Mercury Computer Systems announced VistaNav™-SSR, the fully integrated Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS), which comprises a ground station, integrated VistaNav synthetic vision system, a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and various electronic sensor systems. Designed to drastically improve operational mission capabilities for airborne intelligence applications such as oil and gas pipeline monitoring and forest fire detection at an affordable cost, VistaNav-SSR (Smart Surveillance & Reconnaissance) is the first Mercury end-to-end product offering to be pre-integrated with an airframe architecture.

The VistaNav-SSR is based on the Vector-LRE airframe from IntelliTech Microsystems, Inc., a leading developer and manufacturer of autonomous vehicle technologies for sea, air, and space applications. The Vector-LRE is a small UAV capable of either remote-control operation or fully autonomous flight, and of performing a wide range of day and night scientific and surveillance missions including oil and gas pipeline monitoring, forest fire detection and monitoring, oil and gas magnetic surveying, precision agriculture, and more. As a tactical-class UAV, the Vector-LRE provides an excellent payload-to-weight ratio that allows the integration of multiple payload, navigation, collision avoidance, and communication subsystems onboard.

Leveraging Mercury’s 20+ years of experience in embedded computing and 3D visualization expertise, the VistaNav-SSR includes Mercury ACIP™ (Airborne Component Integration Processor) technology, which allows the integration of highly optimized airborne electronics and associated functions into a small, unmanned airframe.

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