September 10, 2014

New version of Gorgon Stare Pods- Wide Area Airborne Surveillance System – WAAS at Kandahar Airfield

Gorgon Stare (GS) is a one-of-a-kind Persistent Wide-Area Airborne Surveillance (WAAS)
System. A Multi-Mission/Multi-Mode Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR)
platform with a unique Electro-Optical/Infrared (EO/IR) toolset providing wide-area (city-sized),
continuous “stare” coverage. Currently fielded on an unmanned aerial system, GS feeds
simultaneous reports to multiple individual independent taskings. Specifically tailored for ISR
operations in forward tactical areas, GS can provide a wide-area overwatch with ten (10)
focused video feeds sent directly to individual users on the ground. The sensor is packaged in
a turret maximizing the overall ISR imaging capability in a networked imagery distribution
system. High resolution, real-time motion video of activities of interest are collected to supply
Pattern-of-Life and Post-Event Forensics.


Photo - US air force
Version 1 of Gorgon Stare Pods

Photo - US air force
Version 1 of Gorgon Stare Pods

Photo - US air force on display at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan Aug. 18, 2014
Version 2 of Gorgon Stare Pods
http://www.bagram.afcent.af.mil/shared/media/photodb/photos/2014/09/140818-F-PB969-028.jpg

Gorgon Stare is a spherical array of nine cameras installed on board the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle. It provides 'city-size' images taken twice per second, as well as 'chip-out' images of specific targets within that city. The sensor is a synoptic, wide-area motion imagery system, capable of watching its full field-of-view - which has a 4 km diameter - the entire time, rather than providing a 'soda straw' view as is the case with legacy sensors. One of the sensor's most important capabilities is known as pattern-of-life exploitation. This process allows military personnel to map out an area, watching it over a long period of time to see patterns develop.

The Increment 2 system incorporates an electro-optical sensor derived from the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and BAE Systems' Argus technology, and an infrared sensor manufactured by Exelis, according to the USAF. Increment 2 Gorgon Stare was deployed in Afghanistan earlier this year, the USAF added.

The Increment 1 Gorgon Stare system has provided more than 10,000 hours of direct combat support by flying long duration sorties in Afghanistan since March 2011.


Photo - Sierra Nevada Corp





Photo - US air force
Predator with original confirguation




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