US$6.6 M Contract Aerial Imaging Afghanistan

Flight Landata Inc. (MA, USA) has received a contract from the U.S. Army Topographic Engineering Center (Army TEC) for work in Afghanistan. The $6.6 million contract engages the company to do intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and mapping via aerial remote sensing. The information generated from these flights will assist the U.S. military and political efforts in Afghanistan. The duration of the contract is for one year, with the possibility of an extension.

To accomplish the mission, Flight Landata will be sending an airplane, crew and support personnel into Afghanistan. The actual data collection is expected to begin before the end of the calendar year. The data will be collected using the latest generation of Flight Landata's BuckEye system. An earlier version of the BuckEye has been flying similar missions in Iraq for three years. In June 2007 the BuckEye was officially recognized as one of the Army's Top Ten Inventions of 2006.

The BuckEye system acquires ultra-sharp, geo-referenced images of ground features using a digital airborne imaging device. Flown aboard conventional aircraft, the system analyses rapidly-delivered imagery and automatically compares it with prior imagery on a pixel-by-pixel basis.