MX-25 EO/IR imaging system evaluated by US Army
L-3 Wescam has announced that the MX-25 electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR) imaging system has been evaluated by the US Army’s Persistent Threat and Detection System (PTDS) Communications-Electronics Command (CECOM) team as a plug-and-play upgrade path for the MX-20 systems currently deployed on PTDS aerostats.
The system was delivered to the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona where the evaluations took place over the course of a nine day period. During this time, a side-by-side resolution test was conducted between the MX-20 and MX-25, whereby the MX-25 provided similarly detailed thermal imagery at fifty percent greater standoff distances.
According to the company the system executed superior range capability and enhanced situational awareness during testing, as a result of a significantly larger IR lens aperture, a high-definition IR imager and improved stabilisation. The MX-25 has the ability to house up to seven imaging and laser sensors and can be further equipped with a laser designator option.
Paul Jennison, L-3 Wescam vice president of government sales and business development, said: ‘Verifying that the MX-25 could be quickly installed as a spiral PTDS upgrade was a necessity, as the US Army has an immediate requirement to identify insurgent activity at significantly greater distances than what its current system was designed to operate from.
‘Engineering this long-range solution for the US Army represents the fifth technology spiral path that L-3 Wescam has provided to CECOM since PTDS became operational in 2005.’
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