stare time, that is to say clear images can be obtained even if the system is mounted on a helicopter,” he said.

Byfield said equivalent U.S. systems could have greater restrictions on exports. The U.S. itself could also prove to be a market, he added.

Tags: albion, selex, thermal imager

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