Intevac to supply night-vision cameras for US Army Apaches

NightVista

13 June 2013 army-technology.com

Intevac Photonics has been awarded a contract for production and delivery of night-vision cameras for installation onboard the US Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

Awarded by the US Army's PM Apache Office, the $27m contract involves supply of more than 500 NightVista M611 cameras as part of the Apache helicopter's pilot night-vision sensor (PNVS) programme.

Intevac Photonics executive vice-president and general manager Drew Brugal said the contract represented a direct result of the successful development work carried out by the company with the army over the past year.

"This demonstrates the ongoing success in the fielding of our core EBAPS sensor technology for key US military platforms and applications, and our ability to deliver system-level night-vision products," Brugal said.

Based on Intevac's patented Electron Bombarded Active Pixel Sensor (EBAPS) design for extreme low-light level detection, NightVista M611 is a small footprint digital image intensified (DI2) cameras and sensor module designed for daylight, low light or night imaging missions.

Fitted with 60 Hz frame rate and ISIE 11 sensor, the camera builds on the features of the E3010C camera by offering higher frame rate, higher resolution and additional capabilities, including snapshot shutter and enhanced image processing capabilities.

Powered by two GE T700-701D engines, AH-64 Apache is primarily used for distributed operations, deep precision strikes against relocatable targets, and also for providing armed reconnaissance when required in day, night, obscured battlefield and adverse weather conditions.

The Boeing-built helicopters are also in service with several nations worldwide, including the UK, Israel, Japan, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Greece, Kuwait, Egypt and UAE.

The performance period and delivery schedule have not been disclosed by the company.