Handheld Units Receive UAV Imagery

Warfighters and emergency responders are using the same unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technologies for rapid area surveillance. This capability goes beyond mere direct downlinks, as the airborne craft are able to transmit data that can be reprocessed and distributed to users in near real time. Speaking at a MILCOM 2010 panel on UAVs, Doug Bowen, former vice president, L-3 Communications Systems-West, described how one UAV can provide imagery directly to individuals using a hand-held device. It also can connect with vehicles using a terminal that can link with that hand-held device. The vehicle terminal creates an infrastructure across multiple bands, and the complete system can provide voice over Internet protocol, chat, file transfer and video downstream or upstream, as well as a John Madden mode whiteboard that allows individuals to circle an item on a display and send it to others. Bowen described how this type of system helped provide valuable information to emergency responders during the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. With the U.S. Coast Guard taking the lead, UAV data was sent ashore via line-of-sight links to be combined with satellite imagery. The resulting images provided valuable information to emergency responders, proving that tactical intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems could serve in national emergencies on short notice, Bowen said.