MAG and Logos Technologies test wide-area sensor for on-demand airborne ISR

FAIRFAX, Va., 16 June 2016. MAG Aerospace in Woodbridge, Virginia, and Logos Technologies in Fairfax, Virginia, have tested the ultra-light Redkite wide-area motion imagery (WAMI) sensor aboard a Cessna 206 turboprop aircraft in Carthage, North Carolina. The airborne test, which took place in late May 2016, proved the viability of WAMI as an on-demand airborne service by streaming video down to Android tablets held by ground personnel.

“We’re on the cusp of offering, for the very first time, a cutting-edge turnkey solution that has never been available before,” enthuses Joe Fluet, CEO at MAG Aerospace, which provides aerial training and sensing solutions.

Developed by Logos Technologies, Redkite weighs less than 30 pounds and features a 50-plus megapixel camera to image an area up to four kilometers (2.48 miles) in diameter (at 12,000 feet AGL), monitoring hundreds of movers at once.

Redkite can provide up to ten video windows within its expansive field of view, allowing multiple users to stream and watch their own area of interest on tablets or other mobile devices.

Redkite records, stores, and processes all activity within its coverage area for up to eight hours, enabling users to rewind through imagery and analyze past events in real-time or forensically on the ground.

Despite these advanced capabilities, the entire system requires less than 250 watts to operate.

“Redkite is the smallest, most power-efficient WAMI system available on the market,” says John Marion, president of Logos Technologies.

MAG Aerospace plans to have the Cessna 206 and integrated Redkite pod, along with operators and maintenance crews, delivered to customers on short notice.

Uses for the turnkey WAMI solution include:

• Search and Rescue;
• Disaster Relief;
• Border and Event Security;
• Airborne Law Enforcement;
• Scientific Research; and
• Imagery Collection for Data Analytics.

Flying thousands of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) missions and sensing 136.5 million square miles, MAG Aerospace has extensive experience supporting international, U.S. government, and commercial customers.

“We look forward to working with customers, both here and around the world, who require on-demand WAMI solutions for a variety of mission sets,” Fluet says.

Founded in 1996, Logos Technologies LLC is a diversified science, engineering, and technology company specializing in the fields of advanced sensors, wide-area motion imagery, advanced analytics and processing of large, multisource datasets. Logos serves government customers, including the Department of Defense, Intelligence Community and Department of Homeland Security, as well as a range of customers in commercial and international markets.

MAG Aerospace provides and enables global situational awareness to make the world smaller and safer. Privately equity backed by the Clairvest Group, MAG Aerospace delivers manned aerial surveillance (Airborne ISR), unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), aviation training, and aviation logistics services to federal, global, and commercial customers around the world.