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RAAF upgrades Heron UAS for Afghanistan operations

9th November 2010 - 11:47 GMT | by Andrew White in London

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The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) has begun operational use of its Kestrel Ground Moving Target Indicator (GMTI) in Afghanistan, according to payload manufacturer Sentient.

According to the company, the GMTI sensor is now ‘actively’ deployed on Heron UASs under the guise of ‘Project Nankeen’. Designed to provide commanders with ISR imagery, GMTI processes imagery in real-time before automatically detecting and tracking small, moving targets such as dismounted combatants and vehicles.

According to Wg Cdr David Riddel, RAAF Deputy Director Air Combat Capability and Project Lead for Project Nankeen, GMTI provides a ‘significant’ ISR capability enhancement.

‘Kestrel detects any small

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Andrew White

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Andrew is a former editor of Digital Battlespace and Unmanned Vehicles magazines. Andrew joined Shephard …

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