Electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) image processing are increasingly important functions in defense electronic systems—so much so that a leading supplier, Mercury Systems, has received an initial $2 million order from a major defense prime contractor for an EO/IR image processing subsystem solution. The subsystem is being designed to apply to multiple programs and missions. The order was booked in Mercury System’s fiscal 2018 second quarter and is expected to be shipped over the next several quarters.
The EO/IR imge processing subsystem will be assembled with Mercury’s BuiltSECURE™ technology as part of an open system architecture with functional flexibility. The design features advanced cooling techniques that allow the subsystem to operate under extreme operating temperatures, altitudes, and vibration while providing excellent floating-point performance levels in tactical environments.
These EO/IR image processing subsystems can handle large numbers of gigapixels of data per second, enabling them to keep pace with the software needed to control specific EO/IR processing requirements. The end result is the processing of large amounts of data in real time for practical benefits to warfighters using these EO/IR image processing subsystems.
“Mercury worked closely with our customer as an extension of their engineering team,” said Joe Plunkett, general manager of Mercury’s Sensor Processing group. “Together we designed an EO/IR solution that is scalable and tailorable for a variety of airborne platforms and mission profiles.” Mercury, for example, designs and assembles onboard unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) processor systems for handling wide area motion imagery (WAMI), EO data, and IR data to produce imagery in formats suitable for storage and exploitation in defense-oriented applications.
