L3 Cincinnati Electronics to provide optoelectronic surveillance for Navy research vessel

MASON, Ohio - Optoelectronics engineers at L3 Cincinnati Electronics in Mason, Ohio, are providing the company’s NightConqueror thermal imaging system for the U.S. Navy Sea Fighter FSF-1, an advanced surface warship able to operate at speeds faster than 50 knots at ranges as long as 4,000 nautical miles.

L3’s NightConqueror will be part of the vessel’s Vistar 350 sensor suite operating as a navigational optoelectronic system on the Sea Fighter ship. NightConqueror produces high-resolution thermal imagery for round-the-clock observation at night, in smoke, and in bad weather.

The Sea Fighter vessel, built by L3 Titan in San Diego, is an aluminum catamaran built to test new technologies that will enable naval forces to fight effectively in relatively shallow coastal waters and harbors.

The Sea Fighter, previously known as Littoral Surface Craft Experimental-or X-Craft, will help Navy experts evaluate the hydrodynamic performance, structural behavior, mission flexibility, and propulsion system efficiency of high-speed vessels. The ship also is a test bed for experimental equipment under consideration for programs such as the Navy Littoral Combat Ship and the U.S. Coast Guard Deepwater program.

The Vistar 350 system aboard the Sea Fighter, built by Vistar Night Vision Ltd. in Camberley, England, is a day/night surveillance system that enhances visibility for ocean-going or inland-waters surface vessels.

The system is small enough to fit on vessels as short as 10 meters, and can be fitted with automatic target tracking or link with radar to follow the Automatic Radar Plotting Aid selected targets or the Electronic Bearing Line.

L3’s NightConqueror imager is applicable not only to surface ships, but also to land-attack vehicles, submarines, airborne reconnaissance pods, and fighter aircraft, company officials say.

For additional information, contact L3 Cincinnati Electronics online at www.cinele.com.