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Shield AI Australia has announced the successful completion of visual detection and ranging (ViDAR) trials with the Australian Army.
The ViDAR sensory pod, mounted on aircraft, is understood to be used for passive wide area search operations using day and night multi-electro optic and infrared cameras.
In addition, the pod is expected to allow further integration of artificial intelligence-integration to detect and classify targets in the imagery stream.
Sentient Vision Systems, acquired by Shield AI, was previously awarded a prize by the Defence Innovation Hub in 2022 for their ViDAR Optical Radar Pod, which was designed to assist maritime search and surveillance operations from helicopters.
“Shield AI Australia successfully completed ViDAR trials with the Australian Army, marking the latest milestone in over two decades of sovereign ISR innovation and in-country expertise,” a public statement from the company said this week.
“Our sincere thanks to Interair, whose aircraft and pilots performed flawlessly and enabled consistent performance across all mission types, including night operations and challenging weather conditions.
“As the Australian Defence Force sharpens transitions to a focused force, we’re delivering operationally proven, low-risk capability.
“We’re continuing to advance Australia’s defence capability by fielding tech that’s tested, trusted and ready to deploy.”
The technology is built in ISO 9001-certified, DISP-accredited Australian facilities and supported by global production capacity, according to the company.
ViDAR is reportedly already in service with the US Marine Corps, US Coast Guard, Danish Air Force, Dutch Coast Guard, Canadian Fisheries, and has been operational with AMSA since 2015.
