A laser designation system that illuminates, or paints, a target with a laser beam and that is small enough to be mounted on drones has been developed by unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) payload maker Merio.
Until now, laser designators have mostly been used by ground troops or manned aircraft. Because of this, soldiers had to be close enough to see and mark the target, often within range of enemy fire.
Source: Merio
As such, the new system from Merio offloads this capability onto unmanned drones so that targets can be marked remotely and safely. Merio explained that the Milvus gimbal, which is a stabilized camera/turret unit, houses the laser designator along with electro-optical and infrared sensors.
“The Milvus 16MW has a compact architecture (Ø16 cm) but stands out with enhanced performance. It includes a Full HD day camera with x30 (or x36 option) optical zoom and a cooled MWIR 640×480 infrared camera with x15 optical zoom,” Merio explained on their website. “This gimbal also integrates a 12 km laser rangefinder and a laser pointer, all within a weight of [6.17 pounds] 2.8 kg,” they added.
Mounted under a UAV, the Milvus can identify and track targets day or night and can then “paint” those targets with a coded laser beam.
This system can feed targeting coordinates to other platforms — such as aircraft, artillery or ships — that will fire precision-guided weapons. In other words, a drone can find and mark a target, while other assets fire from long range, creating a so-called “networked” kill chain.
