Wescam wins C$20 million Navy SEOSS contract

Wescam has been awarded a C$20 million contract from the Canadian government to outfit the Navy's Halifax and Iroquois class fleets with its shipboard electro-optic surveillance system (SEOSS). Seventeen destroyers and patrol frigates will be equipped over a two-year period, starting in 2002.

The SEOSS system is built around the WESCAM 14MAR penta-sensor turret and thermal control unit. The 14MAR is a marinised derivative of the airborne WESCAM 14, that has been ruggedised for the maritime operational environment. The thermal control unit keeps the turret operating effectively in the extreme temperatures and humid, corrosive atmospheres at sea.

The system will provide the Canadian Navy with enhanced imaging capabilities to capture, display and record detailed visible and thermal video surveillance to support military and non-military missions. These missions are expected to include surveillance, vessel identification, ship safety during station-keeping, close-quarters manoeuvring, boarding operations, search and rescue, fisheries and environmental patrols. During shipboard exercises at sea, the system has demonstrated its ability to detect hostile intent at tactically significant ranges.

As part of the SEOSS system, Wescam will also provide ancillary visual information equipment, integrated to deliver real-time images to command decision makers on the bridge.

The FLIR sensor features a 320x240 InSb staring array with 6 field-of-view lens. One daylight sensor includes a 1/3 CCD colour camera with 20x continuous zoom. The other is a COD camera with a 900mm spotter lens. An image intensified sensor is added to the spotter lens to provide high-resolution imaging for night-time target identification. The high-efficiency laser illuminator provides night-time illumination to ranges exceeding 3,000 meters. Also available with the 14MAR is an optional laser rangefinder operating at 1.54 micron wavelength with eye-safe Erbium glass and offering effective range performance up to 15 km.

The thermal control unit continuously flows conditioned and desiccated air through the turret to eliminate fogging and icing. Thermo-electric conditioners control interior temperature through a bi-directional control circuit, providing heating or cooling as required.

The turret and thermal control unit combination was developed for the United States Navy as a ruggedised and environmentalised shipboard sensor package. Following the bombing of the USS Cole, the US Navy identified the need for further protection of forces against attack. From its facility in Healdsburg, California, Wescam developed the marinised system under contract with the Night Vision/Electro-Optics Division, part of the Naval Surface Warfare Centre. The Wescam system was purchased by the Navy for evaluation aboard DDG class ships

In April, Wescam proposed a variant of the system to the Canadian Navy. "The SEOSS system is an excellent solution, and a very good fit for their requirements," said John Alsop, Wescam's Vice President, Government Systems Division. "These marinised multi-sensor systems will provide immediate benefits for naval operations. Off-the-shelf airborne systems cannot simply be placed on naval vessels without rigorous development to ruggedise them for the uncompromising extremes of marine environments."

Wescam has also developed a smaller maritime system, the WESCAMTM 12MAR, that has been sold to the US Navy as a rapid-deployment COTS solution for smaller vessels. The Navy currently deploys these rugged and reliable systems on Stalwart class vessels for drug interdiction and surveillance at sea.

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