SystemsVideo Tracking

Track without being tracked.

Any moving target is located and tracked without giving away your position.

Passive tracking offers a capability no active sensor can match: nothing for an adversary to detect, jam, or use as a guidance reference. While most tracking systems must emit a signal to operate, we find and follow moving targets using passive infrared and daylight cameras alone. This is the same passive infrared search-and-track (IRST) principle used in modern fighter aircraft. We apply it in ground-based and naval installations, working day and night.

Three tracker displays side by side: two units holding the same target on their own sensors, the third slaved to them — Three units on one target, at the same instant. Two hold the track on their own sensors and pass bearings to each other; the third is slaved to them. Where the bearings cross is the position.

How it works

Thermal (IR) and daylight cameras are mounted on a high-precision pan-and-tilt mount with 360-degree azimuth coverage. Two units operating from separate positions triangulate the same target to produce a three-dimensional track of position, velocity and heading. The system acquires and holds track autonomously. Where only one unit can be installed, an optional laser rangefinder supplies the range dimension that triangulation would otherwise provide.

A fighter aircraft held on the tracker’s own sensors. The frame does not move.

Tracked aircraft in cloud, with altitude, climb rate, speed, heading and slant range read out against their permitted limits — The same track, read as numbers. Altitude, climb rate, speed and heading are shown against the limits set for the pass, so a departure from the approved envelope is visible as it happens.

Tracker head with the thermal and daylight apertures marked — Two sensors in one head: a thermal channel for range and for night, and a motorised zoom in the visible band for identification in daylight. The track continues across both.

The same head with the cover removed: the thermal objective and the daylight optics side by side inside the housing — Two sensors in one head: a thermal channel for range and for night, and a motorised zoom in the visible band for identification in daylight. The track continues across both.

Acquisition

The tracker can acquire a target with no prior cue: no heading, no speed, no external designation. Where a radar or a second tracker is available, the unit will slave to it and hand over to its own sensors on acquisition. Where none is available, it acquires unaided.

Range

Range follows the target. With a 100 mm IR lens, the same unit tracks a large aircraft at 50 km and a fighter at 15 km. The difference is thermal signature, not equipment. Optics are specified for the mission: a longer lens reaches further over a narrower field, a shorter one covers more sky. Figures for your target set and configuration on request.

Operator window: thermal and daylight views of the same patch of sky side by side, with target-class controls below — The operator window. Thermal and daylight views of the same scene, and the target class the unit is asked to acquire: drone, aircraft, or a cue handed over from radar.

Tensec FlightMap showing civil air traffic around a range, with distance, altitude, speed and time to closest approach — Tensec’s FlightMap. Civil traffic within range of the site, with distance, altitude, speed and time to closest approach. Known aircraft are accounted for before the tracker is asked to explain what it is looking at.

Integration with existing systems

The Tensec tracking system integrates into command and control architectures alongside radar and other sensors. It provides a continuous target track that remains available when emissions are tactically restricted or when emitting systems have been jammed. One unit can also cue another: a tracker that already holds the target hands the bearing to a second unit, which is what makes the triangulated track possible. The system operates independently or as part of an integrated sensor network.

A G1X radar mounted on a vehicle at Tensec’s test range, with a tracker set up at a separate position — A passive tracker and a G1X radar working the same airspace at Tensec’s own test range. The radar emits; the tracker does not. Either can cue the other.

Operational applications

Airfield and airspace surveillance: monitoring of airfields and surrounding airspace.
Border surveillance: continuous monitoring of long, remote border sections.
Coastal surveillance: monitoring of coastal areas and approaches.
Force protection: early warning around installations and sites.
Drone detection: detection and tracking of unmanned aircraft (see Anti-Drone System).
Range safety: monitoring aircraft altitude, dive angle, speed and heading against the approved envelope, with safety distance and time of fire recorded for every pass.

Fixed or mobile deployment

The system can be deployed as a fixed installation or vehicle-mounted, configured for the environmental conditions of its operational area. Installation and on-site commissioning are always included.