Real time infra red reconnaissance for RPV's

Infrared linescan systems for airborne surveillance by remotely piloted vehicles are described, which are suitable for day and night military use as well as civil applications such as the detection of oil slicks or the observation of areas along overland pipelines. An optical system with a small infrared sensitive detector at the focus is used to scan the ground by revolving a mirror at high speed; performance of such a system includes resolution of 1.5 milliradians and sensitivity better than 0.25 C. The use of an airborne real time display or real time transmission to a display in a ground station is also discussed, for which either dry processed paper recorders or an entirely electronic display system may be utilized.