July 1, 2001

Military Systems: CATSeye View

Lockheed Martin/Wescam’s smaller version of the Hawkeye airborne targeting system may be a cost-effective retrofit alternative for upgrading many existing military helicopters.

by Shannon Bower, Reporting from Charlotte, North Carolina

THE ARMY AVIATION ASSOCIATION of America trade show, Quad-A, provided the opportunity for the well-established team of Lockheed Martin and Wescam to show their latest thermal imaging and targeting system, the Compact Airborne Targeting System, or CATSeye.

The system is a more compact version of the now famous and feared Hawkeye Target Sight System (TSS) that will be on the nose of the new Bell AH-1Z "Zulu Cobra" (see the May issue, page 36).

CATSeye is based on the same rock-solid technology that Wescam developed for the 20-inch system that Lockheed Martin has mounted on U.S. Navy P-3s and U.S. Coast Guard C-130s as a primary surveillance device, and now on the Zulu Cobra.

The compactness of the system offers a solution for replacing obsolete thermal imagers on existing scout, attack, and multi-mission helicopters. The CATSeye gimbal weighs only 90 pounds, and the total weight of the system, including black boxes in the cabin, is just 135 pounds. In addition, the system offers third-generation thermal imaging and targeting technology in one package.

Inside the 15.5-inch gimbal is a mid-wave Forward Looking Infrared (FLIR) with an aperture measuring six inches in diameter. This FLIR has 75% to 80% of the capabilities of the Hawkeye thermal imager, amounting to a relatively minor performance tradeoff. In addition, a battle-proven laser designator and high-power television camera are piped in through the targeting system.

Prowling the digital battlefield

Like the Hawkeye, CATSeye is electronic battlefield ready. The system uses the same datalink "black boxes" as the Hawkeye to plot or find hostile targets and downlink position information, so re-inventing the wheel is not required.

At the Quad-A convention, CATSeye was represented by the U.S. Army Aviation Applied Technology Directorate (AATD), which is looking at possible applications for the technology in existing U.S. military helicopters.

Col. Waldo Carmona manages AATD, located at Fort Eustis, Virginia. Carmona brought with him a UH-60 converted into an impressive command-and-control helicopter with a new wire detection sensor prototype bolted to the nose. Also present at AATD’s display area were: an AH-64D Apache retrofitted with a Comanche-like cockpit; a Hunter UAV; and an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior that seemed to look longingly at the CATSeye on display only a few feet away.

A small crowd gathered around that display, where a monitor showed a live demonstration of CATSeye’s capabilities. A live microwave feed was coming in from Lockheed Martin’s demonstration helicopter flying around the city of Charlotte.

Gasps of oohs and ahs occasionally escaped from the crowd as the operator zoomed from a wide-field view down to tracking a single car or truck many miles away. Sometimes the operator zoomed out from a man on a sidewalk to a wide-field view of the entire city. Clearly, the significance of CATSeye’s capabilities was not lost on the pack of experienced aviators.

I was fortunate to get a second chance to fly the Lockheed Martin/Wescam system with Lockheed engineer Greg Deitrick and pilot Roy Henley. Henley provided a super smooth platform from which to operate the system, while Deitrick monitored the system’s operation. With many hours at the controls of CATSeye, Deitrick was able to assist with helpful hints on the most effective ways to operate the system.

Controlling the battlespace

Back on the ground after the flight, Joe Elmer of Lockheed Martin was briefing the next group on the Lockheed/Wescam targeting systems. "Between Wescam and ourselves, we are able to provide a nice family of high-performance sensors to meet military upgrade requirements for the future and the specific needs of the present," he says.

The theory and safety of "ballistic superiority" seems to be an appropriate parable here. A superior array of sensors linked to a targeting system affords a clear field of view for the attacking helicopter, providing standoff advantages that are sufficient to counter any threat. In other words, strike at the enemy before he can detect and hit you, and you have a capability that gives you control of the battlespace.

There is no doubt that, in the event of war—or the more likely scenario of a limited military action—the battlefield superiority of Lockheed Martin’s Hawkeye and CATSeye will unnerve enemy generals. Their tanks, trucks and tactical plans can be obliterated by a helicopter team that enemy field soldiers cannot even see.

CATSeye’s ability to acquire simulated targets at extreme range makes it exceedingly difficult to defend against. As a force multiplier, its true tactical value may be in the devastating psychological effect it could have on enemy forces.

Lockheed Martin apparently plans to offer CATSeye as a "proven components" system for the Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle (UCAV) market. UCAVs and their unarmed, surveillance counterparts, UAVs, are hot topics with all of the services right now. Giving unmanned aircraft the eyes of a CAT would greatly contribute to their survivability and effectiveness on the battlefield.