The Requirement
Border and site surveillance needs an imaging chain that stays on target for hours and survives wind, dust and temperature swing.
Select the thermal channel by required range: uncooled LWIR for short and medium detection, cooled MWIR where long range and thermal contrast matter. Elevation decides line of sight, so pair the sensor with a mast rated for the payload and wind area of the site. Fixed installations usually take a motorized mast, mobile teams a portable tripod-mast that one person can raise. Rack cabins house the control electronics on site.
Step 01
Sensor
Range decides the thermal channel. Uncooled LWIR covers short and medium detection at lower cost and lower power; cooled MWIR is what you take when the target is far, small or thermally close to its background. The EO channel is 1920 x 1080 with 30x optical zoom across the range, so daytime identification is not the variable — the thermal channel is.
Step 02
Positioner
A fixed line is watched by sweeping it, so continuous pan travel and repeatable pointing matter more than peak speed. Positioning accuracy across the range runs from 0.12 deg down to 0.006 deg; the tighter figures are what let an operator hand a bearing to another system and have it look at the same place.
Step 03
Elevation
Line of sight, not sensor range, usually sets detection distance on flat terrain. Fixed sites take a motorised mast and leave it up; mobile teams take a mast one person can raise. Match the mast to the payload at the height you actually need, because rated payload falls as extension rises.
What governs the choice
- Detection range required
- Sets the thermal channel and the laser rangefinder class. LRF options in the range reach 4,500 m and 32,000 m.
- Line of sight
- Decides mast height. Extended heights across the mast family reach 15 m.
- Continuous or scheduled watch
- Continuous watch favours a motorised mast that stays extended and a positioner rated for continuous rotation.
- Site power
- Cooled MWIR and heated enclosures raise consumption. Operating voltage across the DC-powered range is 18–32 V DC.
Where the site sets the limit
- Masts in the range are rated to 120 km/h wind. On an exposed ridge this, not payload, is often the limit.
- Operating temperature bands run to -40 / +60 C. A site that freezes needs the heater option priced in from the start.
- MIL-STD-810G qualification covers dust and driving rain; salt fog is a separate method and matters on a coastal line.