Film-to-Digital Evolution

Film cameras were invaluable for providing high-resolution, wide-area coverage reconnaissance imagery from high altitudes and long ranges. During Desert Shield/Desert Storm, ROI’s film cameras accounted for virtually all the allied forces’ tactical reconnaissance and bomb damage assessment photographs. However, film cameras, even though very effective, were burdened with their attendant processing support requirements and time limitations.

The advent of the charged-coupled device (CCD) in the early 1970’s lead to the development of digital cameras that would provide high-resolution aerial reconnaissance in near real-time, and require minimal processing. Military commanders could now get the imagery needed to make the timely decisions required for the fast-changing battlefields of modern warfare. Images could be either transferred to an on-board recorder or data linked to the ground. In 1973, ROI built the first tactical digital camera based on a CCD for the U. S. Air Force. However, this "pushbroom" digital scanning technology came with substantial limitations which challenged mission success, mission equipment and platform survivability.

Because, significantly, the camera detector relied upon aircraft forward motion to provide the scanning mechanism, pilots were required to stay relatively wings-level for a long time while imaging, making them vulnerable to defensive fire. This persistent concern was expressed by system users and reconnaissance aircrews who had developed tried-and-true tactics based upon film-based technology. Survivability became a key operative word for commanders. To eliminate these limitations, ROI integrated its patented electronic image motion compensation technique into large framing arrays. These arrays permitted the aircraft to take a series of quick "snapshots" of a target and perform an escape maneuver, drastically reducing the time over the target. Short integration times and fast readout speeds allowed rapid scene coverage, and a return to survivable reconnaissance tactics, unencumbered by pushbroom limitations.

to top of page