Golf ball-sized thermal camera that weighs about an ounce introduced by DRS for unmanned vehicles

MELBOURNE, Fla., 27 May 2011. The DRS Technologies Inc. Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition (RSTA) business unit in Melbourne, Fla., is introducing a golf ball-sized thermal camera called the Tamarisk 320 that consumes less than one Watt of power for unmanned vehicles and other aerospace and defense applications that require small size and low power consumption. The camera is smaller than 2 cubic inches (30 cubic centimeters) and weighs slightly more than one ounce.

The thermal imaging camera comes with a variety of lens focal lengths and horizontal fields of view for producing images through smoke, dust, haze, light fog and total darkness. DRS will build the camera at its factories in Melbourne, Fla., and Dallas. DRS also will incorporate the camera into security and surveillance, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), handheld, and related applications.

The thermal camera also comes in a lens-less configuration in which users can mount their own custom optics. UAV manufacturers can use the Tamarisk 320 to expand their mission times and coverage areas, DRS officials say. For more information contact DRS RSTA online at www.drs.com/Products/RSTA.