1990s GEC Type 260 IRST prototype

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Type 260 stabilised fast acting mirror



GEC-Marconi developed the Type 260 for an airborne Infrared Search & Track (IRST) demonstrator programme. The mirror is compact and rugged and requires a minimum volume external to the host airframe. It uses a novel strapdown stabilisation technique which permits the mirror sightline to be rapidly pointed, stabilised against ‘own ship’ motion and accurately registered with respect to inertial space.

In addition to IRST applications, the Type 260 mirror is suitable for other demanding optical tasks such as IRCM.

The modular nature of the system, mirror head, gyro package and compact electronics allows for greater flexibility in installation than usual. It is also possible to change the gyro type without major changes to the system.

Specifications
Mirror size: 130 x 182 mm
Field of regard (this can be expanded if required):
(azimuth) +30°
(elevation) +25° -20°
Acceleration: >150r/s*
Slew rate: >5r/s
Stabilisation: >100urad
Electronics unit: 371 x 194 x 192 mm
Operational status
Prototype delivered
Contractor
GEC-Marconi Electro-Optics Ltd, Navigation and
Electro-Optic Systems Division, Silverknowes.

Presumably this is some kind of ancestor to PIRATE?

 

[JFC Fuller]

Incredible coincidence, I was going to start a thread asking about the Defence Research Agency InfraRed Search and Track Technology Demonstrator from the early-to mid 1990s. There is a paper, that I don't have access to, in the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) collection that covers it. This was the GEC-Marconi FIRSTSIGHT system that was apparently flown in Tornado ZD902 as part of the Tornado Integrated Avionics Research Aircraft (TIARA) programme - paper about that attached.